my XPS 420

Could you tell us if the printer is connected wirelessly or through USB? Also just what happened during the HP Setup process?

I have an XPS-420 now running Win7 HP 64 bit and I have an HP Photosmart D7260 attached wirelessly with no problems once I ran the HP install process under Administrator privileges.

A lot of USB printers require you to start to install the driver before connecting the printer, and only connect the printer when the driver installation software tells you to connect it. Otherwise Windows might install the wrong driver and then things can get really fouled up.

If you connected the printer first, you may have to do a System Restore to last date available before you connected it. Then start over, following HP's instructions about which comes first, chicken or egg... :emotion-2:

If you do a System Restore, personal files won't be affected, but you will have to reinstall any updates (eg antiviral updates) or other software that was originally installed after the date used for the restore.

During set up it never "saw" the printer and suggested I finish the installation without connecting the printer.

I am the Administrator on my pc.

I don't have Windows 7.  Haven't decided if it is worth the upgrade.  dk

OK, a couple of things to try / feedback on.

1. I assume you are using a USB port on the machine itself as opposed to one connected via an external hub?
2. Have you tried another USB port on the machine - if not this may be worth a try.
3. What happens if you boot up the machine without the printer USB lead connected, and then when it has finished booting you plug the USB lead in and power on the printer. Do you hear a 'boing' noise and get a message about drivers being loaded?

You may be the Administrator but that is a bit different from running the install program as an administrator - by this I mean in order to get it to work consistently (not just to install the software) I eventually discovered that I needed to right mouse click on the HP setup program and then click on "Run as Administrator". Then I did not get software disappearing and lost connections to my printer - it made it all work perfectly (says he with fingers crossed).

As for Windows 7, personally I think it is well worth the difference - I had Vista on the machine when I bought it and found it a pig with all those messages cropping up and it ran in a fairly staccato fashion with numerous jerks - moving to Windows 7 eliminated 99% of the messages and the whole thing ran much smoother and it's much more like a PC should be, but your mileage may vary.

1.  Yes, it is connected by USB from printer to pc.

2.  Yes, I have tried several other ports and cables

3.  I have tried this without the printer connected.  I have restarted and shut down completely.  It doesn't even say, new hardware detected.  Nothing, nada . . .

I may re-try the Administrator install as you describe it. 

Surfing for a good price on Windows 7 and reading techie articles about it's difficulties.  I am working off my iPhone as a mobile hotspot - major downloading will take until Sunday to finish . . . hmmmmmm.  dk

Thanks for all that - it sounds like you have been quite thorough so far and done most of the obvious things in terms of swapping ports and cables. I'm a bit worried about your findings on point 3 since this could imply a possible problem with the printer - does the printer power up OK without any 'strange' messages on its control panel or display?

Unfortunately my printer is network attached so I can't exactly replicate your situation. Now I think I'm right in saying this printer only supports USB connectivity so you don't have any other option like wired or wireless network connections, so the printer was presumably working for the person you got it from - is it worth verifying this - I imagine the answer is yes, but I'll ask the question on the basis of "trust, but verify".

I don't think the Administrator option is going to make any difference here unfortunately - it was something I had to do to get my HP printer to work consistently - it did not affect the initial install - this always worked fine, I just always got various odd problems a couple of days down the road, no matter how many times I did the install until I explicitly ran it as an Administrator.

By the way although I sincerely believe Win 7 is a vast improvement on Vista I would hesitate to say you have to move to it, and I don't think it will impact this problem at all. My advice would be to leave Win 7 until after you have this issue resolved.

Is it possible the USB hub in the 420 has been disabled somehow - do other USB devices work with the ports and cables you have tried for the printer?

Did you try the System Restore to latest date available before your very first attempt to install the printer?

Couple of other things to try:

1. Disconnect all USB devices, except mouse and keyboard.
2. Connect printer after rebooting and try it now (It's possible the printer is overloading the USB hub so the PC is ignoring it)

If that doesn't help, with all USB devices disconnected, except mouse and keyboard:

1. Open Device Manager and expand list under USB.
2. Double-click on each USB root hub
3. Click its Power Management and make sure the box "Allow PC to turn off this device..." is NOT checked
4. Repeat for all root hubs, then reboot and try the printer again 

Finally:

1. Manually set a System Restore point, to be safe
2. Disconnect all USB devices except mouse and keyboard
3. Open Device Manager and expand list under USB
4. Right-click and Uninstall each USB root hub (When you delete the one with mouse or keyboard, they will stop working so save the one with mouse for last). Force a shut down by pressing/holding power button.
5. Reboot and let Windows reinstall the USB ports
6. Try installing the printer again, carefully following HP's instructions