Dell 966 printer install trouble

Glad to find this forum. Thanks for doing this service. 

Issue is inability to re- install the print driver off the original disk, or a newer version off the internet.

Need to do this occurred when trying to get the printer added to wireless local net and/or Win7 Homegroup.

Hardware:

Dell Inspiron 570,  X64  

 BIOS  A05    12/20/2010

 Dell 966 printer

Service tag

Express code  

Experiencing difficulty getting the printer to join Homegroup or the wireless router.

Net activity light in the router port the printer was plugged into never blinked under any condition. 

During Homegroup installation to be used between this PC and a Win7 Dell Inspiron Laptop resulted in no recognition not occurring at the Laptop. A PC  RESTORE was attempted resulting in a Win error report stating no RESTORE points have been established, To establish a point  Click System Protection '. Clicking this resulted in another error stating to try again because of a SYSTEM RESTORE ERROR (OX81000203).   Downloaded a new printer drive from Dell, attempts to run this successfully has not happened. Attempted to re-install the original driver which also failed to operate. Then found two drivers had installed. Attempted to remove all evidence of any driver. Not successful. Downloaded an application clean drivers out, and properly install original driver. This did not work because the application reports no driver parts present. Attempts to obtain information about the Operating System has resulted in the same error. 

I know it is now necessary to get a good clean driver installation new or old. That is where I am stuck. I continue to try but asking you for comments in the meantime.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim,

Some questions...

Make and model fo your computer and operating system. 32-bit or 64-bit? If Windows 7, did you upgrade to Windows 7 or did the computer come with Windows 7?

How are you tgrying to connect the printer to your computer(s)? USB Cable or wireless adapter? If using the wireless adapter in the printer, make and model of your wireless router and the type of security you're using. What channel?

If using a host computer, that can also be a different procedure.

What virus program and firewall are you using?

Rick

Thanks for the speedy response,
Answers
PC = Dell Inspiron 570
OS = Win 7.    X64er is prefered.
Win 7   Factory installed at manufacturing
Anti virus = AVG 2013 +AVG Internet Security and AVG firewallxwsx

Printer was working fine connected via USB as a local printer.   I was
attempting to connect  it to a wireless router via  Ethernet cable to allow
access by a Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop....Win7 sys 32. The Router is a
Linksys E1200.  Channel is set to AUTO security is WPA2 / WPA mixed.

I would like to get the printer on the wireless net by either of the two methods, but connected using the wireless adapter is preferred.

Thanks tons for your help

 Jim

Jim,

To get this to work wirelessly, you'll need to change the settings in your wireless router. Use these Recommended Wireless Router Settings I use channel 11. I would make a new SSID to make connecting easier.

Once your wireless router is setup...

First run Delete Print Jobs to remove any stuck print job in the queue.

Disconnect the printer.

Download and run the patch(printer cleanup utility) until it prompts you to restart your computer.

Restart your computer. Make sure the printer is removed. Manual Printer Driver Removal

Download the Vista 32-bit drivers for Windows 7 32-bit or the Vista 64-bit drivers for Windows 7 64-bit. Install the Vista drivers in the Vista Compatibility mode On the first system, choose new installation, network and follow the instructions. It should ask for your network name and password, then follow the instructions.

On the second system, choose aditional computer and follow the instructions.

Links to the patch/drivers can be found at...

Dell 966 Photo All-In-One Printer owners thread (W7)

AVG can be a problem. Try Allow Wireless Printer Blocked by AVG 8.0 Firewall (NOt sure if the installation fails, try removing AVG and see if it works)

***Hints***

I would setup the printer wirelessly with the Dell Inspiron 1525 first.

The Dell Inspiron 570 is a desktop and you would have the system plugged into the wireless router, so when installing, choose network, additional computer and follow the instructions. The desktop can print to the wireless printer, no cable connection needed.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Rick

Thanks Rick,

I am starting the procedure you sent. I want to ask about the RESTORE function not working. I wonder if what gets done in the work to do should clear problems with RESTORE. I was shopping around in the 15 million pages of solutions to this and find many solutions, some in conflict. Some of the suggestions sound scary. Do you think not to worry about this right now, or could it be part of the problem?

Now returning to the land of windows and messages

Thanks Rick,

Jim.

Jim,

May I ask why you are asking about restore?

Windows 7 systems that come from factory have a recovery partition. If Windows 7 is installed, then the procedure is

How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer

The easiest method is Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings

Rick

Jim,

System restore was broken.

***To install drivers, sometimes the file unzips and does nothing. You have to look for the setup.exe file, right click on it, then left click run as administrator***

Rick

Update

After hours and hours, no better off. I went through the steps you supplied to get the 966 going. I cant get past installing the new printer driver.  After I finally figured out that the new driver really was a flash, I watched the install progress window progress all the way to successful completion. But error messages from the diagnostic  process states that the driver is not installed. I am not able to find a way to get it installed after the installation was reported successful. I cant do the easy way to solve all this by using RESTORE because it is broken as well. That's where I am now, trying to fix it.

