Monday, February 15, 2010

My First Major Problem with Windows 7 – HPJ6480 Printer Problem plus 21 more to come

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Today’s Blog Post


My First Major Problem with Windows 7 – HPJ6480 Printer Problem plus 21 more to come

Yikes. I have just had my first major problem with Windows 7. At least the first that I have found – and it has been about 4 months of usage. I suppose that isn’t too bad. But this one was a big one.

I have a relatively knew printer – a HPJ6480 All-in-one Printer that does everything except cook a hot dog or warm a snack for me.

It was slow coming and I guess I never really considered that there was a problem except that when I went to scan something on my Printer, the buttons on the front wouldn’t work. It didn’t matter in that you could scan from a program on the computer that simply told the Printer what to do.

This weekend I discovered that this on board computer program had stopped working as well… in fact a few programs had stopped functioning….just like the old days when a virus or worm crawled aboard my hard drive.

But that wasn’t the problem. No virus problems or worms problems.

Windows 7 in its brilliance keeps picking up the updates and restarting the computer. It happens later at night or early morning… and miraculously the computer is updated.

It was sometime over the last few weeks when one update came that the printer functions seemed to cease. Because I don’t use all printer functions every day – I didn’t notice what had taken place.

Well it seems that the HP People dealing with the HPJ6480 printer knew about it and posted help on their site. I had to download a Patch that took care of the update and communication problem… but then in trying to re-install the Printer software it has to uninstall the old files that won’t work with the new files. But then it needed to start and re-start again and again.

I thought if I download the new Software Program for the Printer it may help – but that took some time getting the new 260 MB file.

I tried it and again start & re-start all over again and the patch file was needed again… but maybe wasn’t in that I was now chasing my tail with the circle thinking that was going on and on and on.

I know more than enough about computers to be able to handle almost anything – what would happen if others don’t? Yikes!

After about four hours of trying, waiting, re-starting, trying again and re-starting again and again… it worked!

I felt a rush and flash back to the old days of Windows 95 and Windows 98 and all the rest.

I am convinced that Microsoft missed me – in that I used to be in contact with them almost all the time. With the Windows 7 launch I haven’t had to call anyone. And it all happened on Valentine’s Day. I got a warm glow thinking that they cared that much.

On a Web Site from Techradar.com(see link below) I read of 22 common problems with the Windows 7 program. Oh boy – I could have 21 left to go!

It happens of course with “el cheapos” like me that do it all the easy and cheaper way – upgrading. When and if I buy a new computer the upgrades will all be done…all except my printer and whatever else I have been using that is just too darn old to connect to anything.

Techradar states:
“Windows 7 - it's faster than Vista, makes better use of your system resources, is packed with interesting features, and looks great, too.


But that doesn't mean it's perfect, of course. If you've moved to Windows 7 recently then you might have noticed various upgrade problems, interface issues and features that seem to have disappeared entirely, among many other complications with the new system.


Don't despair, though - while these problems can be really frustrating, answers are beginning to appear. We've uncovered some of the best and most effective solutions around, so follow our guide and your Windows 7 installation will soon be back on track.”

Here is a quick list of the problems that they shared with me…
Vista upgrade hangs at 62%
DVD drive not found
Aero isn't running
Aero Snap irritations
iPhone won't sync in Windows 7
Windows 7 themes change your custom icons
Taskbar problems
Missing Explorer folders
Missing applets
Too many minidumps
HP Multifunction Printer problems
Hidden extensions
DVD audio issues
Windows Live MovieMaker
XP Mode doesn't work
Add Windows Media Center to AutoPlay options
Missing crash dump files
Can't disable hibernation
Poor video quality
Where's Software Explorer?
Explorer navigation
Windows Live Messenger and the system tray

Triple Yikes – as I read over the items listed I have more issues to solve. I don’t time for this to happen.

At the Funeral service…
The other day as I conducted the funeral service(I am a Minister) I had a revelation that blew me away. When I was speaking I slipped in the revelation. The audience that I was speaking to consisted of two groups of people. In fact it was very easy to see as I stood in front of them.

In the audience of about 200+ people there were those who were on Facebook and those who were not. All of the Facebook People laughed. The Non Facebook people just stared at me… with no expression… of if something did register – it was slight to say the least.

Half of the audience was left behind in that one simple declaration.

For the general population that reads this Blog – the same is true. They will not know anything about the list that I have given above.

99% of them didn’t read this far – I lost them at the first sentence.

Why write and publish this today? Well maybe… there will ‘one’ someone that might find help either before or after they Windows 7 problems.

Whatever… good luck and happy discovery today as you truck along the Microsoft Road to perfection… remembering the old tradition… that just about the time you understand it all… they will release a new generation of the operating system program.

I think it will be called “Windows Yippee!” or maybe “Windows Roller Coaster Ride – WRRCR”.

Gotta go – got some more problems to fix….

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

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Source
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/22-common-windows-7-problems-solved-655655

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