Why won't my printer work?

[Lestat]

I won't say I'm the most incompetent person when it comes to computers, but if the most incompetent person were to die...

I've got a HP Deskjet 648C. It's plugged in. It has 2 usb plugs which are both plugged into the CPU USB ports.

I go to print a document and... Nothing. I look and see the print job and it's there in queu waiting to be printed. I hit restart and nothing. It says error-printing under status.

I go to "control panel" and look at my printers. There it is with a checkmark next to it. So I think it's installed.

Any idea why I can't get it to print? Notepad doesn't print either. I tried to run through the troubleshooting help guide, but got stuck when it asked me to print from a command prompt. It only shows how to print from a LPT port, not a USB port. So I don't know the command to print from a USB port. Aaaarrrgghh! I just want to print 1 silly (but important), document! Why is this so hard? I'd appreciate any help.

[SamIAm]

Did the printer ever work? Any lights on it? Can you print a test page from the printer (not the computer)?

[kerowo]

Why does it have 2 USB plugs plugged in?

[Lestat]

Yes, the printer works and the lights are on. No, I cannot print a test page or anything.

I wound up hooking it up to my laptop (the one where the keys don't work -lol), and the printer worked fine and right away.

I suspect it's a windows problem. I don't know what else it could be.

[Lestat]

[ QUOTE ]
Why does it have 2 USB plugs plugged in?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure. I really don't use the printer much. I never noticed 2 USB cables before. One has the large pin thing at one end that goes into the printer. The other is smaller like a normal USB plug. Both are normal USB plugs that go into the CPU.

I connected both plugs into my laptop and the printer worked fine.

[SamIAm]

[ QUOTE ]
I connected both plugs into my laptop and the printer worked fine.

[/ QUOTE ]
Can you plug in only 1? It is pretty weird taht you have two.