Tech Support in the Playground

[shadow_archmagi]

So, I got a new computer. Spiffy 64 bit Windows 7.

My printer is an HP deskjet 5550. I go to install the driver; nothing.

I check HP's website: They say to me "Windows 7 is wonderful! It COMES with drivers! Don't bother us!"

Sure enough, after some fiddling in control panel, Windows Update says "I AM GETTING SOME DRIVERS FOR YOU NOW"

It still won't print. I press the "Troubleshoot" button. Troubleshoot says that the difficulty is that there are print jobs which need to be deleted. It deletes everything in the cue. It then declares that the printer is perfectly fine.

So, yeah. Apparently Troubleshoot firmly believes that my printer is in perfect condition unless I tell it to PRINT.

Since I bought the OEM version of Windows 7, Microsoft wants to charge me for tech support so I thought I'd refrain from contacting them for a bit until I decide it's worth it to pay and have an Indian tell me how to fix this.

[Yarram]

There is a one word solution... Linux. Otherwise I have no idea how to fix your problem. Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Actually, after a few minutes research, read this thread. (http://www.vistax64.com/drivers/127860-hp-5550-a.html) It may, or may not help.

[Erloas]

Well my dad has a printer that never seems to work for them, but whenever my brother or I go to his house to help him it works without any problems without us having to do anything at all.

First thing I would do is check the Devices and Printers (in the control panel, also usually on the start menu) and make sure there is only one copy of the printer installed. Every once in a while two copies of a printer will get installed and its usually the default one isn't the real one.

I would also run Windows update again and make sure it has the newest drivers, since Win Update now has drivers included. It could be that it installed default printer drivers and there is a better driver out there. Those only show as secondary updates and I don't think they download and install with normal auto-updates.

When the troubleshooter claims there are unprinted documents in the queue, have you checked the printer to see if you see them too? Are they things you tried to print earlier? Have you tried printing a test page through the printer settings/preferences page?

[shadow_archmagi]

On closer inspection, you have to restart the computer after installing drivers.


...


I am a moron.

[Rawhide]

There is a one word solution... Linux.

I think I'm going to start just deleting the posts of everyone who walks into these tech support/etc. threads and instantly just suggests Linux.

I'm kidding, but it does irritate me that much.

In the words of Dr. House: "[The answer is] not lupusLinux, it's never lupusLinux!"

Linux is a fine operating system for what it does, but it is by no means an ultimate operating system nor is it an answer to every problem, or indeed most problems. People have posted genuine technical problems and to come into the threads where they have requested help to bluntly state "use Linux" is not helpful, unconstructive and, well, really quite rude.

[/rant]

P.S. I'm not picking on you in particular, but I do hope you and everyone else who do this will stop and think about it before you post in the future.

[Capt Spanner]

I think I'm going to start just deleting the posts of everyone who walks into these tech support/etc. threads and instantly just suggests Linux.

I'm kidding, but it does irritate me that much.

In the words of Dr. House: "[The answer is] not lupusLinux, it's never lupusLinux!"

Linux is a fine operating system for what it does, but it is by no means an ultimate operating system nor is it an answer to every problem, or indeed most problems. People have posted genuine technical problems and to come into the threads where they have requested help to bluntly state "use Linux" is not helpful, unconstructive and, well, really quite rude.

[/rant]

P.S. I'm not picking on you in particular, but I do hope you and everyone else who do this will stop and think about it before you post in the future.

You seem frustrated. Fortunately Emacs* may have a solution (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Total-Frustration.html).

*To use Emacs you may have to install Linux.
:smalltongue:

[Rawhide]

You seem frustrated. Fortunately Emacs* may have a solution (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Total-Frustration.html).

*To use Emacs you may have to install Linux.
:smalltongue:

I'll have to try it. But, personally, I prefer vi.

[Phishfood]

Yeah, I switched to w7 x64 myself, took a while for the printer drivers to come out to match. Still waiting on my scanner (the 32bit drivers exist, but not 64).

Could be worth waiting a little while and checking the website again.

Rawhide - how do you feel about people who say "get a mac?" :P. Love my mac.

[lesser_minion]

I think I'm going to start just deleting the posts of everyone who walks into these tech support/etc. threads and instantly just suggests Linux.

I'm kidding, but it does irritate me that much.

To be honest, I wouldn't consider that unreasonable.

Unless someone actually asks for advice on which operating system or browser to use, telling them to use some other piece of software is either as bad as or worse than telling them to "read the fine manual".

