Here's what I've done so far. I downloaded and ran the print doctor troubleshooting program. It says everything is okay, and if I'm still having problems it says to contact HP support, which is a pay service. As far as deleting the driver and re-installing it, I no longer have the driver disc that came with the printer, and when I try to download the driver from an online source, it won't download. I'm guessing this is also something that has to be paid extra for. At the top of the page when trying to print there are some icons for changing how the doc is printed. There is a space where you can change the size in percentage, another icon rotates the doc on the page 90 degrees each click, and changing these settings does nothing to change the size or the positioning of the doc when its printed. It acts like the driver has been corrupted somehow, but I don't dare uninstall the driver, because I have no way of reinstalling it. I may be forced to either contact HP support and pay them to resolve this issue, or buy a new printer. That will probably create another problem as I bet none of the new printers will be compatible with Windows 7. UGH!
Anyone in here a guru on printers?
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
Do not delete the old printer yet. Go through "Add new printer" let it detect and install the same printer again then it will show both the old install and the new one in the list. Try using the new one.
HP has drivers free on their site, somewhere. Be careful you're going directly to HP as there are a lot of bogus sites.
And the obligatory QUIT USING WINDOWS 7. In 10 Microsoft has integrated almost all previous major brand printer drivers as part of Windows.
HP has drivers free on their site, somewhere. Be careful you're going directly to HP as there are a lot of bogus sites.
And the obligatory QUIT USING WINDOWS 7. In 10 Microsoft has integrated almost all previous major brand printer drivers as part of Windows.
Windows has built-in drivers. You don't need the disc (I haven't used those garbage-filled discs in decades - they usually install tons of bloatware).
That is not ideal. The correct way to install a printer is to run the manufacturer's driver package installer "IF" available for the target OS, NOT to let windows plug and play some old and crippled built in driver, and potentially one that is more subject to problems after successive windows updates.
That is exactly what you shouldn't want, a crippled integrated driver.
Never use windows integrated drivers if you can help it. That does not mean you necessarily want the old driver on the original disc either, it too has potential bugs that newer versions fixed. It is funny how people gravitate towards a newer OS to fix problems they don't have, yet are resistant to newer drivers for same reason if not problems or added features.
No, I've never heard of having to pay for driver updates for a consumer printer.
Can you link to that driver or at least clarify that you're using the x64 version of Win7 and it's at least at Service Pack 1 level?
The drivers are on this page: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-deskjet-3700-all-in-one-printer-series/model/11262035
I had no problem doing a test download. Try this link to it:
As far as being worried whether deleting it will cause a problem, you're making a full OS partition backup anyway, right? If there's a problem, you can just restore that partition backup and be right back where you started.
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He's using Windows 7 and can't get a printer to work. Do you really think he is making backups?
He's using Windows 7 and having trouble getting a printer to work. Do you really think he is making backups?
Agree you have an unsupported operating system(Win7) and likely on your own with print driver they don’t support or want to.
In order to quit using windows 7 I would have to get a new computer. I don't think this one would support 10...
Given the circumstances here
, I'm confident this is the best solution. I haven't used a manufacturer-supplied "install" disk for a printer since Windows XP and have never had an issue.You don't get it. Mysteriously changing printer settings are the least of your concerns if you insist on continuing to use Windows 7.
What are the computer's specs?
TBH, Win10 and Win11 has done a pretty good job at automatically downloading the proper drivers for most printers now unless it's like a 20-year old printer. The only times my end-users need manufacture-specific drivers/programs like HP Smart is when scanning to PC without using Windows fax & scan.
You still don't get it. The worst thing to do is pretend that someone should change their OS instead of just fixing the specific problem.
There are no concerns running Win7 if it supports what you need out of the system. Apparently it does, except for this specific problem with the printer. Similar problems happen with Win10 all the time. It is not some desirable change, just another variable added.
That would be an arbitrary assumption. Making backups is prudent on any Windows OS based system. Switching to Win10 is not, necessarily. It is far more reckless to run Win10 without backups, than Win7 with them. No contest, never upgrade OS if you can't even get the basics right.
So yes, it is more important to make backups, we should expect people to more readily do that than mindlessly switch their OS and be right back in the same boat of not being able to fix problems because no backup.
I didn't suggest to use the manufacturer supplied install disk. Get the most recent driver from the manufacture. This does not depend on whether it is WinXP, 7, or 10. Crippled auto-install drivers from Microsoft are... crippled (and usually older/buggier).Given the circumstances here
What makes 7 unusable now when it worked with this printer before?
