Windows vs Ubuntu bet

[nothingspecial]

Two IT guys at work have just spent a total of 19 hours installing a brand new HP officejet L7580 printer, complete with cds, set up wizards and what have you, on a windows pc.
I have bet them £20 each that when I bring my Ubuntu laptop in tomorrow, I`ll just have to plug it in, press print and it will work.
How safe is my money?

[Ub1476]

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=HP+officejet+L7580+printer+ubuntu&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


22 Mar 2008 ... Can anyone recommend specific HP small office printer(s) that meet my needs as ... The HP OfficeJet Pro L7580 is defiantely a great choise. ...


I've tested the HP OfficeJet Pro L7580 with Ubuntu and HPLIP 2.8.2 and it's working correctly. ... I configure duplex through hp-toolbox > Printer Settings. ...

Quotes from Google search

Looks safe:)

[Bou]

Haha, those two are gonna flip out when you plug in the printer and get the "your new printer is ready to use" bubble.

How can you spend 19 hours installing it, though? What's their story?

[frup]

Haha, those two are gonna flip out when you plug in the printer and get the "your new printer is ready to use" bubble.

How can you spend 19 hours installing it, though? What's their story?


As long as the boss doesn't find out... who cares! Unless of course a change of IT guys would produce a change in operating systems :P

[melrom]

19 hours?! are they incompetent?! or maybe they're just excellent time wasters....

anyway, have fun showing them Ubuntu! :)

[FuturePilot]

How do you spend 19 hours installing a printer? :shock:

[bufsabre666]

easy money

[gn2]

Two IT guys at work have just spent a total of 19 hours installing a brand new HP officejet L7580 printer, complete with cds, set up wizards and what have you, on a windows pc.

I'm guessing you work for Network Rail?

Surely no other company has such levels of incompetence.....

[chris4585]

My HP photosmart works out of the box, no configuration, I would of raised the bet.

[Twitch6000]

How do you spend 19 hours installing a printer? :shock:

Agreed that just shows how well it gonna pay him off LMFAO.

[Kingsley]

This would be a good episode of The Office.

[calraith]

How to install a printer in Windows:


Throw away the installation CDs. The drivers on them are outdated anyway. There are newer drivers on the HP website. Besides, driver disks are for wusses.
Open Internet Explorer. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Erase whatever start URL is in the Address field. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Unplug the network cable.
Start Internet Explorer. No pop-ups this time, but the hard drive grinds for a good solid 10 minutes. Plug in the network cable. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Authentic-looking message appears, saying, "Windows has detected spyware running on your computer Click here to download AntiSpyware Blast Professional."
Close AntiSpyware Blast Professional trojan popup. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Swear.
Look in the Start Menu --> All Programs for Firefox. Firefox isn't installed.
Go to another computer and download an ISO for the Ultimate Boot CD.
Burn the ISO.
While the ISO is burning, go to Start --> Shut Down. Stare at a motionless desktop for a few moments.
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
Unplug the ******* at the wall.
Pick up the coffee cup of pens you knocked over when trying to get to the electrical outlet.
Plug the ******* back in.
Power on, and insert the Ultimate Boot CD.
You forgot to hit F12 to get to the boot menu. Windows loads.
Go back to step 10.
This time, when you power the machine on, you hold down F12 until the PC speaker beeps at you angrily. Get a keyboard error. Power the machine off again.
Power the machine back on, wait till after the video BIOS check, then hit F12 about 7 or 8 times during POST.
Boot to the CD.
Load the offline NT registry editor.
Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon\Notify.
Delete references to malware / trojans.
Unload the registry and reboot.
Panic because you're not quite sure whether what you deleted was spyware, or some unintuitively named obscure but vital Windows component.
Windows boots and you're able to log in. *phew* That could've been bad.
Fire up Internet Explorer.
Close only two porn popups this time. A new toolbar called "Easy Web Search Tool" appears. Screw it. IE didn't error and close this time.
Go to the HP website.
Search for the brand and model of the printer.
Downloading 532KB / 130MB. Estimated time for download: 3 hours 45 minutes.
Fish the driver disks out of the trash.
There was a problem installing the printer. The Windows Spooler Service is not running.
spoolsrv has encountered a problem and needs to close.

