HP deskjet 5550 sometimes prints and icon reads Toolbox not available because printdriver is not installed

1. Turn on your computer, wait for it to boot up, then turn on your printer and load with paper.
2. Locate the " HP Imaging Director " icon on your computer, it would have been added to your
monitor screen when the printer was installed.
3. Double click this icon and a screen will appear showing the functions available on your
printer.
4. Click on the " Settings " heading, scroll down to "print settings" and over to "printer toolbox".
5. Click on "printer toolbox" and you will be taken to the maintenance window.
6. From this window, choose what you want to do.

Hello

Calibration is one of the functions performed from the Printer Assistant icon on the desktop. If the Printer Assistant icon on the desktop has been deleted from the system, the same tasks can also be accomplished from the Printer Toolbox . The Printer Toolbox can be accessed through the Printer Folder or by right-clicking the Printer Icon on the Taskbar

Please follow these steps to calibrate your printer

Double-click the Printer Assistant icon on the desktop. The Printer Assistant menu will appear with a list of options

Select the Tools and Updates option or the Utilities option (depending on your driver version).

Printer Maintenance menu will appear.

Select the Calibrate Printer tab from the Printer Maintenance options

Click the Calibrate tab. The printer will print the first calibration page.

In the Cartridge alignment page, please inspect the straight colored lines in Sections A, B, C and D . Choose the straightest lines in each section to indicate the best cartridge alignment.

In the Page alignment area, please verify Section E . Then, select the bar and the arrow closest to the edge of the page without being cut off, to indicate the best page alignment.

In the Calibrate Device window, enter the selected alignment values in the Pen Alignment and in the Page Alignment fields and click the Continue tab

The second calibration page will be printed now. The page will contain two patterns: a square and a cross . The lines on the patterns should be horizontally and vertically aligned . Click the Done tab if the lines are correct or the Calibrate tab to repeat the calibration process

The first calibration page contains five sets of alignment patterns. The calibration will cover two areas of alignment. The Cartridge alignment is designed to obtain the best print quality and the Page alignment is designed to ensure that the print is aligned correctly on the page.



If the Printer Assistant and its files have been deleted from the system, the maintenance features in the Tools and Updates section of the Printer Assistant are also available in the Printer Toolbox .
Open the Printer Toolbox and perform the services by following the instructions below:

Right-click the Printer Icon on the Taskbar .

Click Open the Deskjet Toolbox option.

Select the Printing Service tab in the Printer Toolbox .

Choose the Calibrate the printer option.

NOTE:HP recommends to use HP plain paper when performing the cartridges calibration process.

NOTE:These printers could work with one or two print cartridges. HP recommends to perform the cartridge calibration process with the two cartridges installed in order to get the best print quality. Anyway, the printer can also be calibrated with one cartridge installed if the customer decides to work in that way.

The HP Toolbox can be used to check ink Levels

1. Right-click the taskbar printer icon .
2. Click Open HP Deskjet 5550 Series Toolbox .
   
3. Click the Estimated Ink Level tab.
4. Check ink levels (estimate only, actual ink levels may vary)

It seems that your printer head needs cleaning. Clean the print head. The following link will give you steps of cleaning the cartridge.

Hello,

No problem. Go to HP DeskJet 5550 Support

Select Software & Driver downloads.

Next page select your operating system.

Then you will get a list of available software to download for your printer. There is also a link for many OS to order a new CD.

When you download the software the easiest thing is to Save it to your Desktop. Then you can Run it (double-click) at your convenience.

You might also find this link a good one: DeskJet 5550 Setup

Thanks for using Fixya.

You'll need to go to the manufacturer's site and find Vista drivers for your HP. Going from Win 98 to Vista is a major jump. I had to convert from XP to Vista and I still had to go get Vista drivers.

Also, make sure you get 32 or 64 bit drivers for the system.

You need to set the duplexer to installed. For Vista this would be done as follows: go to the Printers folder, Right Click on the 5550, Run as Administrator, Properties, (continue), Device Settings, Installable Options, Duplex unit (set to Installed), Apply, OK.

Once you have done this in Vista the duplexer will work but the back side may print upside down regardless of the settings. This can be corrected with a patch available here.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Hi all of you
your problem sound as you have hanged Button, try clean it and refit it.
thanks,

Hamedo

When installing new cartridges, it's always a great idea to perform a cleaning and recalibration of the machine. Below are the steps needed to do just such a task. You may want to print these out or save them somewhere for future reference as well. They are directly from the HP website.
Please rate the tip accordingly and thanks for using Fixya.com.
Cleaning the printer

1. Verify the printer is turned on and in the Ready state.
2. Open the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. Click Cleaning Page on the Troubleshooting tab, and the click Print (HP Color LaserJet 1500 or 2500) or Cleaning Page (HP Color LaserJet 2550). A page with a pattern prints from the printer.
3. Remove any paper that may be in tray 1.
4. Remove the page that printed and load it face down into tray 1.
5. At the computer, press Clean .

Calibrating the printer There are two methods of calibrating the printer manual: at the printer or from the Toolbox on the computer. From the printer Turn the printer off and then on again. From the HP Color LaserJet 1500 or 2500 Toolbox on the computer

1. Open the HP Color LaserJet 1500 or 2500 Toolbox in one of the following ways:
   • Double-click the HP Color LaserJet 1500 or 2500 Toolbox icon on the computer desktop.
   • Select Start , Programs , HP Color LaserJet 2500 , and then HP Color LaserJet 1500 or 2500 Toolbox to open the Toolbox from the Windows desktop.
2. Click Diagnostic Tools on the left side of the screen on the Troubleshooting tab.
3. Click Color Calibration to perform the calibration procedure.

From the HP Color LaserJet 2550 Toolbox on the computer

1. Open the HP Color LaserJet 2550 Toolbox in one of the following ways:
   • Double-click the HP Color LaserJet 2550 Toolbox icon on the computer desktop.
   • Select Start , Programs , Hewlett-Packard HP Color LaserJet 2550 series , and then HP LaserJet Toolbox to open the Toolbox from the Windows desktop.
2. Click Print Quality Tools on the left side of the screen on the Troubleshooting tab.
3. Click the Calibrate Now button to perform the calibration procedure.

faithful is good..the toolbox you are referring to, is the HP toolbox? that's a driver issue, plain and simple..

check this link, and see what the HP icon reveals for this model and operating system..

by the way, you are my 2300th solution at Fixya, so you are entitled to a FREE tuneup4good for your PC..

that link also has some information related to that service.