Scanning problems with HP All-in-one

Sorry to post about this issue one more time... It still hasn't been resolved
(after 10 back-and-forth e-mails with HP technical support), and I really
need your help!

First off, I run Windows Vista Home Premium (32). I've used my HP Photosmart
C4280 printer for about 2 years, worked fine for the most part. Lately I
started having problems, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver &
software (got the latest versions from HP download site). Since reinstall, my
scanner isn't working. Whether I press the "Scan" button on the unit, or I
select "Scan picture" or "Scan document" from the HP Solution Center, an
error pops up: "An error occurred communicating with the scanning device.
Please ensure that the printing device is properly connected and try again".

Also, I've uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers/software several
times, cleaned temporary files and registry, still the problem persists.

Having said that, the printing/copying works fine, so I know that the
printer is properly connected.

BTW, tried connecting the same printer to a friend's PC running Windows XP
and it scans with no problem, so the issue must have something to do with HP
interacting (non-interacting) with Vista.

Please help!!!

Scanning with HP all in ones using Vista is a disaster. I've been trying to
get them to write a patch but zero response. You can scan but only to
picture format - .btmp, .jpeg, etc. That means you can't OCR anything which
is a real problem for me. If you're willing to accept the picture format,
just turn on the printer, go to Programs/Accessories and open Paint. Click
on File then "From Scanner or Camera" then click Scan. If HP ever comes up
with a patch, I'll post the information.

"civ2ru" wrote:

> Sorry to post about this issue one more time... It still hasn't been resolved
> (after 10 back-and-forth e-mails with HP technical support), and I really
> need your help!
>
> First off, I run Windows Vista Home Premium (32). I've used my HP Photosmart
> C4280 printer for about 2 years, worked fine for the most part. Lately I
> started having problems, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver &
> software (got the latest versions from HP download site). Since reinstall, my
> scanner isn't working. Whether I press the "Scan" button on the unit, or I
> select "Scan picture" or "Scan document" from the HP Solution Center, an
> error pops up: "An error occurred communicating with the scanning device.
> Please ensure that the printing device is properly connected and try again".
>
> Also, I've uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers/software several
> times, cleaned temporary files and registry, still the problem persists.
>
> Having said that, the printing/copying works fine, so I know that the
> printer is properly connected.
>
> BTW, tried connecting the same printer to a friend's PC running Windows XP
> and it scans with no problem, so the issue must have something to do with HP
> interacting (non-interacting) with Vista.
>
> Please help!!!
>

Carol - thank you for your reply! Actually, I found a better / more versatile
workaround scanning solution for image formats in Vista, through Windows
Photo Gallery. As far as scanning to PDF, one can always use doPDF or cutePDF
to convert from image format (through virtual printing). Also, there is a
little freeware program called Scan2PDF that allows for scanning a
several-page PDF - but you can't crop with it...

All workarounds aside, I still can't make my All-in-one HP software to work
as it once did. So the verdict is - HP makes good products and very very
crappy software! :-(

"Carol" wrote:

> Scanning with HP all in ones using Vista is a disaster. I've been trying to
> get them to write a patch but zero response. You can scan but only to
> picture format - .btmp, .jpeg, etc. That means you can't OCR anything which
> is a real problem for me. If you're willing to accept the picture format,
> just turn on the printer, go to Programs/Accessories and open Paint. Click
> on File then "From Scanner or Camera" then click Scan. If HP ever comes up
> with a patch, I'll post the information.
>
> "civ2ru" wrote:
>
> > Sorry to post about this issue one more time... It still hasn't been resolved
> > (after 10 back-and-forth e-mails with HP technical support), and I really
> > need your help!
> >
> > First off, I run Windows Vista Home Premium (32). I've used my HP Photosmart
> > C4280 printer for about 2 years, worked fine for the most part. Lately I
> > started having problems, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver &
> > software (got the latest versions from HP download site). Since reinstall, my
> > scanner isn't working. Whether I press the "Scan" button on the unit, or I
> > select "Scan picture" or "Scan document" from the HP Solution Center, an
> > error pops up: "An error occurred communicating with the scanning device.
> > Please ensure that the printing device is properly connected and try again".
> >
> > Also, I've uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers/software several
> > times, cleaned temporary files and registry, still the problem persists.
> >
> > Having said that, the printing/copying works fine, so I know that the
> > printer is properly connected.
> >
> > BTW, tried connecting the same printer to a friend's PC running Windows XP
> > and it scans with no problem, so the issue must have something to do with HP
> > interacting (non-interacting) with Vista.
> >
> > Please help!!!
> >

