Windows 7 and HP Photosmart C7180 Problems

[WAeyes]

I have this HP 7180 printer installed on my old 2000 Dell 8200 desktop with XP and it seems to work fine using a usb cable.

I recently added a new Dell Vostro 1720 laptop with Windows 7 32 bit to my network. I wanted to be able to print wireless with this laptop so I set up the printer to work by wireless signal...everything set up fine and I went through the add a printer on the laptop.

Problem is that it won't print 95% of the time with the wireless laptop. Occasionally I get a day where it will print flawlessly all day and then it goes for weeks without working again and repeats this. I tried bringing the laptop right next to the printer to make sure it wasn't a signal issue and no luck.

I also plugged in the usb to the laptop and got mixed results...sometimes it worked and sometimes not but the laptop always recognized the printer so I assume it is not a compatibility issue but not sure.

Last night I went to the HP site and downloaded the most recent driver recommended and still no luck. I also tried to delete the printer off the laptop and then install it from the original disc. I noticed on the disc that Windows 7 was not listed as an acceptable OS...not surprising since it was not out yet but HP says it is compatible with Windows 7 and had the updated driver so I assume it should be compatible?

Problem is that when I was trying to install it with the disc, I got an error message stating something about not being the computer administrator and something else I don't remember. I assume it was more about that the disc did not recognize the OS. Anyway, I could not proceed with installation from the disc either.

Any ideas on how I can get this printer to work on this wireless laptop or is this printer just not going to be compatible with Windows 7? Thanks for your help

 

[fishnbanjo]

If the printer is Vista compatible I suggest running it in Vista compatibility mode and keep looking to see if HP updates the driver for it.

 

[WAeyes]

Thanks for the reply. I had downloaded the most recent driver available at the HP site but was still having the same problem.

I do have an update to this problem and hope someone can shed some light on a solution. I have now found out that if I delete the printer from the computer and then add it on again as a new printer, it will work just fine until I shut down the computer.

When I turn the computer back on and try to print something, it may say "ready" or "offline" but it will not print again until I remove the printer off the computer and do a fresh add printer process again. Then, if I shut down the computer again...same thing repeats.

Does anyone have any idea what my quirky little problem might be as to why the computer can't get the printer to print after a boot up?

Thanks - Pat