Thanks 

Jiim

Rick,

RESTORE still broken. Running in adin is same. Today I tried to run the DELL diagnostic application from their page and the PC service tag number was not recognized. After that I tried to contact Dell support by phone and gave up after a couple of hours. You seem to be the best shot with Dell help. Anyway I think I have now tried everything you have suggested and something prevents each process at some point. I even attempted complete RESTORE from the set of discs made at installation of the PC. That even did not run as advertised. I suppose it will have to be done in SAFE mode or some other way. I just thouht I would run all this by you before doing it.

Thanks

Jim

Jim,

Manual installation of the operating system using the instructions, How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft® Windows® on a Dell™ Computer is the only option, when the recovery partition is corrupt or missing.

Rick

Rick

You are indeed correct about fixing restore. It took   a complete restore fromi the Image discs to get restore working.  Driver installation was still not working. Turned out to be trouble with the USB port.was the problem. Able to fix that with a generic driver reinstall thru A Dell link that appeared eventually.  That took care of the remaining problem stopping adapter installation. Now I amback to where I started trying to get the 966 wirelless to work. Trying all the configuring recommendations you provided has not done the trick. Wireless setup of the 966 goes well until the test for joining the wireless occurs. An error appears stating not able to join appears at that point. When the setup menu is checked on the printer setup screen , the error states that there is 0 signal strength from the router. That's where I am now. Searching for how to repair this error. Printer is working OK now via USB in the share mode. Any suggestions on the 0 signal strength?

Rick,

This is a second reply am making today as I think the timer cancelled the first one so I'm doing it again, just mentioning in case my messages seem confusing

Been away from this project with other issues concerning the laptop touch pad  issue. But now an update. Printer still on the net. Short of it is going thru everything enough times I finally got it at least near correct. I downloaded a fresh Win7 driver from Dell that seemed different but with it I almost made it to the end. Comms all ok etc. Near the finish of the install after establishing connectivity with the Cisco router the window asking if I wanted to install the new adapter, update the existing adapter or add it along with keeping the old one. That confused me. I had already installed the new adapter from the last session. I think I selected update. Must have been wrong choice because I could go no farther. The  progress icon never changed., jjust sat there. Since then I have started all over winding up just like before. I remembered about the loss of the usb port needed and checked to find it missing again. I have corrected that and again trying the install produces the same reports of either an incomplete install or choose update or not. Seems to be leftover files from the uninstall I did trying to start fresh..

Think of anything? I have all the procedures so maybe I am not booting in corfrect sequence or something.

Thanks

Jim

Rick,

This is a second reply am making today as I think the timer cancelled the first one so I'm doing it again, just mentioning in case my messages seem confusing

Been away from this project with other issues concerning the laptop touch pad  issue. But now an update. Printer still on the net. Short of it is going thru everything enough times I finally got it at least near correct. I downloaded a fresh Win7 driver from Dell that seemed different but with it I almost made it to the end. Comms all ok etc. Near the finish of the install after establishing connectivity with the Cisco router the window asking if I wanted to install the new adapter, update the existing adapter or add it along with keeping the old one. That confused me. I had already installed the new adapter from the last session. I think I selected update. Must have been wrong choice because I could go no farther. The  progress icon never changed., jjust sat there. Since then I have started all over winding up just like before. I remembered about the loss of the usb port needed and checked to find it missing again. I have corrected that and again trying the install produces the same reports of either an incomplete install or choose update or not. Seems to be leftover files from the uninstall I did trying to start fresh..

Think of anything? I have all the procedures so maybe I am not booting in corfrect sequence or something.

Thanks

Jim

Jim,

Can you clarify this a little better?

Near the finish of the install after establishing connectivity with the Cisco router the window asking if I wanted to install the new adapter, update the existing adapter or add it along with keeping the old one. That confused me.

If the router is using the Recommended settings I mentioned(above), when you install the printer, choose new installation on the first computer. Use the Vista drivers in the Vista Compatibility mode to install the printer. The instructions are simple, but on the first computer choose new installation and it will ask you to attach your printer and ask the network and password. On the other computers, choose aditional computer, network and follow the instructions. If you're using a Desktop, since the desktop should be plugged in to the wireless router, choose additional computer, network and follow the instructions. No usb cable needed to print, the wireless adapter in the printer will get the signal from the wireless router.

First run Delete Print Jobs to remove any stuck print job in the queue.

Disconnect the printer.

Download and run the patch(printer cleanup utility) until it prompts you to restart your computer.

Restart your computer. Make sure the printer is removed. Manual Printer Driver Removal

Download the Vista 32-bit drivers for Windows 7 32-bit or the Vista 64-bit drivers for Windows 7 64-bit. Install the Vista drivers in the Vista Compatibility mode You'll get a message, the printer is not connected. Connect the printer at this time(powered on).

Links to the patch/drivers can be found at...

Dell 966 Photo All-In-One Printer owners thread (W7)

Rick