I can't use my wifi printer and Devices and Printers will not open.

[graywoulf]

Greetings,

As the title says, I can't use my wifi printer and Devices and Printers will not open. I can't find any way to fix this through Windows. I am running Windows 7 64 Bit HP SP1. I have never had any problems with my printer until a couple of weeks ago. The printer works fine for my wife and her laptop. I have tried a couple of fixes that I have found on the net but nothing has made any difference. Is there any real remedy for this? Thanks.

 

[oscer1]

hi have you tried doing a system restore to a time the printer worked?

 

[graywoulf]

hi have you tried doing a system restore to a time the printer worked?

Thanks for your question. Yes, I have tried that but my Dell laptop has another problem with doing a restart after the restore shuts down the system. Upon boot up, the PC freezes and I have to shut it down manually with the power button and let it restart normally. I am beginning to think that I just need to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows 7.

 

[Snick]

I have tried a couple of fixes that I have found on the net but nothing has made any difference. Is there any real remedy for this? Thanks.

graywoulf

What have you tried?

Have you run chkdsk /r
Disk Check - Windows 7 Help Forums
sfc /scannow
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker - Windows 7 Help Forums
& checked drive health?
SeaTools for Windows

If all else fails, Repair Install Windows 7

 

[graywoulf]

@Snick, Thanks for the suggestions and links. Most valuable. I have tried chkdsk but not chkdsk /r. The chkdsk scan reported no errors. I also tried the SFC /SCANNOW as well and it reported no errors. I will try the SeaTools next and see what happens.

Honestly, I did not know anything about the Repair Install Windows 7. I have wondered if that was possible. I remember back in the days of Windows 98 that I could do a fresh install after renaming the config.sys file to config.old and that always worked.

I think that some Windows drivers were corrupted during a recent install of some drivers for another program I installed. I tried doing a restore to before the program was installed three times but it never was successful.

Thanks again for the information and links. I will let you know how it goes after trying those things tomorrow.

 

[Snick]

graywoulf

 

[graywoulf]

Update on my progress. I installed and ran the SeaTools program but it did not help. So I looked into the Repair Install Windows 7 and it says that I need to have the Windows 7 installation disc that matches the current Windows 7 version that I am running and that I do not have as the OS was pre-installed from Dell. I do have the Dell disc that came with it but apparently I can't use it unless I want to wipe the drive clean and do a fresh install.

I did do a Windows Backup yesterday. It took nearly all day to complete it's task. This I did on a WD My Passport USB drive.

I tried to use a copy of a Windows Repair Disc that I made several years ago to see if it would successfully repair Windows 7 but for some reason, after putting in the CD drive and restarting my laptop, I got a message at bootup that said "No operating system found". So I can't use it. I looked at the files on the disc and the one file in the root directory labeled "bootmgr" has an extension of a vector graphics program I uses for signmaking years ago and why that extension is there baffles me to no end. I have no clue as to what the actual extension should be unless it is supposed to be an .exe file. I found something on the net that said it is supposed to be "bootmgr.efi" but I can't verify that. I am hesitant to burn another disc as it may turn out the same but I guess I should try.

That being said, I don't even know if running the repair disc will even help. I hate to think of starting all over again and losing so much data and such but I may have to bite the bullet and do it anyway.

So, that is where I am in this journey and still frustrated as well.

 

[Snick]

you ran chkdsk and sfc /scannow, reporting no errors
Seatools check the status of your drive, i.e. errors, pass or fail test, apparently your drive is good.
Your computer came with Win7 installed, i.e. OEM (original equipment manufacturer), repair disk won't work, using built-in recovery partition will wipe all your data and make the computer like you purchased it new. Not what you want. You don't want to use Dell disks either.

Repair install corrects corruptions in Windows OS. It replaces Win 7 and retains all your programs, files, folders, music, etc.
To do repair install, you need Windows 7 ISO file or DVD, all versions are on the DVD or ISO file, just need to be made accessible by removing the ei.cfg file. Some members are able to provide links, I have OEM install and cannot provide it.
I am willing to TeamViewer: Remote Desktop with you, if you wish!

