Genealogy Chat

I have windows XP and a Hewlett Packard Printer/ Fax /Copier/ Scanner, I was going to buy an Epsom after all the suggestion s on here , but not got around to it yet.Because whenever I do a Scan it does it okay, then everything freezes, all my PC and whatever programmes I have open at the time.I have tried to see if there is a update for the drivers but when I go to the web site and ask , it says it does not recognise my Printer , yet I click on the right boxes. This is so annoying as I cannot get out of the freeze for ages. Any Ideas all you Printer experts thanks

I don't no what the problem is but have you tried, uninstall then reinstall i do no that some times this solves lots of problems. Roy

hi again I could try that again, but I dont understand why the web site doesnt recognise it for updates.

Valerie. As suggested, go to Start, Printers & Faxes and right click on your printer icon, then left click on delete, follow instructions. Turn off your printer and computer. Turn on your printer and then restart your computer, XP will recognise your printer and ask if you want to install it, when you get the chance say yes to the Have Disk and reinstall your printer. Try it and if you have any problems then go to the website and look for updated drivers. When you do this it does not usually look for your printer, you download the driver (if it's newer than you present one, check the date it was released). Install the newer driver. Should sort you out. Ron www.genealogyprinters*com

sorry I am late replying been out all day just catching up.Thanks again Ron will try that and let you know if it works Val

Hi....which virus programme are you using? I know this might seem unconnected but my cousin had problems with her computer/HP printer and the geek who came to her home said it had to do with the virus programme. She was running N****n. Good luck Trifley

hi yes I know sometimes its a anti virus programme conflict but I have AVG and I dont think its a problem will look into it though thanks Val

Could be problem not with printer. How much ram do you have? Whenever I scan off my canon everything freezes as it runs out of ram. Try going to www(.)downloads(.)com and search for a program called rambooster. This is free software You can download and set it up to run all the time. What this will do is when your ram goes below a certain level will free up ram so you can continue. Good luck Sue

Susan is this safe to download I am not very techie minded ??? thanks for your help

I would let Windows take care of the RAM, it will adjust it where necessary. If it's that then a RAM upgrade is very cheap and easy to do, all you do is plug it into the slot on the motherboard. Ron www.genealogyprinters*com

Forgot to say, if it is memory running out you can find this out for definate. Right click on a blank space on your task bar, left click Task Manager, it tells you how much memory you have available and how much is being used. Ron www.genealogyprinters*com

it says Physical memory Total 228832 Available 51916 System Cache 78680 is that enough thanks ??

Valerie, As Ron said don't bother with any 3rd party RAM boosters, particularly with Windows XP. The numbers you posted indicate that you have barely enough RAM to run Windows alone. It also appears that the video card/chip in your PC uses some system RAM as the top number should be around at least 256000, or you have a faulty RAM chip. Has the freezing problem only started to happen recently? A new Broadband connection or some new software installed maybe, that is using up the small amount of available RAM so that when you try the Scanner there isn't enough left and it locks up. You need to double your RAM to 512Mb, you currently only have 256Mb which is the minimum recommended to just run Windows XP without any other application. Even a screensaver or wallpaper could use up the avalable RAM on your machine and lock it up. My recommendation is to have an additional 256Mb RAM module installed, about a 15 minute job. Adding extra RAM is the cheapest, and generally easiest, way to speed up your machine. Paul

Paul thanks so much for that info I dont really understand that side of things so do I buy something you put in a slot or something then ???? Also is this why I get the low memory message and my PC freezes when I try to access the printer thanks ever so much

Valerie, I would suggest that you talk to a computer shop about installing the extra RAM, they may do it for free if you buy the module from them. Yes basically it is just a case of plugging the extra module in, but you do need to know where it goes etc and take some precautions about static. The low memory messages are definately related to this. With RAM there is no point in using the minimum, it's basically the cheapest upgrade you can do. Paul

thanks very much Paul will get on to that tomorrow very much obliged to you goodnight