Will Windows XP solve all my problems?

[Cinna]

Hey everyone,


I've been having troubles with my computer printer for almost a year I think. It's a HP psc (printer scanner copier) 750. It worked okay when I first bought it...for 2 weeks. Then it kept having "communication" errors when I printed and stops randomly. It copies okay. It used to scan okay too just up to a month ago (it was perfect before then). Now it's incredibly slow. Before, it printed every few days or two. Now, it won't print at all anymore. As far as I know, I have the latest driver installed, power supply and USB cables are fine, heck, I've even called HP and they were not able to help me and now it's too late to return the printer.

Is there a good chance that by upgrading to Win XP, that the printer will be ready to work. I currently have Windows ME. I've heard that it's a bad OS, but what exactly is wrong with it? As well, if I do upgrade, what are issues that I need to address before making the move? Or, should I just buy a new printer and never look at an HP product ever again?


Thanks all!

[Killy]

I use WinME and I have had lots of printer-related problems in the past, plus I have had lots of random problems in the past. Chaing for XP seems like a good thing to do.

[BlkKnight]

ME is the least stable of the whole 95/98/ME series. So upgrading from ME to XP is practically a must.

[Rainecloud]

I upgraded from ME to 98 (:D) to XP, and I've not had many problems since doing so.

Sure, the usual set of blatantly stupid IE errors is included free of charge, but apart from that, my system is more stable than it's ever been.

[Rostum]

Printers always cause trouble. ;_;

[Citizen Bleys]

XP has the best driver base of all of Microsoft's operating systems, unsurprisingly, and it sounds like what you're having is a driver issue.

Plus, ME has the WORST driver base of all Microsoft's operating systems. You'd probably have fewer problems if you upgraded to MS-DOS 2.11.

[Dr Unne]

You buy an OS from Microsoft, and it sucks, so you're going to spend $200 to buy another one, and in 3 years when you realize XP sucks too, you'll spend $300 for Windoze 2003. Yay for rewarding MS for making sucky products. XP sucks about as hard as any other version of Windoze. I just got to do a total reinstall of Windoze XP for my parents yesterday because half the services on the computer refused to start any longer, giving me an ever-so-helpful 1068 error. Their computer has printer problems too; the printer spits out blank sheets of paper between every real page it prints, and half the pages it does print are half-blank. But that's not the reason I had to reinstall the OS, it just imploded.

One issue involved in the move is that some of your old software is likely not to work because XP isn't very backwards-compatible with old versions of Windoze. You're also likely to need more RAM, due to the bloat of XP and the resources it hogs. Any time you try to do an "upgrade" in Windoze, things are almost certain to break in exciting and unexpected ways. I wouldn't even dream of attempting an upgrade. I'd format the harddrive and install the new version of Windows from scratch.

If you feel like blowing a couple hundred dollars though, go for it.

[Rainecloud]

I wouldn't even dream of attempting an upgrade. I'd format the harddrive and install the new version of Windows from scratch.

That's the easiest way to fix any random error in Windows. Just reformat.

[crono_logical]

I suppose I'm happy with WinXP because I've got 3 copies now, and all legit too :p Free software from uni is always good :D Anyway, XP isn't as bad as Unne is making it out to be, it's the first Windows I've thought was actually worth being used as a desktop Windows OS (2000, although at least as stable as XP, is still a bit clunky for home and especially for entertainment use).

I guess Activation (in any recent MS product) is the biggest turn off for me though - I don't have any software installed which has required activating at some point.

[Peegee]

I can run XP on 64 megs of ram. I said 'run', not 'run well', or 'having it perform at all'.

Well it does do stuff, but all I have it do is sit there while I back up stuff from my hard drive :p

[Cinna]

I recently upgraded to XP. yay me. Well, things look a lot nicer.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the printer (on DOT_sumthing) port (USB 1.0) and am still having problems. I chose the correct driver installed on XP corresponding to my machine and it still isn't working well. It prints a half way and stops due to a communication error. Maybe I have a bad USB port?


HELP!

[Peegee]

Well the only way to find out if the port is bad is...cracking it open. No I jest. Plug in something else, like a (web)cam or a digicam or something. If you lack such peripherals try installing the printer on a friend's computer and see if it prints.

[crono_logical]

USB ports usually come in 2's or 3's anyway, try one of the other ones to see if it's really the port.

[Doomgaze]

Hm, you COULD get Linux.
Which probably doesn't have drivers for your printer.
So you could use it as a paperweight.
But not before drawing an uberleet penguin on it.

[Dr Unne]

I have yet to own a printer that doesn't work in Linux.

[crono_logical]

I bet the printer offered by this company (http://www.dimensionprinting.com/3Dprinting.html) doesn't have linux drivers yet :D

[Doomgaze]

$29,900? So it's about the same as an inkjet, with cartridges.

[Cinna]

How come after upgrading, I keep getting error messages every 5 minutes of using IE6, forcing me to restart in one minute? How can I stop this? What happened to the "most stable" MS OS ever?

[crono_logical]

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5FA055AE-A1BA-4D4A-B424-95D32CFC8CBA&displaylang=en

That is, if you can manage to download the patch before getting hit by the worm that's forcing you to reboot again :p It's stable apart from the odd nasty security holes, including that one, and a Universal Plug and Play one, which you can also patch. I'd suggest getting the SP1 patch afterwards though for the average user.

[Cinna]

Thank you Guu, It also seems that my computer is sending a lot more information (the little icon in the tray) than it has before. I don't like the looks of that at all! Also, how do I get Webwasher to work again. Even though its loaded it doesn't do what it once did.

[Doomgaze]

2 months from now...


Cinna:

Thanks, Guu, that helped with the USB ports spewing blood. But now I think the PC is trying to molest me... it watches me at night and beeps suggestively, and I think it communes with demons when I'm not looking. What should I do?

Guu:

Reformat. Or call a priest.

Unne:

Gentoo never molested ME!