 

[graywoulf]

I appreciate your help and offer but if I can figure this out, I will have learned something in the process. I will take you up on your offer if I get stuck.

I have a question. Since I did the Windows backup, would it be possible to do a clean install of Windows 7 and use the backup to put everything I had installed back in place?

 

[graywoulf]

And now, another problem. I was trying to download the ISO files and when I entered my product key, I got an error message. That had a link to windows support but there is no more support for windows 7. This is getting ridiculous.

 

[graywoulf]

I really appreciate all of the time and effort that you all put into offering assistance to help me fix my Win 7 issues. Especially you SNICK. Not many people would offer to do a remote desktop in order to help out. For that, I added to your reputation.

I just started a thread in the General section on upgrading to Windows 10 Home. I think it is my best course of action on this as Microsoft seems to have made it impossible for me to get the ISO files due to the fact that my OS is a factory Dell installation.

Thanks again and two thumbs up for the help!

 

[Snick]

I have a question. Since I did the Windows backup, would it be possible to do a clean install of Windows 7 and use the backup to put everything I had installed back in place?

No, what will happen is you do fresh install, if you install the backup, you replace the fresh install with the backup. If you mount/open the backup you can copy and paste files, folders, music, pictures, etc. You cannot copy and paste installed programs because they have registry entries, additional files installed, & hard links (they make 32 bit apps work on 64 bit computers, it's complicated)

I have win7 ISO AIO All-In-One
Sevenforums Admin Shawn Brink stated that as long as OP (original poster) agrees, using TeamViewer is not a problem. Can't provide you a link to my OneDrive for ISO as it violates forum rules. (yes, rules are rules)

 

[Snick]

I just started a thread in the General section on upgrading to Windows 10 Home. I think it is my best course of action on this as Microsoft seems to have made it impossible for me to get the ISO files due to the fact that my OS is a factory Dell installation.

That is what I do here on Sevenforums. I pretty much stay on Windows Update fixes and upgrading to Windows 10. You should run Microsoft's System Update Readiness Tool (SURT)
When you run SURT, it creates a file CheckSUR.log in C:\Windows\Logs\CBS. If the CheckSUR doesn't contain numerous errors or especially registry entry errors, the upgrade will most probably work.
I have AutoSURTx64 which is Microsoft's System Update Readiness Tool in WinRAR SFX auto installer. It runs, runs SURT and places the CBS folder on your desktop for you. CheckSUR.log is temporary, i.e. it disappears shortly after you run SURT if it is not moved, thus my tool.
Here's the link to my OneDrive AutoSURTx64.exe

 

[Snick]

Microsoft seems to have made it impossible for me to get the ISO files due to the fact that my OS is a factory Dell installation.

DUH!!
TeamViewer, I can help you! capiche!

 

[graywoulf]

Snick, I really appreciate your offer to do the TeamViewer route but I am pretty convinced that I just need to start over with a fresh install of Windows 10 Home. I saw so much stuff on the net yesterday and today that was related to the shutting down of support for Windows 7 that I feel that repairing my current OS would just be putting a bandage on it. I think I am going to buy the Windows 10 disc and install it from that rather than doing the free upgrade. At least that way, I might get better support from Microsoft in the future. I do have anxieties about learning a new OS but I have gotten this far starting with DOS and then Windows 3.1 so I will have to buck it up and look at it as a new learning experience.

 

[Snick]

Do as you wish.

I would repair install Windows 7, then upgrade to win 10.
That way you keep all your programs, files, folders, etc.
Backup your current Windows 7 on an external drive with AOMEI with your files, folders, etc., except for installed programs, which you can't retrieve because of all the locations it is installed in.

 

[graywoulf]

I downloaded and installed the AOMEI free version and installed it. Which backup method do you recommend?

 

[Snick]

I downloaded and installed the AOMEI free version and installed it. Which backup method do you recommend?

Disk backup! Image the entire drive to external hard drive, leave defaults for compression.
Back up disk easily with AOMEI Backupper - YouTube

 

[graywoulf]

Disk backup! Image the entire drive to external hard drive, leave defaults for compression.

Thanks, I'll watch the video and get started.

 

[Snick]

You're welcome.
I always prefer a FREE solution as apposed to having to pay!