960 All In One Printer Rarely scans

kelleyz,

 

Let's try re-installing the drivers this way and make sure the printer is installed correctly.

 

Disconnect your printer. Download and run this patch to completely remove the printer from your computer.

 

Restart your computer.

 

Download the proper drivers.

 

XP Drivers

 

Vista 32-bit Drivers

 

All other drivers

 

Install the proper drivers. You'll be prompted when to connect your printer(powered on)

 

Please remember to install the latest firmware for the A960 Printer.

 

 

Go to device manager.(right click my computer, left click preperties, left click hardware, left click device mananger)

 

Go to the USB Controllers section and click the + sign. 

 

Go to each USB Root Hub and right click on it, left click properties, left click power management. Uncheck the box, allow computer to turn off this device to save power.

Scanning

 

Scanning using USB connection, open the Dell All-In-One Center, click on scanning and copying and scan from there.

 

Scanning wirelessly, use the scan buttons on the printer.

 

 

Rick

Well I tried everything you mentioned.  The only part that worked is the patch to remove the printer.  Then when I try to install the driver from your link it says printer isn't connected. However I let windows automatically install the printer and I was able to get my printer back online. Then I tried to install the firmware but that gets a time out error around 80%.

I'm running windows xp on a sony vaio  vgc-rb44g.  I have had this problem for the entire 2 years I've owned this printer.  sometimes it scans, sometimes it doesn't....

kelleyz,

 

Let's add a step this time.

 

Disconnect your printer. Download and run this patch to completely remove the printer from your computer.

 

Restart your computer.

 

Download the proper drivers.

 

XP Drivers

 

Vista 32-bit Drivers

 

All other drivers

 

 

Go to device manager(right click my computer, left click properties, left click hardware, left click device manager)

Go to the USB Controller section and click the + sign.

Starting at the bottom, USB Root Hubs, and working your way to the top, USB Universal Controllers, un-install everything in that section.

Restart your computer. Windows will find everything again and correct the problem one. Please be patient. The new hardware wizard may work 3-5 minutes before it's done.

 

Install the proper drivers. You'll be prompted when to connect your printer(powered on)

 

Please remember to install the latest firmware for the A960 Printer.

I tried this with the added step, still no luck.  When I click on the printer driver it says printer is not connected, like before though windows found the printer and I pointed it to the printer driver folder which was installed when I tried to install the printer driver and it seemed to install, however it did say to insert the cd to get the rest of the software available for the printer. I assume this is the all in one center software which I no longer have on my computer since I used the patch to uninstall and of course I can't locate the cd right now. Is this cd available for download or sale?

Then I tried the firmware update and got the following error again:

Timeout Error: A problem has occured with the firmware update procedure.

kelleyz,

 

The firmware will not install unless the printer is connected. Did you try a different USB port? Did you try a different USB Cable(one under 4 ft.). USB Cables don't carry much current and a long cable over 4 ft will, for the most part not work.

 

 

Rick

Yes I tried all the usb ports but! My usb cable is 10 feet long, I've been using this cable ever since I got the printer. Could this be the whole problem with the sporadic scanning issues?  I'm going to look for a shorter cable and give it a try, hope I have one here.

What about the all in one center software? can I purchase that again since I seem to have lost my cd?

 

kelleyz,

 

Once you get the shorter USB Cable, then before you do anything. Do the simple procedure, disconnect the printer, run that ptach, restart the computer, install the proper drivers, you'll be prompter when to connect the printer. Then install the firmware. The Dell All-In-One Center is in the drivers package and will install properly when everything else is installed.

 

 

Rick

I bought a new USB cable today, it is only 3 feet long and I still get the same error (a timeout error when trying to install the firmware update). I am able to install the printer driver but only by doing so manually, the executable still does not work - can't find the printer. And I still can't run the firmware update.  I notice when I try to install the software that it says it is for all kinds of Dell computers. I'm trying to install this on a Sony, would that make a difference?

Since I can't get the executeable to work I also do not have the all in one center installed anymore.

Any other ideas?

I wish I could find the cd that came with this printer.  Then I'd be able to get it back to the state it was in before when I could occasionally scan things for awhile.  I'm hoping you have another idea to try.

kelleyz,

 

Your Sony computer has all the Windows updates, especially the custom ones. Net Framework is needed to run many applications. Also make sure that you have the latest Java. The last person that had problems installing the printer had to repair Microsoft Windows. If you have to do that, then I would suggest that you make backup copies or files and folders that you cannot afford to lose. This should be a normal practice anyway. If your computer crashed today, woulf you have the files and folders that you cannot afford to lose???

 

To repair Windows.

 

Put the operating system in the cd rom and restart your computer.

 

Press any key to boot from cd.

 

Choose install.

 

Do the agreement.

 

Now choose repair. This is how it's don on most computer but some act differently. On my Dell, I do NOT lose any files and folders. On Compaq and HP, it like you just got the computer from the factory. Unknown how Sony's act.

