Photosmart 7960

I'm using MS Vista and I have a HP Photosmart 7960 printer. Of course HP has
provided a "Basic Driver with limited functionality only" which leaves me
wanting more. One question I have is how can you tell the ink cartridge's
levels without wasting a good sheet of photo paper? Is there a
freeware/shareware program available to do this?

I had the same problems with the 7960 printer. My answer - get rid of the
printer and buy one from another company that works with Vista. Maybe if
enough consumers did this then maybe HP will wake up to the fact the fact
that we are not prepared to put up with their shabby treatment of we pc
users.

"jimrx4" <jimrx4@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:B35558CB-4EE2-4D91-8326-9E2E15185015@microsoft.com...
> I'm using MS Vista and I have a HP Photosmart 7960 printer. Of course HP
> has provided a "Basic Driver with limited functionality only" which leaves
> me wanting more. One question I have is how can you tell the ink
> cartridge's levels without wasting a good sheet of photo paper? Is there a
> freeware/shareware program available to do this?

Try installing the full HP XP Software using Compatibility mode set to
XP with SP2 and checking Run as Administrator.

Remove any icons for the printer that show in Control Panel /
Printers after unplugging the USB cable from the PC end (evenif it's
more difficult to get at and leave it unplugged until the installation
procedure tells you to plug it in or you get to [Finish].

Worked for me with my PS8250 -- you need more than just a driver; you
need the general software they supply.

[Dorthy]

If you run a test page from the Tools menu (Press the Menu button on the front of the printer, use the arrow keys to selet tools, then press OK, select Print Test Page, press OK), the test page will give a percentage of the ink remaining in each cartrige.