I have a LaserJet 1160 that up until today was connected to my computer throught the parallel port and was working fine. But some problems arose and I had to connect the printer via USB.
Now it takes maybe 30 seconds or more to start printing. The green light is flashing the whole time (which means that the print job is transfered from the computer to the printer).
What the heck? I thought USB data transfer was way faster than parallel cable. Is there any way to make it go faster?
USB 1.1 or USB 2.0?
My first thought, also.
USB 2.0, but even if it was 1.1 it shouldn’t take that long.
I am not talking about printing some huge image file, even the Windows Test Page takes at least 30 seconds to start printing.
Does the printer have a way to configure it’s primary input? If it’s expecting input from one port and gets input from another port unexpectedly, that could cause it to have to “shift gears” so to speak.
Ok, found the solution here: Solved: Slow Printing | Experts Exchange
I downloaded kyocera’s driver deleter program (ftp://kyonet.kyocera.co.uk/downloads/utilities/Driver/Driver_Deleter.exe) and removed all printer files from the computer.
Then I used the hp installation cd, but it said something about a critical error and halted the installation.
In the end I installed the printer using the Add Printer function and searched the cd manually for drivers.
Over the years I had many other printers (OKI, Epson, Star, Samsung) and never had any software problem. But HP printers seem to always come bundled with bloated, barely working, poorly designed, buggy software.