Odd Scanner Problem

I now have another problem with the same printer / scanner / copy machine / fax machine that I had a printing problem with recently that mysteriously went away when I fooled with it for a while (see my thread "Printer Won't Print".

Since then, I used it as a copy machine without a problem. It seems to me that if it has no problem scanning something to copy it, it should have no problem scanning it to create an image file.

But that's exactly what's going on. When I scan a full sheet of paper, it make 3 to 5 images, each one a little less than a square inch of the scanned document's area, from random places on the document!

Any ideas?

 

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

 

Is it possible the computers gods are just capricious?

After a long delay, here's where it stands now...

My HP Envy 5530 e-All-in-One Printer could print and copy, but not scan. (I didn't try faxing.)

I tried everything:
• Disconnecting and unplugging the printer and rebooting the computer
• Scanning directly using the controls on the printer without using a program to initiate scanning
• Replacing the USB cable
• Connecting via another USB port
• Reinstalling the printer software (ALL the printer software, not just the scanner driver)

But it just wouldn't work.

But then I tried this: EVERY time I pressed "Scan" on the printer, or SOMETIMES when I clicked on Control Panel > Devices and Printers (so I could right-click on the printer and select "Start scan"), a little window appeared that said "HP ENVY 5530 series (USB)".

It gives three choices for program to scan with: the first TWO are both "HP Scan:, and the third is "Microsoft Office Publisher".

If I select the FIRST one named "HP Scan", it won't scan, but if I select the SECOND, then it WILL scan, but one of the two by that name (presumably the one that hadn't worked) disappears until I try to scan via the control on the printer again, it which point it reappears, and the scanner won't work anymore again.

And at first, even scanning by accessing Control Panel > Devices and Printers and selecting the second copy of "HP Scan" only worked for "Black and white" or "Grayscale" Color formats, not for the "Color" Color format.

But then, after playing with it for a while, then the "Color" Color format mysteriously started working.

Does anybody know how to make this thing straighten up and fly right?

 

Did you try running the troubleshooting tool?
http://support.hp.com/us-en/product...ne-printer-series/5304881/document/c03286146/

 

Yeah, I did, but after it was unable to find the problem itself, the suggestions that it made for troubleshooting the problem were all the same things that I just did myself to try to fix it.

 

Printers can be frustrating and there often is no logic as to why they just stop working. If you have uninstalled it completely and reinstalled it, ran the troubleshooter, updated drivers, replaced cords, updated the software, there is not much left for you to do that I can think of. Taking it in for repair often is not cost effective. Hope someone else has some ideas for you.