And so on. That's how it takes 19 hours to install a printer in Windows.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Boy they wasted their money, usually HP printers work right out of the box with linux :D

[peakshysteria]

Let's hear the ending man....can't wait hahaha :lolflag:

[Lod]

How to install a printer in Windows:


Open Internet Explorer. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups.
Why would you close porn :o

[chris4585]

How to install a printer in Windows:


Throw away the installation CDs. The drivers on them are outdated anyway. There are newer drivers on the HP website. Besides, driver disks are for wusses.
Open Internet Explorer. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Erase whatever start URL is in the Address field. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Unplug the network cable.
Start Internet Explorer. No pop-ups this time, but the hard drive grinds for a good solid 10 minutes. Plug in the network cable. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Authentic-looking message appears, saying, "Windows has detected spyware running on your computer Click here to download AntiSpyware Blast Professional."
Close AntiSpyware Blast Professional trojan popup. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Swear.
Look in the Start Menu --> All Programs for Firefox. Firefox isn't installed.
Go to another computer and download an ISO for the Ultimate Boot CD.
Burn the ISO.
While the ISO is burning, go to Start --> Shut Down. Stare at a motionless desktop for a few moments.
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
Unplug the ******* at the wall.
Pick up the coffee cup of pens you knocked over when trying to get to the electrical outlet.
Plug the ******* back in.
Power on, and insert the Ultimate Boot CD.
You forgot to hit F12 to get to the boot menu. Windows loads.
Go back to step 10.
This time, when you power the machine on, you hold down F12 until the PC speaker beeps at you angrily. Get a keyboard error. Power the machine off again.
Power the machine back on, wait till after the video BIOS check, then hit F12 about 7 or 8 times during POST.
Boot to the CD.
Load the offline NT registry editor.
Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon\Notify.
Delete references to malware / trojans.
Unload the registry and reboot.
Panic because you're not quite sure whether what you deleted was spyware, or some unintuitively named obscure but vital Windows component.
Windows boots and you're able to log in. *phew* That could've been bad.
Fire up Internet Explorer.
Close only two porn popups this time. A new toolbar called "Easy Web Search Tool" appears. Screw it. IE didn't error and close this time.
Go to the HP website.
Search for the brand and model of the printer.
Downloading 532KB / 130MB. Estimated time for download: 3 hours 45 minutes.
Fish the driver disks out of the trash.
There was a problem installing the printer. The Windows Spooler Service is not running.
spoolsrv has encountered a problem and needs to close.

And so on. That's how it takes 19 hours to install a printer in Windows.

:lolflag: I cracked up reading this man, good work!

[Methuselah]

IIRC some of those HP drivers have some serious probplems and cause error whenever you log in.

[SunnyRabbiera]

IIRC some of those HP drivers have some serious probplems and cause error whenever you log in.

sometimes, it depends.
But usually HP printers work very good with linux as HP allows linux to use their drivers.

[tompickles]

i want to know the ending! when is judgement?!

[chris4585]

sometimes, it depends.
But usually HP printers work very good with linux as HP allows linux to use their drivers.

That's cause HP is smart, thus why my desktop is HP too.

[FyreBrand]

That's crazy. We use HP printers (we're a Windows shop) because they work so easy on both our XP and Vista machines. Something sounds fishy to me.

So two IT guys walk in a bar and sit down next to an HP printer....

[Methuselah]

sometimes, it depends.
But usually HP printers work very good with linux as HP allows linux to use their drivers.

