HP Removing Drivers To Suport Older Operating Systems With their Printers - Tech Stuff

This is just wonderful. I have a relatively new HP Deskjet 460 mobile printer. I bought this a couple of months ago, and used it to print flyers at a health fair at a church. A friend borrowed the driver disk so he could print some things from his laptop. He forgot to return the disk, and he has since moved away.

I wanted to use this printer with an older 850MHZ laptop computer that only has Windows ME. I have some greeting card printing software on that computer that would not install on my newer computers.

I tried to hook the printer to the computer, and discovered that it didn't know about this printer. So I went to the HP website to find the drivers, and was greeted with this nonsense:

HP removes previously available printer drivers for Windows 98 and older operating systems

HP Products - Driver Downloads and Replacement Driver CDs Are No Longer Available for Windows 98, 98 SE, and Me

As of July 2007, HP will no longer be able to offer driver downloads or replacement driver CD ordering for Windows 98, 98 Second Edition (SE), or Windows Millennium (Me) for your HP printer, all-in-one, camera, or scanner. Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting certain files related specifically to Windows 98 SE, and this change affects all technology companies. HP, along with other technology companies, is no longer able to use selected components in support of Windows 98SE, which has an impact on our software strategy for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me. HP will continue to provide other selected HP software and applications that do not depend on Windows 98 SE components for the foreseeable future.

Although the drivers for Windows 98, 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me will no longer be supported by HP, your HP product will still work with these operating systems with the software provided to you on the CD that shipped with the product. Also, if you have previously received a software CD that lists any of these operating systems on the CD label, or downloaded a driver for one of these operating systems, please maintain these files. These files will no longer be available in the HP online support Web site or in any other HP support options (such as e-mail, chat or phone support) after the date mentioned above.

NOTE: This information supersedes any statements in the printed documentation, the online Help and also other documents available in the HP support website.

Source

What a bunch of nonsense. There are plenty of usable Windows 98 and Windows ME computers. What am I supposed to do now? Throw this computer in a landfill because I will no longer be able to use it with any updated printers or other devices from HP?

Downloads of previously available drivers would not cost HP anything to provide.

What an non environmental friendly decision.

Why not just continue to provide the previously available drivers without any further updates?

My message to Hewlett Packard about their bogus policy

If you already had drivers available for Windows ME for the HP 460 Deskjet, why don't you continue to provide them? Why are you removing those drivers from your site? I only bought the printer two or three months ago, and I need to use it with an older computer that has some special software that I can not move to a newer machine. Someone borrowed my driver disk and then moved away without returning it. Now you are telling me you're not going to provide support that you used to offer for a printer that is barely 3 months old!

HP's decision on this really sucks! It's going to make an old computer and a new printer an unusable combination. Am I supposed to just throw away this computer that was otherwise perfectly usable?

Either send me the drivers for the printer, or I will see what legal remedies exist for your failure to support a new product for a reasonable period of time.

I understand not continuing to provide more updates for old drivers. But a driver that worked before July 2007, will probably continue to work for years with these older computers. And it would not cost anything to continue to provide the driver via a download.

Also, if you do not send me the drivers that were previously available, I will also publicize this decision by HP as being very anti-environment, a decision that may force people to junk a lot of computers that could have been perfectly usable if only drivers were still available. I don't think you need the bad publicity that I will make it my mission to generate.

BTW, their feedback system lets you review the information you're getting ready to submit. If you click the back button to revise something, then they clear all the fields. STOOOOOPID!

After sending the above, I tried their online chat to see if I could find a technician who could get me the drivers.

Chat session

Alaura. My name is Alaura. How may I assist you today?

18:48:00 Garnet Chaney: Need drivers for HP 460C Mobile printer for Windows ME. I only bought this printer three or so months ago, and I need to use it with some software on a computer that has Windows ME. A friend borrowed the printer, and did not return the driver disk. He has moved away to Montana....

18:49:20 ALAURA: we will try to resolve the issue.
(waiting... still waiting.....)

18:50:12 (still waiting....)

18:51:14 (still waiting....)

18:52:30 (still waiting....)

18:53:24 ALAURA: There are no driver softwares for win ME from hp website.

Garnet Chaney: there used to be drivers. HP removed them in July apparently.

Garnet Chaney: This will make this almost new printer unusable! Isn't there a duty to support a new product for a reasonable period of time?

Garnet Chaney: What is your full name, and location, so that I can include it in details I am keeping about this problem.

ALAURA: Do you have the Win ME cd with you?

Garnet Chaney: And also the full name of your supervisor.

Garnet Chaney: Did you read my original message to you? A friend borrowed the printer and CD, and then moved away to another state without returning the disk.

ALAURA: I am asking you whether do you have operating system disk WIN ME.

Garnet Chaney: Windows ME didn't include drivers for this printer.

18:56:58 Garnet Chaney: It includes drivers for Deskjet 400 and 500... Can I use one of those?

18:57:54 Garnet Chaney: BTW, the computer is an 850MHZ sony computer. It didn't include a Windows ME disk, it included a factory restore CD.

18:58:34 still waiting...