 

Make sure to get all the Windows Updates again.

 

 

Rick

kelleyz,

 

Printer will NOT work with the printer flashing. It's like a fail safe and it will not work until the error(being low ink) is fixed. Same goes for a paper jam. You need to replace the ink cartride before the printer will install.

 

Your printer used Dell Series 2 ink cartridges. They can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.  Dell Series 2 ink cartridges have a sensor in tem and cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink Cartridges.

 

 

Rick

Most of the time, when an Windows user has problems such as you describe, the problem is software, usually the Windows System. I have a major brand name all-in-one that installed and runs beautifully on my IBM Thinkpad Win 2000 Pro system & my Linux systems but installing it to my Windows XP Media Center system was a clown show. The problem was entirely with Windows. I get everything to run perfectly. I just get goofy messages as you do. I got rid of the worst of them by running Glary Utilities (a free program you can get from download.com). Although the software & drivers loaded and work great, XP doesn't "remember" the printer is installed each time its turned on. I get "new hardware"a series of nonsense messages, and a final "Printer will not run properly" message. I just get rid of the message & error boxes and use the all-in-one. Scanner and all work just fine. I had to manually install all the components as XP refused to do it. 

There is one Windows malfunction that I 'Ctrl Alt Delete' and click "stop" to get rid of. In my opinion, Windows 2000 Pro is the only good operating system Microsofthead ever released and forced on people. There was really no need to move on to XP which is just a highly bloated version of 2000. Clearly, the reason for moving on to Vista was to retain the loyalty of Microsoft Computing Cartel members by pleasing them with a flood of new software and hardware sales forced on consumers by the shift from XP (WIN NT with a lot of bloat on top) to a Win Server 2003 based O/S called Vista.

Always remember that the two major reasons your PC malfunctions are due Windows malfunctions and most of those are caused by the goofy Registry and poor software engineering that causes file fragmentation & nonstop security holes. Keep those under control and your XP experience will be much different. They only utilities that I know of that work properly to keep Windows stable and functioning near properly are both free. Glary Utilities and Auslogics Disk Defrag. Download, install and run these regularly. You will be glad you did. I run Glary each day before I shut down my Win XP PC and I run Auslogics every third day (I copy DVDs. The software puts a heavy load on the hard disk.)

By the way, all of my USB cables are 16 foot long and all 8 of my USB ports are in use and I experience no problems with them. Even my 6 year old IBM notebook with 2 USB ports and two four port hubs runs all 10 ports with 10ft cables no problemo. I also use 27 foot ethernet cables.

Do check your cable it may have deteriated. Get a friend to let you try to run your printer system on their PC. Maybe its defective. 

Right now is an excellent time to get a new major brand all-in-one (HP, Canon, Epson) at a seriously marked down price. Watch your local Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Circuit City fliers & major online sellers Tigerdirect.com, Egghead.com, UnityElectronics, JustDeals, etc. One of them has a brand name all-in-one for $49. 

Major brand name printers are about the same in quality. I buy according to what specs I need and what inkjet cartridges it takes. Lexmark often runs unbelieveable low prices on great printers but it turns out to be a setup to skin you alive with expensive inkjet cartridges. Make sure the printer you buy takes a cartridge that is used in several different printers and has been around a few years. For example the HP No. 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 56, 57, 58 and check eBay, Amazon, & Google for respectible sellers who stock third party makers and refurbishers and for automatic refill systems and ink refill kits. Stratitec.com is a huge quality refill kit and replacement ink maker. If they do not have ink and instructions for how to refill your cartridges, you do not want to buy that low priced quality brand name printer. 

Security programs like Norton, McAfee, etc are so big and use up so much of your hardware resources and so poorly engineered that they often interfere with software installations. Its a good practice to shut them down before you install anything. I exit everything in my tiny icon tray before I install any software of any size and spread. All-in-one software and drivers are big by my standards. Huge programs such as Adobe Photoshop, etc you had better shut down as much background (TSR) software as you know how. 

Beginning with XP, you would be amazed at the number of programs that are set to launch and run in the background whenever you boot up.

Another excellent free utility StartUpRun will let you see every program that is launched and runs (which you do not know about) and it lets you very easily stop any of them from turning on (or turn back on in case you find turning ("Disable" & "Enable") it off was a mistake. 

Meanwhile, I would not fret over how long your USB printer cable is. I've never used any cable under 10'. Whew, I cannot imagine using a 6' or 3' short cable! I'm familiar with cable length advice coming from manufacturer and reseller techs who really do not know what is wrong. In real life I've never found any problem caused by a 16' or less USB cable. Do make sure you use a quality cable, which does not mean one of the grossly overpriced store cables. Check justcables for fairly priced, truly high quality cables. 

Of course, all of this is just my humble opinion. Hope, it helps. 

Bruised