What to Do if your HP DeskJet 2652 Will Not Print Via USB
Wireless printers are convenient, but they also come with potential issues and technicalities that can make your printing life more difficult. In such a case, users will typically turn to the old-fashioned way of printing via USB – attaching a cord from your computer to the printer, thereby making a stronger, more direct connection. When that technique fails too, what are you supposed to do?
When your HP DeskJet 2652 will not print via USB, it creates a sense of unreliability. You need to be able to rely on your printer, and when neither wireless mode nor connecting via a cable works, you require a quick fix that will get your printer back into shape immediately.
What Causes Your HP DeskJet 2652 to Stop Printing?
You need to know why your HP DeskJet 2652 won’t print just as much as how to fix the problem. Knowing the symptoms of your printer’s ailment will help you to prevent them in the future and, hopefully, avoid a last-minute crisis or frustrating issue.
Has your computer been updated recently? Your printer could be lagging because it doesn’t have a similar recent update – and in that case, you probably need to check on your printer’s driver to ensure that it’s running correctly and that there isn’t a new update available.
Similarly, your computer might be behind on updates. In addition, your printer could be too far ahead, in which case your computer can’t keep up with it until you run updates.
To find out the last time your computer was updated, go to your search bar and type in “update.”
This action will determine if your computer needs an update. If you’ve been putting off updates until the last minute, like people tend to do, you might see something like the image below.
Always make sure that the most recent update is installed on your computer, as well as any devices attached to it, such as printers. Your HP DeskJet will thank you for keeping it up to date.
If at all possible, you should try to print a test page. This is a test to see if your computer is communicating with your printer.
To print a test page, go to the Settings app.
Click on “Devices” first.
Next, click on the category tab called “Printers and scanners.”
Once you select your printer, all you need to do is click on “Manage,” and you will be brought to a page listing many different options. Right now, all you need to focus on is the one that says, “Print a test page.”
A printed test page won’t look like one of your usual pages. Don’t be concerned if it seems strange. A printed test page will have bars and lines of different colors along with alphanumeric characters.
If your printer does not respond to the test page request and instead simply adds the command to the print queue, it’s time to look at other solutions that dig deeper into the roots of the problem.
Troubleshooting HP DeskJet 2562 Issues
Troubleshooting is a way for the computer to identify problems in the software. It finds errors and offers suggestions so that you can correct the problems yourself.
You can find the printer troubleshooter in the Settings app.
Go back to “Devices” and to “Printers and scanners,” as you did previously.
Click “Manage” underneath your printer’s name, as you did before. This time, instead of printing a test page, you’re going to click “Run the troubleshooter.”
If the troubleshooter figures out the problem, then you’re one step closer to finding out what you need to fix to get your HP DeskJet to print via USB cable. If your troubleshooting yields results like the one below, then don’t fret.
It’s possible that running the troubleshooter may not work for this situation, especially since the printer is connected to your computer directly.
If your troubleshooter failed to identify the problem, there are a few more tricks you can employ when your HP DeskJet 2652 will not print via USB.
1. Reset Your Printer
To fully reset your HP DeskJet 2652 and reset the software on your computer, you first need to uninstall it from your computer.
First, turn your printer off before you begin the uninstallation process.
To begin, go to your Control Panel.
Click on “View Devices and Printers,” as highlighted here.
Clicking that link will take you to a page that displays all the devices currently connected to your personal computer.
To reach your printer, you will have to scroll down. Your devices should all have their names listed, so look for your HP DeskJet 2652.
Once you identify your printer, right-click on its thumbnail. You can then elect to remove the device.
Next, go through and remove any notice of that printer on your computer. Make sure it is completely gone, its mention wiped from every file. Make sure that it no longer shows up in your control panel or on your desktop, for example.
Restart your computer. You will then have to go through the printer installation process again, but it’s likely you will have no more obstacles in your way.
2. Uninstall and Reinstall Drivers
Checking on your drivers and ensuring that they are up to date is a much simpler solution. It is also probably a more crucial one, as drivers are necessary to the well being of your computer.
Drivers keep your computer, associated devices, and computer accessories – everything, really – running behind the scenes. You don’t pay much attention to them, but you’d certainly notice if they were missing.
Specifically, a printer driver is a program with which the computer sends the request and necessary information to the printer.
Like other forms of software, a driver may need uninstallation and reinstallation, just as you would do with a program that wasn’t working correctly all of a sudden. Doing so might enable a device (such as your HP DeskJet 2652) to work again without a hitch.
Pull up the device manager. You can easily search for this application and access right away. Once the window opens up, you’ll see a list comprised of many devices and accessories.
There are a lot of categories in this list, and a lot of devices are listed under the broad categories. The search for your printer will be easy – all you have to do is click on “Printer queue,” and your HP DeskJet should pop up. Click on the name of your printer, and it will bring up a new window.
From the “Details” tab, you can look up anything about your printer driver. You can check if it needs an update and make a note to install it. You might also consider uninstalling your driver. Uninstalling and reinstalling a driver should allow your HP DeskJet to print again.
To access your drivers, press the Windows key and the R key at the same time. After pressing Win+R, type “printmanagement.msc” into the dialog box. You’ll see a nested list of categories, and from there, you can pick out your printer and its associated driver.
Right-click, and then select “Remove Driver Package” to successfully uninstall your driver.
You can download the proper driver again from Driver Support’s website.
Automatically Keep Your Drivers Up to Date with Driver Support
Hunting down the drivers that need updating shouldn’t be as time-consuming as it is. While you could be working away, doing more important things, you’re stuck searching for your devices that have drivers that need updating in order to continue using your computer at its full capabilities.
Driver Support offers software that, upon installation, will take a note of and keep track of all the drivers your computer, and all associated devices and accessories, need to run to the best of their ability.
Once the service is fully registered, Driver Support will automatically update any outdated driver whenever a new version becomes available. You won’t have to worry about ill-functioning drivers as long as you have the software installed – Driver Support will take care of it for you.
