Windows Firewall Issue

Hi All, I have come across a wierd issue and need some expert assistance. I have a customer who is using a wired network There are two printers shared over the network 1> HP Officejet pro K5400dn printer and 2> HP Laserjet 3055 My Client is able to print over the network using the LJ 3055 printer However when he is using the Office jet Pro printer and when the Windows firewall is turned on the printer status automatically becomes ' Not Connected ' What could be done for this ??? My client is absolutely livid and is driving me spare P.S. Cust has purchased the computer in switzerland and the OS is in French Thanks, Naren

Can other people print to both fine? How are these printers connected to the network, through sharing on another computer, or are they networked directly? Did it once work, and now has stopped working? If so, what has changed? What version of Windows? Did you compare the two printer Properties in Control Panel > Printers and Faxes? They should both be set up similarly to tell the OS/print spooler which physical port on the motherboard to send the print job to.

hi Digerati, Thanks for the response Client is using Windows XP Firewall Exceptions have been added Avast Antivirus has been disabled ( Not Uninstalled through) Client is able to print using the LJ 3055 Client was also able to use the printer once thought he had a problem with printing A4 sizes(bottom was getting cropped ) This is the mail he sent me Status is as follows. 1) Installation issues I have installed the Printer HP Officejet Pro K5400 Series with the lan connexion using the latest downloaded drivers (i.e. not the from installation CD). Installation was done with both Firewall and Antivirus turned off. From the window Printers and Fax the status for HP Officejet Pro K5400 Series is set to ‘Ready’ as for my other printer (HP Laser Jet). However as soon as I put the Firewall the status becomes ‘not connected’ Following the instructions from your colleague (mail below) I have checked status of the following exceptions to be added to the firewall : hpqkygrp.exe , located under the C:\program files\HP\digital imaging\bin directory. WAS ALREADY SET – NO CHANGE hpqscnvw.exe , located under the C:\program files\HP\digital imaging\bin directory. WAS ALREADY SET – NO CHANGE hpzipm12.exe , located under the C:\windows\system32 directory. WAS NOT THERE – I HAVE ADDED IT hpzinw12.exe , located under the C:\windows\system32 directory. WAS NOT THERE – I HAVE ADDED IT hpqtra08.exe , located under the C:\program files\HP\digital imaging\bin directory. WAS ALREADY SET – NO CHANGE hpqthb08.exe , located under the C:\program files\HP\digital imaging\bin directory. KO - THIS PROGRAM IS NOT LOCATED IN THIS FILE I cannot find the last program and was not able then to add it to the list of exceptions. Currently the situation is still that as soon as the Firewall is on the officejet pro K5400 printer is not connected and prints are remaining in the queue. 2) Margin at the bottom of the page. I have been able to cure the problem by setting the parameter at the printer lever Right click on the printer / Printing Options / Printer set-up / Margin Reduction : ‘ACTIVATED’ (rather than not activated as it was before). However I wonder whether this is the proper solution as I have seen somewhere in this process that quality could be deteriorated (..). Please assist me to fix the issue

First, the AV needs to be re-enabled. If connected to a network, you cannot compromise security.

I am still confused how this printer is connected. The client says, "I have installed the Printer HP Officejet Pro K5400 Series with the lan connexion" - but according to c|net Reviews, this printer does not support networking.

Installation was done with both Firewall and Antivirus turned off.

I never do this! It is very rare today that your firewall or your AV will not accept YOU installing new software. And in fact, if they are running, today's security applications will recognize and configure many of your new programs.

Installing security programs are a little different and may require you to shut down the Firewall or AV, but in those cases, disconnect from the network first.

Since everything seems to go downhill when the firewall is enabled, I would go into the firewall program and remove everything having to do with printing, including the "spooler". Configure the FW to yell at you for all decisions, then send a print job and answer the FW prompts accordingly and see if the print job gets through.