I'm the owner of a Dell Dimension XPS B866 desktop as well as a Dell Inspiron 600M laptop. The desktop is currently running Windows 2000 Professional and the laptop is running XP Professional. I have a HP Officejet T45xi all in one that can't print in color on the laptop, and after trying to install the correct update and drivers for the desktop, I currently can't even print at all. There is a communications error according to a pop up window. I would appreciate it if somebody could post a detailed step by step and well-written solution for each of my computers as I've spent hours searching various websites and querying various search engines. Frankly, the way people write on these boards is atrocious as true techies expect those who are not as savvy to understand everything that they are posting. Thanks in advance!

I understand your complaint about how some of us techies write, and I apologize on behalf of us all. (On a side note, try reading how some of the people who ask questions here write! It's a pleasure to find a post like yours that makes it clear what trouble you're having.) So, on to the problem.

Your HP is an oldie but a goodie. When I worked for an HP warranty service center we seldom had trouble with these. But it's a parallel interface, and for best performance you need a good-quality cable. When parallel printers were the only choice, cables were costly and there were a lot of cheapies sold. Especially In an electrically noisy office or commercial environment, a poorly-made cable can result in garbled data getting to the printer.

I'm going to assume you've already downloaded and installed the HP driver software for the printer in both of your computers. (If you need them, here are the XP drivers, and the ones for Windows 2000.)

HP makes a point of telling you the parallel port of your computer must be set for ECP mode. The wrong mode setting can cause improper operation. Mode selection is done through settings on the motherboard's BIOS (basic input/output system). On Dell machines, you enter the BIOS setup pages by pressing the F2 key when you turn the computer on and the Dell logo comes up. There's a line that tells you how to enter setup, but it usually disappears pretty quickly. You can verify the port settings and correct them if necessary.

The remaining possible cause (and the most likely, sad to say) is a hardware failure in the printer. Electronic parts, particularly parts those using a relatively large amount of power like the data interface circuitry, can break down with age and use. I suspect your printer may simply have reached the end of its useful life. If you've checked the other suggested causes, that's all that's left, and it may be time to replace the thing.

Thanks for using Fixya! I hope this helps you resolve the issue. Good luck!

Your windows 2000 pro is not supported by Microsoft anymore and your XP has to be Service Pack Three to be valid. The issue sounds like a driver issue. This is because the desktop prints in colour and the laptop does not. For the laptop to print correctly you have to have all the latest updates installed first. Please
1. turn on your printer first
2. then turn on laptop
3. make sure yu are cobnnected to the internet
4. go start>control panel>automatic updates> make sure they are turned on
5. go here http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/thanks.aspx?ln=en&&thankspage=5
and do as it asks.
6. when updates are all installed turn off and turn on laptop (reboot)
7. repeat 5. until there are no more upates offered to download
8. go start>control panel>add and remove programs and uninstall anything to do with Officejet. Do not unistall all to do with HP, as you may have other HP hardware, just officejet.
9. download and install ccleaner (Google it) and its free.
10. run the registry clean part of ccleaner (left column, second icon down). Save the backup it offers.
11. reboot
12. go here http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=mp-49137-1 and install the cleanup tool. Run it and it may clean out any sediment in the registry.
13. Reboot
14. After level 4 action, reinstall the whole CD that came with the printer but make sure the CD you use says that the software is for use with windows XP. Take your time and let this process run its full course without interference even if it looks like it has stopped or frozen.

Let me know what happens.

Phil