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New PC vs old printer. I need a PC guru.

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October 26, 2025, 11:28 PM
Hamden106
New PC vs old printer. I need a PC guru.
Just got a new laptop. Don't really want Win11, but what choice is there.
The new Dell works fine, but I can't get my workhorse printer to cooperate.
Printer is a HP LaserJet 1020. Works fine on other PC I have.
Set up as best I knew how, I get an error word when trying to print. Going down rabbit holes looking for WTF, I get that there is a print job in the queue. But looking in the queue, there is no print job. Looking for a fix, it wont let me in due to the print job that is not there.
I give up. I need a nerd.


SIGnature
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October 27, 2025, 12:58 AM
Chowser
try this:

get your driver from here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/d...DLanding/TopProducts


then
Run the installer, which does not finish 'normally'. However, in Windows 11, you can go to Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. Click Add Device. After waiting for Add Manually link to show up, click it. Plug in your printer. Select 'Add a local or network printer with manual settings'. Click next. Select the USB port with the printer. Click Next. You can now select the driver under the manufacturer 'HP'.


Not minority enough!
October 27, 2025, 02:21 AM
Rey HRH
I had trouble connecting my HP printer to a new laptop. Paid the HP helpline. The solution was I had to deactivate my anti-virus temporarily while I install. That was a pretty sneaky way to shake more money out of me.

You should try that first.


"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
October 27, 2025, 05:05 AM
hudr
I have this issue working on old test equipment at my job. We still have Win XP in a few places.

With win11 I have found that sometimes I have to use the “Generic Windows driver”for older printers.
And usually, when I have to do that, I have to use the Post Script (PS) driver instead of the Printer Control Language (PCL) driver.


Also, I have found that adding a printer from old Control Panel (right click Start, then choose “Run” and type in control Panel) sometimes works better than this new fangled “Settings”.