HP ALL IN ONE Printer Installation Problem

Ok. i see this is a commn problem and hopefully someone has a solution. After spending the good part of 5 hours with HP tech support to diagnose the problem it turns out that my dell dimension 3000 is rejecting the hp software. i have tried to contact dell tech support via their chat but i think i would have a better chance of raising elvis from the dead than getting someone to chat.  on every attempt to install the software for officejet 4215 the computer gets hung up at step 1 "Checking Hardware". Mind you, I have not attached the printer yet to this point. I have numerous times uninstalled the failed hp software so as to remove that conflict. can someone tell me what i need from dell and where i can find the info to fix my problem.