Thursday, January 27, 2011

When is an UNINSTALL not uninstalling?

Plugging in...

Canon. HP. Both popular printer manufacturers. So what happens when you buy a new Canon or HP printer replacing a previous one, and part of the all-in-one printer doesn't work, like the scanner, for instance?

A Tutor client spent several hours working through this scenario with a telephone tech support person from Canon. Old printer died. New printer purchased. Old printer software "uninstalled" via Canon's uninstall software. New software installed. And almost everything worked, but not the scanner. Canon is baffled. They have the Tutor's client uninstall, re-install, unplug, replug and do the hokey-pokey. No dice, it still doesn't work.

The problem was, the uninstall software only uninstalled the PRINTER DRIVER, but left behind all the old all-in-one software which confused the new printer installation. Since it saw some of the same software already there, it did not install all the software for the new printer. SHAME on the manufacturer for using the same names and same folder for the software installation.

It took the Tutor less than 10 minutes to solve the problem. There was a Canon folder and ALL the software in sub-folders stored on the computer's hard drive. Once the Canon folder and all its files and sub-folders were manually deleted, the new printer software and printer driver installed quickly and every piece worked perfectly. Printing, scanning, copying and faxing all now working. Maybe the Tutor should tutor the Canon tech support people...

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, is the old software really UNINSTALLED, and is it turned on?

Unplugged

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