No, I was actually talking about the windows drivers.
On xpsp2 I've found them to crash svchost.exe.
At work, we also spent a long time trying to resolve the issue.
I wouldn't be surprised if others experienced this.

[Thirtysixway]

It might have taken 19 hours because they were working and didn't have time to mess with it. Start it in the morning, work and work, finish it later, it took 19 hours ;p

I don't know the story, I too would like to know.

[days_of_ruin]

My brother has had very bad experiences with hp WINDOWS drivers.
The linux ones work instantly.

[Barrucadu]

I had a nightmare setting up my HP printer to work over a network - I eventually found that the 200-odd MB driver download from the HP website did not support networked printing, yet the HP Linux drivers did.

[nothingspecial]

It might have taken 19 hours because they were working and didn't have time to mess with it. Start it in the morning, work and work, finish it later, it took 19 hours ;p

You`re right about that and I was being a little unfair to them since they work in a different building and had to come back and forth whilst doing a hundred other things. Also they were trying to install it over a network of five different sites. The point was that while I was watching them I was laughing. I`ve been talking up linux for ages and I saw this as my chance.

I went to work today with £20 in my pocket..... came home with £60 and the memory of the look on their faces.

It took under 10 seconds from plugging it in to printing.

The best thing was - when they plugged the printer back into the pc it wasn`t recognised. Only a connection problem solved with a little wire wiggling but it didn`t stop me collapsing.

Brilliant

[peakshysteria]

hahaha...nice one man. Thanks :)

[HotShotDJ]

I love stories like this. Thank you so much for sharing it!

[chris4585]

My brother has had very bad experiences with hp WINDOWS drivers.
The linux ones work instantly.

I'm on a Ubuntu livecd (gutsy) atm, and my HP printer worked just fine, saved my butt.

Nice story, see I told you should of raised the bet :popcorn:

[bigbrovar]

i had a similar experience although .. they was no bet involved :( . i worked into an office and i asked if i could use their printer .. the secretary told me she didnt have time configuring my system on the hp printer .. i said she wont need too .. so we plugged it in ubuntu did its magic .. i printer out.. everything done in less than 5 min.. ..

[Delever]

What can I say? Hmm. Let's keep up with the black magic! :lolflag:

[Bou]

the secretary told me she didnt have time configuring my system on the hp printer .. i said she wont need too .. so we plugged it in ubuntu did its magic ..

Yeah, the same has happened to me more than one time. I would be in an office teaching a class, then I would have to print something. Hey mate, can I use your printer? Sure, let me go get the driver CDs. Nah don't bother, would I say, I'm using Linux, I don't need those. Then I would get that notification, make sure the guy saw it:


Your printer is ready to use

Haha, I've impressed some IT staff that way :)

[aaaantoine]

I'm pretty impressed with Linux's printer support in general. I received a Dell printer as a gift from someone who had tried to get it to work with Vista and failed. More specifically, I tried to get it to work in Vista. Dell had the drivers for the printer in Vista, which I downloaded and installed several times. We could never print anything.

I've had it hooked up to my Windows XP desktop PC for about a year, now. Then one day out of pure curiosity, I tried to plug it into my Ubuntu laptop. While the printer isn't actually supported (mainly at the fault of Lexmark), the OS could at least tell me that I plugged in a printer.

[Funk Phenomena]

Roflmao at step 35... ha ha. And thanks for the swscanner .deb! =D>

[ShodanjoDM]

Brilliant

:lolflag:

Thanks for sharing the story. That really made my day :D

[zmjjmz]

This totally happened with my Mom's HP printer. Afterwards, I asked her if she needed to install drivers.
Yes, and apparently they need to be reloaded each time she prints.

