Howdy folks. Here's the skinny.

A friend of mine recently bought two new things within about a month of eachother; first was the aformentioned HP Photosmart C6100 printer with built in WiFi, and not long after that, a shiny new laptop with Vista Home Premium on.

I had his wireless network humming with his previous XP machine and this printer before: he is an RVer, and therefore he uses a Verizon card for his broadband access, freeing up his ethernetwork for printing on-the-fly, as advertised by HP. His built-in WiFi card is set up with a static IP network through a Linkys router, with the only other node being the WiFi printer (also a static IP, natch).

Here's the problem: After I install the *ahem* NEW Vista drivers obtained from the HP site, the first few print jobs go off without a hitch. Invariably, however, I get a call within a few days, and the printer has disappeared from the Printers folder, Leaving only the standard print-to-file options in the Send To dialogue when the print command is invoked.

A perusal of the Network folder shows that the printer is located right where it should be, with the correct IP address and everything -- yet the printer no longer exists to the print subsytem. Any attempt at printer discovery also comes up empty.

If I uninstall the (bloated, ridiculously huge) HP driver software and reinstall it, it works again, even through a hard reboot of both the printer and the laptop. But 48 hours later, lo and behold, its tits-up once again.

Any ideas?

TIA,
notrab

__________________
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"You see this, Larry? This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps."

Hi , i have the exact problem. Please if there is a solution, can you email it to me too, at
smileyfarhan@yahoo.co.uk

many thanks.

I have a very similar problem. I have an HP XP machine hard wired to the Linksys router, an HP Vista machine also hard wired to the router. My 6100 printer is wireless. It works fine on my XP machine, but appears "Offline" on my Vista machine. This really stinks because my kids are doing their homework on this Vista computer and they can't print from it. Please email me at reboles@gmail.com. Thank you!

SAME PROBLEM HERE. Install - shows for 48hrs on Vista then POOF - gone. We have linksys wireless router with several XP machines.

At leaset some of you can print, I ca't download and set up, yes I am the Admin. I've got copys of xp, I know the fix.

This has been a known issue and there has also been an HP "patch" since late last year.

Critical update to prevent unexpected printer uninstall*HP Photosmart C6180 All-in-One

This patch stops the uninstall problem, but doesn't fix the main problem that the printer appears offline. This problem only seems to appear after my pc has been on standby. The printer is good to print when I reboot, but not after it goes to sleep. Any advice?