Resetting the HP Photosmart Wireless Printer

I'm not exactly what you would call a tech genius. I write for a living and I take classes online, so I'm pretty well versed in how to create written content. I don't even have time to play games or anything else. But, I do like to have the right tools to do the job. That's why I bought the Hewlett Packard (HP) Photosmart Wireless Printer. I thought I could easily print out my research and pictures without having to arrange my office space to fit the printer in right next to me; it worked well right up until the power went out.

The wireless printing setup is supposed to be a matter of clicking on "print". I have an HP Pavilion dm4 and an HP Photosmart wireless printer. In theory I'm supposed to be able to click on "print" and the computer will send a message to the printer that will make the printer print whatever I want it to.

The power went out. During one of the storms we had this year, the power in my apartment went out. It wasn't struck by lightning; we simply lost power for an hour or so. When the power came back on, I booted everything back up. Yet, when I went to print, my computer didn't recognize my printer. I even plugged the USB cord in and still couldn't print.

Call HP. My equipment is still under warranty, so I called HP to see if they could help me out. After hours of rebooting everything and trying to troubleshoot both devices, a rather simple solution came to mind.

Wireless has its disadvantages. I run my network off of a wireless Linksys router. When the power goes out and my router starts back up, it changes IP addresses. My computer automatically detects the address and does what it has to do. But, the printer is programmed to recognize my specific IP address. If it can't recognize it, it simply doesn't connect. No connection to the router means no connection to the network, hence no connection to my computer.

The solution was easy. I shut everything off and disconnected all power cords. Then, I booted everything back up and plugged the USB cable into the computer. After redoing the entire setup process, the printer works fine -at least until the next power outage! IT seems that when all else fails, you really do have to start at the beginning.

References: Personal experience