It's even worse when it actually costs money to switch from one thing to another.

In any event, if you want to discuss something like a web browser or an OS, it's probably better to start a new thread for it and let people discuss it.

And if you do have to evangelise, doing so in a thread that was started for a discussion makes your arguments a lot easier to find and retrieve.

[valadil]

Not actually a solution, just a similar story.

I had an installation of XP whose CD-ROM drivers got corrupted. I went to the manufacturer's site and tried to download them. Got a similar answer - the drivers should be provided with Windows, so the manufacturer doesn't offer them for download. Fair enough. I went to MS tech support, hoping they'd have drivers. MS did indeed have drivers, but they weren't available for download. They were conveniently packaged on the XP CD. The instructions for fixing missing CD-ROM drivers was to reinstall the drivers from the CD-ROM. :smallfurious:

I ended up booting into linux and extracting the drivers there and then copying them over to windows. Took more time and frustration than a reinstall would have.

And that's why 'just use linux' is a valid answer. 'Replace your OS with linux' isn't, but 'use linux to get your machine back in shape and then go back to windows' is sometimes the best way to fix things.

[lesser_minion]

That is true, but it's also not what we're complaining about or what was suggested.

[Rawhide]

Not actually a solution, just a similar story.

I had an installation of XP whose CD-ROM drivers got corrupted. I went to the manufacturer's site and tried to download them. Got a similar answer - the drivers should be provided with Windows, so the manufacturer doesn't offer them for download. Fair enough. I went to MS tech support, hoping they'd have drivers. MS did indeed have drivers, but they weren't available for download. They were conveniently packaged on the XP CD. The instructions for fixing missing CD-ROM drivers was to reinstall the drivers from the CD-ROM. :smallfurious:

I ended up booting into linux and extracting the drivers there and then copying them over to windows. Took more time and frustration than a reinstall would have.

And that's why 'just use linux' is a valid answer. 'Replace your OS with linux' isn't, but 'use linux to get your machine back in shape and then go back to windows' is sometimes the best way to fix things.

You can extract and replace the drivers from a bootdisk or by using the recovery mode (boot from the installation cd).
"Use Linux" in this and the other instances means to replace the Windows OS with Linux, this is an unhelpful suggestion.
Even if it didn't mean that, it is still completely unhelpful, as no explanation, instructions or links to explanations or instructions were provided.

---

Yes, I would feel the same way about a suggestion to use a Mac, despite quite liking Macs myself.

[valadil]

You can extract and replace the drivers from a bootdisk or by using the recovery mode.
"Use Linux" in this and the other instances means to replace the Windows OS with Linux, this is an unhelpful suggestion.
Even if it didn't mean that, it is still completely unhelpful, as no explanation, instructions or links to explanations or instructions were provided.


Is "use a live CD, here's where to get it and this is how to use it" acceptable tech support?

Didn't know recovery mode could get drivers. I figured it wouldn't be able to read the CD anyway since it was part of windows.

[Rawhide]

Is "use a live CD, here's where to get it and this is how to use it" acceptable tech support?

Didn't know recovery mode could get drivers. I figured it wouldn't be able to read the CD anyway since it was part of windows.

Yep, that would be. Suggesting a solution to the problem raised with as much detail as you can give to help them undertake it.

And yep, it can. It's also not part of your Windows installation. Your computer's BIOS boots from the CD, the CD loads a very basic version of the Windows operating system from the CD, you go into recovery mode within that CD-loaded operating system. Automatic recovery fixes a lot of errors, manual recovery gives you a Unix-like command shell to manipulate the files.

[Yarram]

I think I'm going to start just deleting the posts of everyone who walks into these tech support/etc. threads and instantly just suggests Linux.

I'm kidding, but it does irritate me that much.

Wreck my fun.:smalltongue:
Suggesting Linux in tech threads is one of my greatest sources of entertainment! (Besides, my solution worked. I guessed that he may not have restarted his computer because I've had the same temporary setback after installing a new driver.)



And yep, it can. It's also not part of your Windows installation. Your computer's BIOS boots from the CD, the CD loads a very basic version of the Windows operating system from the CD, you go into recovery mode within that CD-loaded operating system. Automatic recovery fixes a lot of errors, manual recovery gives you a Unix-like command shell to manipulate the files.

The Windows recovery lacks the GUI that a Linux Live CD provides, making it impossible to use for someone who's never bothered to learn command prompt, which you should really never need anyway when using Windows. (Unless you're using a server, but they're the exceptions to all rules.)