# HP Printer and Windows XP

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-printer-and-windows-xp/219093>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 15, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-printer-and-windows-xp/219093 "2003-12-15T11:01:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Munster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/41988e/32.png) [@Munster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munster)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-printer-and-windows-xp/219093/1 "2003-12-15T11:01:01Z")

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I’m using a HP 500 printer with my home PC. In order to save on colour ink i regularly print out colour documents in greyscale using a black n white ink cartridge.

This was fine under windows 98. However on windows XP any word document i print out in greyscale is effectively in double, ie its as if someone wrote the text while holding two pens.

My question is did any of ye encountered a problem similar to this? Do i need to download a new driver from microsoft?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-printer-and-windows-xp/219093/2 "2003-12-15T15:59:17Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Munster \*  
> **Do i need to download a new driver from microsoft?**

That would be my first instinct, but it appears that HP, Microsoft, and [driverguide.com](http://driverguide.com) don’t have any other WinXP drivers for that printer. A quick google search didn’t turn up any references to the problem you’re experiencing. You might try deleting the printer and reinstalling it.