HP Printer problem in XP

[hookette]

I have an HP laser printer connected to an XP network via lan cable. I can reinstall the printer and it works perfectly fine. Leave it overnight and it stops works. Can't ping it can't do anything. It is setup with TCP/IP.

Any ideas how to stop this so it works all the time?

Thanks

 

[DNicol]

How are you setting the IP address for this? You mostly will want to use a static ip address assigned to the printer.

 

[UncleRick]

Are you connected to a switch?

I have seen where a switch will drop a connections if there is traffic on the port for a preset amount of time. If this is the case you can try a couple of things. First, see if the switch is programmable. If it is then you can set it up to leave the port open. If it is not programmable you can set the printer up to barf traffic all the time. This sucks because it adds network traffic but if you have a small underutilized LAN then it is a cheap solution. Set the printer up to connect to a WINS server that doesn't exist. That will keep her chatting ;-)

a simple test would be to get a cheap hub somewhere and connect the printer and a workstation to the hub. get a hub you can up-link to the network. anyway if the workstation can always see the printer you know it was the switch. If the problem still exists try looking at the network card on the printer.

Good luck and have fun,

 

[hookette]

The printer has a static address and yes it's connected via a switch. Hmmm...It's a brand new printer (I know that doesn't mean the NIC is good, but still, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt). I'll see if it keeps happening and try the hub thing. The switch is old, so not programmable. I'll definitely try the WINS thing...it is a very small network and shouldn't matter if the printer is constantly talking.

Thanks for the help!!!!!!!!