Many people have this problem:
I bought a new laptop (HP Envy 13) with Windows 10. I have a USB printer (HP LaserJet 1018). When I plug it in, it appears as "unknown device" in Devices and Printers. The troubleshooter shows a message:
USB Printing Support is an older USB device and might not work with USB 3.0
which hints at that the problem is not in the printer but in Windows 10 USB printing support, which apparently cannot work with USB 3.0 ports. The laptop has only USB 3.0 ports, so apparently it cannot print at all (I did not try other printers).
What I have tried:
Read lots of forum messages. All of them say "I have this problem, too," but none has a solution.
I saw a suggestion to plug the printer into a USB 2.0 port, but modern computers have no USB 2.0 ports.
Connecting the printer via a USB 2.0 cable.
Connecting the printer to USB 2.0 or USB 1.0 external hub connected to the computer via a USB 2.0 cable.
Uninstalling USB controller drivers (Windows 10 installs them again after reboot).
Uninstalling the USB Printing Support device (Windows 10 installs it again after reboot) or updating it (Windows 10 says I have the latest version).
Looking for Windows 10 drivers on HP website. The printer is listed as supported and Windows 10 driver is in the list, but instead of a link to the driver their site says that I should use the built-in driver already included with the operating system. It has a link to "more information", which finally sends me back to the same page.
Using print doctor (or so) troubleshooter from the HP site. It says the printer drivers are not installed and sends me to the above page (where there is no driver).
Installing Windows 7 or Windows 8 driver (it is the same driver). It gives an error when I try to use its installer, and says "file not found" when I try to install the .INF file manually.
Connecting the printer to another computer with Windows 7 (works like a charm), marking it as shared and connecting to it from the Windows 10 laptop via IP. It does see it but asks to install a driver from file (shows a "choose file" dialog without attempting to use the alleged built-in driver), but as I said HP does not provide any driver file for this printer, suggesting to use Windows 10 built-in driver. In the list of known devices that the installer shows (after syncing with Windows Update) there is no 1018 printer.
Installing HP LaserJet 1020 driver from that list, instead of 1018 (Windows 7 driver is the same for 1018, 1020, and 1022). It says it cannot communicate with the printer.
Any better idea?