Aarghhh - Got to Vent!

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monophoto

monophoto

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Mar 13, 2010
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On 28 February, I bought a new HP wireless printer. It prints beautifully, and initially it worked perfectly. But a couple of weeks later it started randomly disconnecting itself from the computer. These disconnections all happen while the computer is idle. The only way to solve the problem is to reboot the computer. This problem appeared at about the same time that Symantec downloaded and installed a new version of Norton Internet Security, and also about the same time that Apple downloaded a new version of iTunes.

There appears to be a link between the printer and iTunes - when the printer works, iTunes also works. But when the printer doesn't work, iTunes doesn't work either. I've found a number of reports on the web of known problems with recent versions of iTunes, and also problems where iTunes and wireless printers conflict.

Since this problem started, I've made three calls to HP (in the Philippines and Singapore), and five calls to Symantec (in India), spending at least seven hours on the phone. And so far, none of the service technicians has been minimally clueful or helpful. In the most recent call, the HP ervice tech reset all of the Norton settings invoked by the Norton technician, disabled the firewall, and then said that someone will call back tomorrow to see if I'm still having a problem.

Come on - what ever happened to competence and customer service?

:mad:
 
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I"m in a HP focus group and I can tell you that the major complaint from other members is the poor customer service. Not that they really pay attention to us on those matters. However, anytime they ask or give a survey that involves customer support I always blast them ;) I used to always buy HP printers but the last one I bought a few years ago was just garbage and I haven't purchased one since.
 
Tough Problems

You know I'm a little sympathetic with the vendor's on these things. It is no easy task to find a software problem that might well be in the OS, the printer software, Norton or iTunes. You might not be able to get that fixed over the phone.
 
try looking at your printer sharing make sure it is off. Also, if this is a wireless printer, it might be having issues with your firewalls on your Norton.
 
start off by dumping nortons...what a un-secure resource hog

do you have a static IP address for the printer?

some printers will go into sleep mode after 10 or 15 minutes
 
Unfortunately, you have many possibilities for problems. First level support reads from scripts, and normally won't know an IP from a donut. The install could have changed timeout settings on the network or any of a number of other settings.
Could you use System Restore to go back to the point in time where it worked?

The first thing I do with ANY software is to disable any automatic updates except for the antivirus download. If it is working the way I want, that is GOOD! Before doing any installs, updates, or upgrades, I take a snapshot of my hard drive.

I also make "snapshot" backups every month of so. This is an image of the hard drive of my machine so if anything goes wrong, I can restore the entire system back to the way it was on XXXX. System and programs are on one HD, Data Files on another, Downloads on another, and ARCHIVES on another. I keep about 3 or 4 of these on an external HD and I can restore it easily. I use an old program called GHOST, but there are several backup solutions that can do this.

PS. I understand your rage! I just had a go-around with my printer yesterday after it would not print an envelope that it printed beautifully the last time.
 
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More times than not, Friends and I have had problems with NORTON. It wants to control the computers, not just protect them.

To me the clue is that iTunes and Printer stop at the same time. I don't see them as interfering with each other but both are stopped due to a particular issue. On more than one occasion, I have found Norton to be the cause in "overprotecting" the system. I have solved many problems by turning Norton OFF. But of course, I recommend finding another protection software immediately upon fixing the problem.
 
leehljp said:
More times than not, Friends and I have had problems with NORTON. It wants to control the computers, not just protect them.

To me the clue is that iTunes and Printer stop at the same time. I don't see them as interfering with each other but both are stopped due to a particular issue. On more than one occasion, I have found Norton to be the cause in "overprotecting" the system. I have solved many problems by turning Norton OFF. But of course, I recommend finding another protection software immediately upon fixing the problem.
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100%......ditch 'Norton' and get something else that doesn't want to control the world!!!


Barney
 
Had issues with our all in one whiz bang printer copier fax jet pack and coffee maker until I ditched Norton. After several service calls to HP I was told to ditch Norton by a coworker and fine since-except for the way that puppy burns through ink.
 
Advice above is what you need to follow. Back out of your recent updates, starting with Norton (Stay out of email and downloading from the Internet while it's off). And if that fixes your printing problem then you've discovered the issue. If the people from Norton can't offer a fix, then find a replacement for them. If it doesn't, then try backing out iTunes and see what you get.

Just keep in mind you're smarter than the computer and think through it.
 
We do not buy HP printers any more. They have embedded a Code in the print cartridges which prevents a user from buying more reasonably priced ink.
 
I gave up on inkjet printers many years ago. Unless used regularly, the jets were always clogging. I keep two laser printers. A B&W one for most of my printing and a cheapy color laser (<$100) for the occasional color printout I need. I'm still on my original color toners 4 years later. It works each and every time I need it.

Also, I found that assigning my network printers to a static DHCP network address in my router helped immensely because now I know exactly where to find it when setting up your printer on a network computer. It's address used to keep changing whenever my router rebooted.
 
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