My mom's hp officejet T45 printer now prints gibberish. It started after my sister installed a new ink cartridge for her. Because her documents were printing nothing but a solid black line then, my sister downloaded new software for her from the internet and then it starter printing gibberish. The ''test run'' that the printer does looks fine but any document that she tries to print comes out as gibberish. She's planning to pitch the printer and the new ink cartridges, but a senior on a fixed income can't really afford to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, uninstall printer and re-install it. and shake your cartridege also.

Check the printer properties to make sure it isn't printing in black and white only.

hello

the seal you peel off has to be removed, so -- no , you did not do anything wrong or damage anything

and yes, after 6-9 months, ink cartridges have a an expiration date
they do not work, as the ink gets hard and canmnot be used.

buy new ink cartridges.. if its a bran new out oif the box item, just replace the consumables -- in this case the ink cartridges.

To support the Officejet T45 in Windows Vista, install it using the Officejet R45 drivers. Color printing and high resolution output is supported using that driver!

Inkjet printers that have sat on the shelf for a while usually have dried up ink that is blocking your new ink from coming out.

Take it to a professional for an estimate, but I think you'll find the cost of a new printer to be a better deal in this case.

Good luck! Sorry the news isn't better!

Printer display says: Print cartridge problem : [Tri-Color]. Refer to device documentation to troubleshoot. I can find nothing in the 'device documentation' to help me.

Clean the cartridge contacts and the printer contacts as shown here.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

this should work for all 5500 hp printers i hope this helps you out richard from chicago i just noticed you have the wrong cartage you need hp 57 color that will make all the difference :-) HP Officejet 5500 series All-in-One model Black cartridge Color cartridge HP Officejet 5505 HP 56 HP 57 HP Officejet 5508 HP 56 HP 57 HP Officejet 5515 HP 56 HP 57 HP Officejet 5510, HP Officejet 5510xi, HP Officejet 5510v HP 56 HP 57 HP Officejet 5600 series Replacing the print cartridges

1. Turn on the HP Officejet, and lift open the print-carriage access door. The print carriage will move into the access area. Figure 1: Opening the print-carriage access door
2. After the carriage stops moving, push down on the top of the print cartridge to release it, and then pull it toward you out of the slot. Figure 2: Removing the print cartridge NOTE: It is normal to see ink buildup in the print cartridge slots.
3. Remove the new print cartridge from the packaging and gently remove the plastic tape by using the pink pull tab. CAUTION: Do not touch the copper contacts or ink nozzles. Install the cartridge immediately upon removing the tape to prevent ink from drying in the nozzles. Figure 3: Removing the plastic tape
4. Push the new print cartridge into the appropriate slot at a slight angle, until it clicks into place. CAUTION: Do not attempt to push the cartridge straight into the slot. It must slide in at a slight angle. Figure 4: Inserting the print cartridge
5. Close the print-carriage access door.

Aligning the print cartridges The HP Officejet will prompt you to align the print cartridges every time you install a new print cartridge to assure high-quality output.

1. When the message displays, press OK . The HP Officejet will print an alignment page.
2. Place the alignment page face down on the left front corner of the glass with the top of the page facing the left side.
3. Press OK . The HP Officejet will align the print cartridges and display Alignment Complete .

try original cartiages, that one could have something on it or be missing a contact.

Assuming you have successfully eliminated cartridge/print head problems, the only other thing to try is to delete the printer software and reinstall [Start/Printers and faxes -right click on the printer icon click delete- install new printer -Have the software disk and handy or select from list- select maker, select model,] I suspect the problem is still print head/cartridge however