ALAURA: You do not have the Operating System disk WIN ME.

Garnet Chaney: The computer did not include a "Windows ME disk". It includes a Factory Restore CD to take it back to the original factory condition with Windows ME installed as provided by the OEM.

18:59:50 still waiting....

ALAURA: Okay no problem you can use that cd.

ALAURA: Let us try to install the universal drivers ( Deskjet 550c) they are inbuilt drivers softwares.

Garnet Chaney: ok, one moment, let me go and try that.

ALAURA: Sure.

19:04:00 Garnet Chaney: Do I do this via add printer, or by plugging in the printer and getting the new hardware wizard?

19:05:00 still waiting....

19:07:00 Garnet Chaney: this is a USB printer. If I use the add printer wizard, it asks me to select a port, and I don't know which port to select.

19:07:40 still waiting....

19:08:30 Garnet Chaney: One of the choices is "USB001 Virtual printer port for USB". Should I select that?

ALAURA: Please follow the below steps.
ALAURA: Click 'Start' --> 'Settings' --> 'Printers'; to open The 'Printers' folder.

Double-click the 'Add Printer' icon; to open The 'Add Printer Wizard' dialog box.
Click 'Next' button on the 'Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard' dialog box.

Select 'Local printer' in the Local or Network Printer dialog box, click 'Next' butt

19:09:30 Garnet Chaney: Um, your instructions were truncated....

ALAURA: Select from hp manufactures list then select Deskjet 550c.

Select 'USB001' or 'USB Virtual printer port' from the list of ports and click 'NEXT' button.

The Printer name will be highlighted on the next window.
Click 'Next' button.

It asks for the Printer name (LEAVE IT AS IT IS)
Click 'Yes' for making the printer default.
Click 'Next' button.

The Printer Sharing dialog box will open.
Click 'Next' button.

19:12:00 Garnet Chaney: I never got the "printer sharing" dialog. Mine went from making the printer default directly to print test page. I said yes to print test page, and then I get a dialog "HP Deskjet 500 Series - Invalid Data. Aborting print job."

ALAURA: Please follow the steps given to you.

Garnet Chaney: Click close on the error dialog gives another message box "Printers Folder - There was an error writing to USB001 for the ptiner (HP DeskJet 550C Printer): There was a problem printing to the printer due to an unknown system error. Restart Windows, and then try printing again.

19:14:00 Garnet Chaney: I did follow your exact steps, except for the printer sharing dialog, which was never presented to me.

19:16:22 ALAURA: Please go ahead with restarting the computer and then try again installing driver software.

Garnet Chaney: Should I plugin in the printer before those steps, or after those steps? Also, I have just removed the printer for 550 and 400 to start over.... So do I plugin the printer before or after the steps?

19:17:30 waiting....

19:18:43 still waiting....

19:20:00 ALAURA: Disconnect the printer know , after restarting the computer then you connect the printer and then install the software.

19:20:15 Garnet Chaney: OK, doing that now.

19:22:10 Garnet Chaney: When I plugin in the printer, the "Add hardware wizard" will notice the printer. Do I cancel out of that dialog in order to do the "Add Printer" button?

19:24:46 ALAURA: Did you restart the computer.

Garnet Chaney: Yes, I just plugged in the printer, and the add hardware didn't come up.... OK, doing your steps now.

To cut a long story short, I was on the chat with them for another two hours. Chat support eventually agreed, after three times through the above steps, that I was right, the drivers weren't available, and the above was only a "work around", that doesn't work. They then suggested that I should upgrade the operating system of my computer!

What a bunch of nonsense? Would any sane person expect a Windows ME computer to be able to upgrade to Windows Vista without losing all the software on it? And what if Sony doesn't make drivers for this old laptop to work with Windows Vista? And would this old laptop even be fast enough to support Windows Vista? No, that's goofy. The computer works perfectly fine with the software that is installed on it, on the operating system that Sony designed it for.

Eventually chat support told me to call phone support, as if phone support would help. Phone support did not help. In fact they were rude and hung up on me. I called back, and miraculously got the same support agent, a girl named "Jen" who apparently had not been at HP a very long time. She felt that she hsd been taught to hang up on people who assert any kind of moral or legal right to support on a product that is still under warrantee, support that was easily available just a month ago.

She offered to escalate the issue into a black hole. Who knows if anyone will return my call.

I have the full transcript for the two hours, showing the run around that I was given by the phone and chat support people. Amazingly, the chat support person stayed online for the whole time I was also trying the phone support, and they also filed an escalation incident about the poor support I was receiving. So HP somebody is going to get a couple of chances to make the right decision.

What do you think?

Do you really believe that Microsoft is behind some nefarious plan to strong arm hardware vendors into removing from circulation drivers for older operating systems that Microsoft doesn't want to support any more? Did Microsoft have a poison pill in the licensing for the device driver SDKs that manufacturers used to create drivers for their hardware products?

Do you think what HP is doing is right? Do you think it is fine that they take a "blame the owner" attitude about a lost CD for a printer that is only a couple of months old, and whether or not you can make their products work with an older computer that is running just fine with it's original software?

Let me know....