Thank you - best info I received so far foir a frustraing problem.
"Carol" wrote:

> Scanning with HP all in ones using Vista is a disaster. I've been trying to
> get them to write a patch but zero response. You can scan but only to
> picture format - .btmp, .jpeg, etc. That means you can't OCR anything which
> is a real problem for me. If you're willing to accept the picture format,
> just turn on the printer, go to Programs/Accessories and open Paint. Click
> on File then "From Scanner or Camera" then click Scan. If HP ever comes up
> with a patch, I'll post the information.
>
> "civ2ru" wrote:
>
> > Sorry to post about this issue one more time... It still hasn't been resolved
> > (after 10 back-and-forth e-mails with HP technical support), and I really
> > need your help!
> >
> > First off, I run Windows Vista Home Premium (32). I've used my HP Photosmart
> > C4280 printer for about 2 years, worked fine for the most part. Lately I
> > started having problems, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver &
> > software (got the latest versions from HP download site). Since reinstall, my
> > scanner isn't working. Whether I press the "Scan" button on the unit, or I
> > select "Scan picture" or "Scan document" from the HP Solution Center, an
> > error pops up: "An error occurred communicating with the scanning device.
> > Please ensure that the printing device is properly connected and try again".
> >
> > Also, I've uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers/software several
> > times, cleaned temporary files and registry, still the problem persists.
> >
> > Having said that, the printing/copying works fine, so I know that the
> > printer is properly connected.
> >
> > BTW, tried connecting the same printer to a friend's PC running Windows XP
> > and it scans with no problem, so the issue must have something to do with HP
> > interacting (non-interacting) with Vista.
> >
> > Please help!!!
> >

I'm on a chat with HP support. About to try uninstall and installing latest
update. I have same issue you have except I don't get any error msg. I can
see the scan preview, but can't get the scanned image in browser. It was
working for the last year on this system...so I suspect MS auto update to op
sys. I'll let you know if I find a soln....duffer


"civ2ru" wrote:

> Sorry to post about this issue one more time... It still hasn't been resolved
> (after 10 back-and-forth e-mails with HP technical support), and I really
> need your help!
>
> First off, I run Windows Vista Home Premium (32). I've used my HP Photosmart
> C4280 printer for about 2 years, worked fine for the most part. Lately I
> started having problems, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver &
> software (got the latest versions from HP download site). Since reinstall, my
> scanner isn't working. Whether I press the "Scan" button on the unit, or I
> select "Scan picture" or "Scan document" from the HP Solution Center, an
> error pops up: "An error occurred communicating with the scanning device.
> Please ensure that the printing device is properly connected and try again".
>
> Also, I've uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers/software several
> times, cleaned temporary files and registry, still the problem persists.
>
> Having said that, the printing/copying works fine, so I know that the
> printer is properly connected.
>
> BTW, tried connecting the same printer to a friend's PC running Windows XP
> and it scans with no problem, so the issue must have something to do with HP
> interacting (non-interacting) with Vista.
>
> Please help!!!
>

Just in case that the Hp Solution Center is the culprit, try to scan
with Paint (from All Programs > Accessories). Click "File" and go to "
From scanner or camera".


--
whs

the only problem is that Windows is not even recognizing my scanner (it is
part of an all-in-one printer and it doesn't show up under Cameras or
Scanners). Any suggestions?

"whs" wrote:

>
> Just in case that the Hp Solution Center is the culprit, try to scan
> with Paint (from All Programs > Accessories). Click "File" and go to "
> From scanner or camera".
>
>
> --
> whs
>

The only other idea I can think of is that your printer/scanner is
running on the wrong driver. I saw that you downloaded the "latest"
driver, but maybe that is not the right one.


--
whs