HP Deskjet 610CL does not work in Win 98

[Icepop]

After many hours and much research I'm at the end of my rope. Here's the problem. I can't get my friend's 610CL to work even though I have followed HP install guidelines. She was given old computer and <i>known working</i> printer. She has no restore or OS disks and I think she has the Win 3.1 upgraded to Win98SE problem as mentioned on HP's website.

So how do I remove (and unregister?) the old Win3.1 drivers? HP says they have to be removed before the upgrade but gives no further info. So can anybody shed some light?

<color red>Please help</color>. I have tried almost everything. Files will not print to printer and do not show up in queue when spooled.

 

[diogenes10]

Do you have any other hp devices attached to the machine?

 

[diogenes10]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/support/windows/readme/98/w98printerstxt.asp

Microsoft instructions.

 

[diogenes10]

I just found something else that might be useful.

I've installed several deskjet printers on my system (win98). Awhile back I got tired of seeing leftovers from the old printers and attempted to use brute force to remove all Hewlett Packard entries from my system and start over with reinstalls of current printers.

I was just looking through my win.ini file ( start, run, msconfig, win.ini tab ) and found a couple of entries that did not get removed in the above process. I had to uncheck them so they would not run in startup. They are for
HPFECP20, HP Deskjet 610C series . I also discovered there is still an HPFECP20.dll file in my registry.

When looking for links for you, I'd also found this which related to win 3.0

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;81626

So, a possible approach might be to
Uninstall the printer through the control panel.
Then start through the ms win 3.0 printer removal process (probably starting with #6).
Then remove the registry entries for the printer too-probably HPFECP20 if it's like mine. (The one left on mine is showing in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)
( I would probably reboot before and after the registry steps-dont know if it matters.)
And then try reinstall of printer.

There are folders and other registry entries you could remove while you're at it, if there are no other HP devices attached.

The main problem I have in suggesting these things is that I do not know what level of risk is involved and without o/s or restore disks you run the risk of loosing the entire system. I would try to find some way to get a backup before I did a lot of messing with it. And same for after it's fixed, I'd get another backup at that time as a restore point in case of virus or other problems.

 

[Icepop]

Thanks Diogenes10 for the link. Printer is the only HP hardware and no other peripherals. Serial mouse tho.
HP is'nt much help, I'm afraid.

I don't think deleting the printer profile gets rid of references to the drivers in the registry or config files. Seems I need the cd to uninstall properly. My guess is that the old drivers were not removed before the latest drivers were installed.

Is there a way to uninstall those old 3.1 drivers manually? I'm not even sure I can identify all of them. As I said, no OS or restore disk for this machine. Printing is a big part of what she uses her computer for.

Thanks again,

Icepop

 

[Icepop]

Hey Diogenes10, you're a step ahead of me.

The risk is low but so is the income . Backups are no problem and thanks for stressing that point. I'm a big believer. I can get her back up the long way if it blows up.

I will try procedure. Will be an adventure cuz I don't know what brand of printer previously installed! I don't know how I can identify the specific driver I'm looking for unless the name and/or model no. are mentioned in the win.ini file. Will check when I'm back in front of it.

Thanks,

Icepop

 

[diogenes10]

Magic jelly bean for os install number before you tinker with registry.

Things to look at:

Start, settings, control panel, add/remove programs
Is there an entry something like hp 610 series printers remove only?

Start, run, type &quot;msconfig&quot; w/o quotes, press enter, click win.ini tab, scroll down
are there any entries for HPFECP20 and/or hp 610 or 612 printer?

My computer, C, program files, is there a folder for something like hp 610 series?

My general approach would be something like
Uninstall through control panel if option available.
If not, uninstall from hp directory if I can find a program.
If not, unistall from control panel/printers.
(and check to be sure printer went away if using 1 or 2)

Remove all hp folders I can find in C, Crogram files, and c:\program files\shared files

reboot to free registry.
Registry. I use jv16 power tools (win98se) Ive not had any problems, there are those on the forums that have-risk here is yours.
I would run search option of jv power tools for things like Hewlett, Packard, and HPFECP20, and delete everything it found. Prob reboot again.

Then I'd look at MS uninstall procedure and look at win.ini file and see if any hp stuff was left-if so decide whether to follow ms procedure and delete or just uncheck in ms config.

reboot again
cross fingers ?

run 610 install from downloaded diskette set.

Probably wont be able to check back again tonight or at least not until really late.

Good luck.

 

[diogenes10]

Scanned back over your post, three other comments

I messed up an hp laserjet installation by uninstalling from control panel instead of using remove program, reinstalling and using remove program helped clean up some of the leftovers. I know its an extra step feeding diskettes, but might help a bit here too if applicable.

Regular forum comment for those having trouble with HP drivers is to not install toolbox, just driver (i think thats the inf file?)

Non hp printers may not be an issue to get files entirely out of system, I would definitely try just unchecking them in msconfig for a start rather than going to trouble of editing win.ini.

Got to go good luck.

 

[Icepop]

Diogenes10 said: &quot;Magic jelly bean for os install number before you tinker with registry.&quot;

That worries me because I don't know what it means. I will back up the reg.

Thanks for your help. Will keep you posted.

Icepop

 

[diogenes10]

Sorry I was late leaving and thinking/typing fast.

There are posts that show up in win95-98 forum that go something like &quot;I've lost my windows install key. How can i find it.&quot; If windows is still operating on the system a common recommendation is to run a utility called magic jelly bean. Just thought that might be an appropriate piece of backup info in this situation.

 

[Icepop]

Not a problem, thx. I did write down install # from Computer properties -->General Tab, but not same as key, I don't think.

Anyway, I'm in the middle of process, with all traces of HP printers removed from system (yes, fingers crossed). I don't see where any 3.1 drivers were referenced, but there did appear to be multiple instances of HP drivers. Defragging now.

Quick question: Is anybody familiar with the role of gendrv.dll and unidrv.dll? Are they default drivers for minimal printer functions?

Later, Icepop