HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Premium All in One Printer Driver Errors
The HP Officejet Pro 8600 series of printers remain a popular option as a home or small office printing solution. As you can configure this series of printers on local or networked PCs, it’s a perfect multifunction printing, scanning, and copying solution for SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses).
The models available include the N911a, N911g, and N911n, each providing more features such as a larger scanning area or an additional paper tray included. While all the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Series of printers are Wifi enabled, the software used to manage them makes it quick and easy to set up and does not require any new LAN (Local Area Network) cables to be installed.
Troubleshooting HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Series of Printers Drivers
If you’re facing issues with the printer, troubleshooting should always start with the network. To check if the printer is connected, you can open your printers and scanners settings to check if the printer is available.
Basic Troubleshooting Tasks
The basic troubleshooting starts with checking if your PC recognizes the printer.
Check if Printer is Available
To open your devices and scanners, follow these steps.
1. Hit the Windows Key and type Printers & Scanners in the search box, and then select the top result:
Note that the above operation will work on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. However, the subsequent steps in this guide use a Windows 10 Operating System.
2. Selecting the Printers & Scanners settings application will show all the available printers on your PC.
If the printer is not included in the list, you may have to reinstall it again. This happens for several reasons. Primarily, while printers are usually stable, security exploits often target printers. If you didn’t source the printer driver or installation software from an official site, it might be bundled with malware or adware. This can cause the Windows operating system to block the software, removing the printer from the list of available devices.
Reinstall the Printer using Driver Software
1. Download the latest driver and software from the official HP site. The support page provides both a feature-rich software suite and basic driver for the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Premium All in One Printer series.
Note that the HP support site will automatically detect your operating system, and provide you with the correct software. If you want to change the selection, simply click on the “Change” link on the site.
2. After downloading the software, locate it in your download folder and start the installer application.
3. Click Run to start the installer when prompted with the security warning.
The installer will first require accepting a security warning before launching. This is because the files you’re installing were downloaded from the internet. If you are running the installer from a disc provided with the printer, this message should not appear.
Once the installer starts, you can accept the default settings until the printer installation completes.
Installing Printer with Default Settings
1. Accept the licensing agreement.
2. The software will now install.
Note that you do not have to select a folder before the installation starts. HP will automatically detect and install the software based on the Operating System. It will also automatically determine and download either the 64-bit or the 32-bit version of the software, based on your Windows version.
3. Select Connection Type
After the installation, you’ll receive a prompt to select your connection type. Select the appropriate type of connection you use.
Connection Types:
USB – a USB cable connected to the PC.
Wired – a LAN Cable from the router to the Printer.
Wireless – no cable connection used with Wifi Router.
4. HP will now automatically detect and connect the printer to your computer.
5. After the printer’s network or cable connection is established, it will appear in the list.
You can now use the printer.
Update Driver from Windows Device Manager
If the HP printer is available in the list, but still does not process a print job, (i.e. the print job is added to the queue or spool, but not actually printing) you can choose to update the driver from the Device Manager.
1. Open Device Manager by hitting the Windows Key and typing Device Manager.
2. Select the Printer from the Print Queues list.
3. Right Click on the Printer and select Update Driver.
4. From the options, choose “Search automatically for updated driver software.”
Windows will now automatically search for the latest driver and install it for you. However, note that Windows drivers are not necessarily the latest. Using the drivers provided by the Original Equipment Manufacturers is always the best way to ensure your devices operate as intended.
Using Driver Software to Manage your PC
To eliminate the hassle of manually managing your PC’s drivers, Driver Support will catalogue and update all your device drivers as required. With patented device optimization technology, it will also ensure all your components are working at the best possible performance levels.
With drivers regularly deprecated, download and install Driver Support today to ensure you do not open your PC up to security exploits or preventable device failures.
