just bought a lexmark P4350 , can't get the software to load , admittedly it does say turn off all programs which are running and turn off the anti-virus software , i can turn off the programs but the anti-virus i've got no idea how to turn it off , i'm running adaware,spybot,zone alarm and norton 2006 . its just aswell it was on when it was originally trying to load as for some reason the software tried to connect to the internet ,which zone alarm stopped and asked me should i allow it to connect , i pressed deny , now it won't do anything:( , it will go into the disc to load but will not complete it , do you think its is something to do with the zone alarm stopping it , i have never had any problems before loading any software so a bit confused as to why i have a problem now :confused:

Hi I have a Lexmark, though not the same model. If yours is a new model and has a valid new Lexmark disc, it should be safe to load it without your various spy programs running.

You can cause them to stop by "unticking" them in Startup menu (from the Start Run (MS)Config) option), or by right-clicking the icons and selecting exit if they are in your system tray. Any leftovers, you can press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and End Task for them individually. There are a couple that you must leave running, so only untick or exit known software applications, not system operations.

It is generally recommended when you load new software that you stop all other running programs since they can interfere with one another (i.e. for valid software, it's not just a clever trick so that you put your guards down, though it could well be a clever trick for any non-valid software of course).

Not sure where you are at the moment. I'd have thought the disc should at least start to load without access to the Net. You might have to register it, though that sounds unlikely for a printer. It wouldn't hurt to allow access to the Net for a valid Lexmark disc though IMO in case they've debugged anything on the CD (which could be useful).

Usually, you can allow a CD to access the Net, then when it says "download", that is when you close off all the other running applications.

I'm only speaking from experience, so please don't blame me if it goes wrong. If in doubt, you should do a registry backup beforehand via MS, and I think Spybot has a System Snapshot option also; plus make sure any valuable data is also backed up.

HTH

Mo

i think it goes 3/4 the way through ,then on the saving program files bit it then closes the program window , doesn't go to the finding printer section . have uninstalled it etc then reloading with zone alarm off , but still it won't load .i've also uninstalled the previous printer programs . I checked in zone alarm for the reason it tried to connect to the internet originally , something to do with spool + win32 , no idea what this means , how hard can it be to load software

Hopefully, someone else will come along with a one-sentence answer

Not sure I can help much more. Have you tried downloading any other software recently? That might identify whether you have a problem with Lexmark specifically or whether there's a system file that's been lost along the line, which might have happened if you have uninstalled something which was using a shared file.

A lot of programs finish the installation using the Microsoft Installation Wizard, so I guess it could cause a problem if that has become corrupted.

If a system file is actually missing, they can often be recovered from a CAB file on your system (i.e. the cabinet files which have copies of a lot of system files, and some (e.g. dll's) can be downloaded afresh from at least one helpful site that's in my Favorites somewhere (LOL).

I assume you are using Internet Explorer? Which operating system are you using? I'm using WinME which is rather old now. However if you are using XP, have you tried loading the disc via the "Add Printer" option in the OS?

In mine, you get to this via "Start / Settings / Printers". If your P4350 is listed there, you could try following that procedure just by using the default settings. You might lose some of the fancy features if you don't insert the disc at all, but you should at least be able to use the printer in a basic form.

TBH, I think I'd try that first- with or without using the disc, followed by downloading a freebie software (anything you fancy) from any reputable site, e.g. Major Geeks http://www.majorgeeks.com/ (avoiding registry cleaners, unless you really know what you're doing).

Best

Mo

Allow it network access. Spool drivers are part of the Windows operation, ie printer drivers.

Retry allowing it access and it should work.

Allow it network access. Spool drivers are part of the Windows operation' date=' ie printer drivers.

Retry allowing it access and it should work.[/quote']

i have tried reloading it a number of times but on each occasion since the 1st time i tried it hasn't gone to access the internet , i'm using winXP ,with internet explorer , will try again tonite by going back to a restore point i set in spybot , i.e. before all the problems occured and before i uninstalled the previous printers software (lexmark5150)

i have tried reloading it a number of times but on each occasion since the 1st time i tried it hasn't gone to access the internet , i'm using winXP ,with internet explorer , will try again tonite by going back to a restore point i set in spybot , i.e. before all the problems occured and before i uninstalled the previous printers software (lexmark5150)

But have you blocked its network access permanently, or on that time only?

I would check your ZA settings first.

tried it again without going back to the restore point , it tried to access internet , hooray , i allowed it in zone alarm , but it didn't actually connect , then the loading software window closed , boo . my computer whizz brother is coming round tomorrow , i hope he can sort it

tried it again without going back to the restore point , it tried to access internet , hooray , i allowed it in zone alarm , but it didn't actually connect , then the loading software window closed , boo . my computer whizz brother is coming round tomorrow , i hope he can sort it

Might be an idea to make sure you've got the phone number of the local takeaway and local offy to hand... Seriously though, fingers crossed

Regards

Mo

well the brother didn't turn up , made excuses that hes tired , hes off work tomorrow so whats the problem . anyway , i don't know how i did it but i got the printer working , hooray , i noticed that when it downloaded the software , windows saved it in a file , went for a hunt for the file and found it , wouldn't let me run it though , so got windows add printer going and it seems to have sorted it , i've even worked out how to make a short cut for it on the desktop , thanks for all the replies MO and KENTISH

Mo

spoke too soon about it being OK , the computer will not boot up if the printer USB cable is plugged in , it just stays on the screen you can access BIOS from , also none of the extra software i.e. photo editor and imaging studio has been loaded onto the computer:( now i will have to get my brother round to fix it:O

Wooo, that sounds like a bit more than an OS issue if it's hanging at the BIOS.

