Updates to Windows 7 kills my printer

[sherwin]

I cannot get my HP Photosmart Printer C7280 to work properly with Windows 7, 32 bit O.S. If I back out all the updates from Windows 7
and load the programs from HP for their drivers in Windows 7, everything
seems to work. However after doing the Microsoft Updates, something
gets clobbered and I can no longer initiate a print from the PC. Even
after I back out the updates, the problem then persists.

Sherwin

 

[waz]

what does it say when you try to print? do reinstall the drivers from the HP cd or website.
i also noticed when doing MS updates there are the optional updates which includes hardware/software drivers which i don't run by the way. as long as the hardware is doing what's supposed to do, there's no need for driver updates. that's what i think

 

[sherwin]

The problem with printing was no response from the printer. I could sometimes see the job appear very quickly in the printer queue and then dissappear. This cycle of
restoring the HP software and then getting it clobbered by the Windows Updates happened to me twice. I had great difficulties getting the HP to print again by reloading the software. On this third attempt, I was planning to not load the updates after restoring the HP, but somehow they were loaded anyways after a reboot. To my surprise, the printer did not fail this time. What can I deduce from this? Could HP or Microsoft have changed anything without notifying me? Were the
first two failure cycles some freak coincidence that I attributed to the Windows Update? I am still awaiting a call from Microsoft. I need to know if it is safe to continue with Windows UPdates be they for the printer or otherwise. If there is an
optional update for my HP printer, I will probably try it, as I still suspect there may be a compatibility problem in the printer software interface.

 

[whest]

System Restore seems to be in order, also try to work out which update is causing the problem. After you restore the system turn off auto updates and choose one of the other options eg download updates but ask for permision to install them - you can hide them all, or try to work out which one caused the problem. On the other hand is there anything else you may have done or installed around the same time ?

 

[sherwin]

I haven't installed any other software during this problem timespan. After a long session with HP, I was able to restore my printer with the Windows 7 software. I was able to do this twice before and each time it failed after downloading the updates from Windows 7. While installing some other programs from HP included in this last download, I was requested to do a restart. Somehow, the 6 outstanding updates form Windows 7 got loaded at that time. I thought for sure it was going to
break again, but strangely, this time it didn't. Now if HP or Microsoft made some correction to their software, I was not notified about it. The date of the HP download is still the same. There were no specific updates from Windows 7 for the
HP printer. Doing an update from HP for my printer, there was some mention of an
update to fix some problems with their printer on Windows 7, identified as 5.2. When I asked for this to download and install, it came back with errors. Well, my
printer is still working, but I don't know if the software was somehow fixed, and if
I will encounter problems with future updates from Windows 7 or HP. I sent HP an
email about the failure of their update 5.2, but have received no reply. These
companies really don't give you many details about what they are fixing and what
they apply to. Some of this may also be the result of getting the HP printers to
work with the relatively new Windows 7. Who knows, maybe they had an earlier
version on their site that worked with a Windows 7 Beta, but not the final version
of Windows 7. I assume that what I bought in the store a week aga was the final
release of Window's 7. Things are working, but I'm still in the dark.

Sherwin

 

[whest]

Well thats one problem you will easily forget.

 

[winterbanyan]

The last two Windows 7 (64-bit) updates in February 2015 killed my printer. The first time it failed to print anything but a word document. I finally got that repaired by installing a new printer driver (HP 6P). It happened again after the last update which I installed last week, and I spent over two hours fiddling around, the Fix It tool didn't work, Troubleshooting showed no problem with the printer.

In the end I had to use System Restore to a time prior to the updates. In the process it gave me a new printer driver. Again. Now it wants me to download an updated driver... which I watched update do during the restore process.

If Windows updates are putting my printer out of commission, then I'm unlikely to allow any more of them.

I'm posting this here because it seems as if it's the same problem related in the original comment, and System Restore finally provided the answer. This time.

 

[AddRAM]

Check those updates, if you don`t need them, don`t install them.

Are these updates related to Microsoft Office, or are they specific updates for your printer ?