My grandma's scanner program has stopped working for some reason. She has an hp printer/scanner/copier combo and all of a sudden the hp program to scan stuff with will not work. She'll click the icon to open it and all it does is make a beeping sound. Any help is greatly appreciated

I'm assuming your'e referring to the icon on the desktop.

This is an issue with IE7 being installed on the computer. If this is the case with her pc, she will have to remove IE7 & go back to IE6. This is done by going to Add/Remove, check Show Updates at the top of the dialouge box, scrolling down to IE7, & removing. It will roll back to IE6. As a precaution, have her create a System Restore point. Also, most likely if IE7 is installed on her PC, it came with Microsoft's Updates. To prevent this from reoccuring, have her manually do an update & choose the custom option. If IE7 is listed as an update, it can be unchecked so that it does not install, & can also be set not to be shown again.

If she does not have IE7, she could try to uninstall & then reinstall all of the HP software.

It could be malware related. Have her run a Full Service Scan using this:

Windows Live oneCare Scanner

ok thanks i'll try these, but i'm not sure if she has installed IE7

Scanning software can be a real pain in the ar$e! First thing I would do is to uninstall any software related to your Gran's printer, however the usual install process may leave some traces. Usually you can get hold of a simple utility (I know that HP have a utility that completely removes traces - search their site).

Once you have done that locate the latest drivers/software for the printer and install them following the onscreen instructions One of the most common errors I find in scanners/printers not working is that people connect the printer first then install the software (not saying you or your Gran did this).

If this doesen't help, pop back with details of your Gran's printer!

I would go to the control panel and look for the scanner/copyer/printer in the device menue if you find it then take a screen shot and paste it here ofr us to look at, if there is a website in the manual then I would also check there

First thing I'd do (IMHO) is to reinstall the software. Sometimes when windows gets updated (or when the computer is shut down or program is shut down incorrectly) it messes up programs. I'd uninstall it and reinstall it (then check for updates, or install the most up to date version) and see if that helps.

Also, unplug the power from your scanner, flick the switch on and off a few times, wait a few minutes, then plug the power back in. Sometimes it resets the scanner (worked on older ones anyways!).

If none of this works, then I'd work with the kind folks who have offered their help already! (or try this stuff I said if theirs doesn't work!)