To be honest it could be the device that is plugged in not going into a reset state correctly etc.

FWIW My Lexmark came with two disks and the photo stuff was on the second disk would could be loaded optionally as might (or might not) be required. Not sure about this hanging business though.

On my Lexmark, you have to plug the leads into the printer in the right order. I.e. there are two: power and USB. I might have some notes on this - I'll have a little look later as I can't remember now, but it resolved the problem of "Cannot find printer" when it should have found it.

This is different from hanging at boot-up. Have you tried disconnecting the printer, then then rebooting (hopefully normally) then plugging in the USB, then the printer power cable?

Or vice versa, Booting up, then plugging in the power cable then the USB?

Regards

Mo

PS My computer has sometimes arrived in Safe Mode and asked me to confirm that the Mhz speed is correct. I've normally just accepted this (knowing it to be correct already) and all has been OK. Can't remember if this was anything to do with Lexmark though. I'll shut up now LOL.

Something odd there, I didn't know a PC cared about it's clock speed, or do you mean the BIOS asks you?

The power/USB order should not matter as the USB spec includes both hot and cold plugging in it. If it does matter then either the PC's USB root complex or the USB device doesn't comply with the spec properly. Oh or the drivers for the device are cr*p, so you may want to get the latest ones from the net.

Did you follow the printer's instructions for installation? (ie in the order it said)?

Something odd there' date=' I didn't know a PC cared about it's clock speed, or do you mean the BIOS asks you?

The power/USB order should not matter as the USB spec includes both hot and cold plugging in it. If it does matter then either the PC's USB root complex or the USB device doesn't comply with the spec properly. Oh or the drivers for the device are cr*p, so you may want to get the latest ones from the net.[/quote']

Hi, not sure if this is directed to me or rick04vrs, so my apols in advance.

Put simply, I don't know what BIOS means. Do you mean the DOS loading screen which you can interrupt to get into SafeMode? If so, that's not what happens to me, i.e. it presents SafeMode sometimes (re Mhz) for some reason, which I just accept, as said, seemingly making things OK nenau.

Re drivers, on mine, every time I've tried to update to new drivers (i.e. Lexmark and Logitek wireless), I've had problems and just made sure I could go back to what I had before. I'm an "easy life" merchant in the sense that as long as these things work well enough to achieve their primary objective, then either the extra features work or they don't - few of them are critical IMO.

Sorry if this is an aside. Does this help?

Regards

Mo

BIOS = Basic Input Output System

It is the black screen with grey text (Like DOS if you will) that appears when your PC boots up. Interupting it doesn't put it into 'safe mode' as such, it means you are editing the lowerlevel configuration of your PC. What you might want to do is go in to this safe mode, change the settins and look where to find the save option, then save and exit.

Don't supposed you know what make your PC is, I'm guessing you have no idea what chipset is on it THere are some quite poor chipsets out there that provide the USB functionality, along with some quite poor devices. If you combine these two silly things start to happen :(

Most of the newer drivers are not out there for new features but for bug fixes.

only got 1 software disc so assume all photo editing and printer drivers are on it , only got printer drivers to work so no photo editing software , i'm using an ACER laptop with 1.5ghz celeron , when i say it goes into BIOS this strictly isnt true , when my laptop starts up it shows a screen with the ACER trademark symbol on it , that if you are quick enough you can press F2 and access BIOS , otherwise it loads WinXP , what it does now is , if the printer USB cable is plugged in it will not go passed the ACER screen until you unplug the USB cable then windows loads as normal , i couldn't follow the printer instructions for loading the software as i couldn't turn off all the anti-virus software , and it was more luck than anything else that i got the the thing working at all . probably going to uninstall and re-install of all the software between BBQs , beer and football at the weekend:D

update on the printer , emailed Lexmark technical dept , they say that all the software is on one disc , no its not ,so cant do sanning jobs etc, computer still wont boot up if USB cable is plugged in the printer , been told to uninstall/reinstall software by Lexmark , already done this ,didn't work , now i'm getting black ink smudges at the start of an A4 page print , i've only printed about 6-8 photos and about 15 pages of A4 so i think if i'm having ink leaking out of catridges o new there must be another problem , so what i want to know is , do i have grounds to reject the printer and return it to Argos for refund/exchange , bought it on June 4th this year

That sounds exactly like a USB error I saw on a system with similar.

Make sure boot from USB and boot from other devices is off in the BIOS.

Also see if there are bios updates or printer firmware update as it may be a USB compatability issue.

HTH