[Sinkingships7]

How to install a printer in Windows:


Throw away the installation CDs. The drivers on them are outdated anyway. There are newer drivers on the HP website. Besides, driver disks are for wusses.
Open Internet Explorer. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Erase whatever start URL is in the Address field. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Unplug the network cable.
Start Internet Explorer. No pop-ups this time, but the hard drive grinds for a good solid 10 minutes. Plug in the network cable. Close 3 spyware-generated porn popups. Authentic-looking message appears, saying, "Windows has detected spyware running on your computer Click here to download AntiSpyware Blast Professional."
Close AntiSpyware Blast Professional trojan popup. "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Swear.
Look in the Start Menu --> All Programs for Firefox. Firefox isn't installed.
Go to another computer and download an ISO for the Ultimate Boot CD.
Burn the ISO.
While the ISO is burning, go to Start --> Shut Down. Stare at a motionless desktop for a few moments.
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
"Explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Error in instruction 0x0000008b. The referenced memory could not be "read."
Unplug the ******* at the wall.
Pick up the coffee cup of pens you knocked over when trying to get to the electrical outlet.
Plug the ******* back in.
Power on, and insert the Ultimate Boot CD.
You forgot to hit F12 to get to the boot menu. Windows loads.
Go back to step 10.
This time, when you power the machine on, you hold down F12 until the PC speaker beeps at you angrily. Get a keyboard error. Power the machine off again.
Power the machine back on, wait till after the video BIOS check, then hit F12 about 7 or 8 times during POST.
Boot to the CD.
Load the offline NT registry editor.
Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon\Notify.
Delete references to malware / trojans.
Unload the registry and reboot.
Panic because you're not quite sure whether what you deleted was spyware, or some unintuitively named obscure but vital Windows component.
Windows boots and you're able to log in. *phew* That could've been bad.
Fire up Internet Explorer.
Close only two porn popups this time. A new toolbar called "Easy Web Search Tool" appears. Screw it. IE didn't error and close this time.
Go to the HP website.
Search for the brand and model of the printer.
Downloading 532KB / 130MB. Estimated time for download: 3 hours 45 minutes.
Fish the driver disks out of the trash.
There was a problem installing the printer. The Windows Spooler Service is not running.
spoolsrv has encountered a problem and needs to close.

And so on. That's how it takes 19 hours to install a printer in Windows.

The best part is that you'll never get past step 20. It throws the process into an infinite loop. :lolflag:

[Ocxic]

film it and post on youtube please, I would love to see there reaction

[roachk71]

Bwahahahahaaaa!!!!

I would have loved to see the dirty looks on those techs' faces! :lolflag:

The last time I had to install a new printer for a friend, I had to cleanly reinstall Windows (sans recovery partition, since chances are that the recovery partition is infected, too). His computer had dozens of trojans and hundreds of malware items, not to mention all of the crapware preinstalled by HP.

His machine had several peripherals which Windows didn't already have the drivers for. In all, including downloading driver and imaging software over a 384kb/s connection, the job took NINE HOURS!

[calraith]

Roflmao at step 35... ha ha. And thanks for the swscanner .deb! =D>

No prob :) After reading the Ubuntu packaging guide, I realize that it's not quite compliant with official guidelines. It's useful for lack of something better, though.

[Lod]

I had a similar experience yesterday I believe. At my (new) work I'm a Linux fanboy surrounded by Windows addicts. They were complaining abouth how they tried Linux once and how it took them 3 days to install fedora on a machine and make a "hello world" application in mono. They were a bit crossed when I did the same with Ubuntu within an hour. Especially because I did so in presence of the boss who wanted to know why it took them so long :cool:

[enoughsaid05]

Think the technicians would be hitting the roof for seeing their expertise challenged. Think they might not have even heard a single word about Linux.

[lisati]

That's cause HP is smart, thus why my desktop is HP too.

Does a Compaq system count 'coz they're made by HP?

Edit: BTW one of my Epson printers works with Ubuntu no probs 'coz the model is on the list of supposrted printers & takes just a couple of minutes to setup on Ubuntu when required. The other, a multifunction printer, can be coaxed to do some of its stuff but I can't be bothered as long as I have at least one functioning printer.