I frequently install HP printer and all-in-one software for myself and clients. It never works the way the instructions indicate. NEVER!!!!!!!!! And it takes forever to install.
Have the software engineers at HP ever tried to use this stuff? My experiences suggest the answer is no.
Setting up these devices on networks is a waste of time since the network setup rarely sees the devices during installation. The software never see the scanner part of these devices. So network scanning is reduced to using the device’s built-in web client rather than the HP Pro Scan utility that comes with the device.
I think it is time to switch to Canon or Brother in the hope that their engineers know how to code installation applications.
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[...] be titled, “Why is Hewlett Packard installation software so awful? Redux.” My original post Why is Hewlett Packard installation software so awful? of May 31st allowed me to vent my then frustration with HP printer/scanner/fax software. This past [...]
You are so right! I just bought a HP laserjet multifunction printer and the software install took literally about 20 minutes or more. I’ve installed entire suites of applications in less than half the time. I first installed the printer software under the “Express Network” option thinking that it would be fast. Nope, it wasn’t and it did not install the the autoduplex option which is the main reason to buy the model over the less expensive HP. Then I uninstalled the software when the autoduplexing was nowhere to be found and guess what… I took just as long to uninstall… another 20 minutes. Then I installed the whole software bundle and again it took 20 minutes. Once installed there was finally an obscure option in this lame “software” that allowed you to turn on the auto duplexer. Now that there was the option, I tried to set some default settings in the printer preferences. Well, the default setting would not function correctly and merely opening the printer options before printing would remove the defaults that were set in. Sometimes it would work other times it would not. I’d like to believe that HP did not write the software because it’s complete crap, but who else is to blame, but HP? I returned the crappy printer because a $500 printer should act like one. How can you trust HP when the software can’t even function properly or install efficiently.
@Dyno
I also forgot to mention, the ridiculous fax setup in the software that can more easily be done on the printer. Each time you entered a digit for your phone number the application would want to go into the next screen. The only fix was to mouse click after each digit until you completed the number. Also typing in the business name did not allow for spaces so I had to set this up on the printer itself. The software really really sucks.