Wireless Printing Center

Security Information and Firewalls

Need help with a specific security software or firewall?

installed on your computer is designed to protect your computer against threats that can come from outside your network. A security software suite can contain different types of software such as anti-virus, anti-spyware, and child protection applications. Firewalls are intended to block threats from outside your network, but can sometimes block communication between devices on your network and can cause problems when using network printers. In addition to your security software's firewall, your operating system also has a firewall for the same purpose.

Common firewall issues

Problems you might experience with firewalls include:

• When you install printer software, the printer cannot be found on the network.
• You're suddenly unable to print.
• The printer shows that it is offline in the "printer" folder on Windows, or the Printers list on a Mac.
• HP software shows the printer status as "disconnected" even though the printer is connected to the network.
• If you have an All-in-One, some functions, such as printing, work, while others, such as scanning, don't.

How can I tell a problem is due to a firewall and not something else?

A quick troubleshooting technique is to disable your firewall and see if the problem goes away. Remember to re-enable your firewall before continuing to follow this guide.

If you're not sure your computer has a firewall installed, you can download and run the HP Print and Scan Doctor (Windows only). This utility detects many different types of firewalls, and can also tell you if there are other causes for a network issue with your printer.

Firewall troubleshooting

Basic troubleshooting and best practices:

Here is a list of best practices that can solve most issues related to firewalls. For specific information on your particular firewall settings, you should contact the firewall manufacturer.

• Keep your security software up to date. Many security software vendors provide updates that correct known issues and provide the latest defenses against new security threats.
• If your firewall has "High", "Medium", or "Low" security settings, use the "Medium" setting when your computer is connected to your network.
• If you have changed any firewall settings from default, try going back to the default setting.
• If your firewall has a setting called "trusted zone", use this setting when your computer is connected to your network.
• If your firewall has a setting to "not show alert messages", you should disable this. When installing the HP software and using the HP printer you may see alert messages from your firewall software that provide options to "allow", "permit" or "unblock". You should allow any HP software that causes an alert. Also, if the alert has a "remember this action" or "create a rule for this" selection, select it. This is how the firewall learns what can be trusted on your network.
• Do not have more than one firewall enabled at the same time on your computer. An example would be having both the Windows firewall provided by the operating system and a 3rd party firewall enabled at the same time. Having more than one firewall enabled at the same time will not make you computer any safer and may cause problems.

Advanced troubleshooting:

• Your assigns an address called an to every device on your network. The IP address assigned to a device can change. When this happens, it can be difficult for software on the computer to find the device over the network. To avoid this potential problem, you can assign a static IP address to your HP printer. Follow these steps.

Specific security software and firewall vendor information

Security Software Resources:

Vendor	Product/Version	Website	Support link
Comodo	Internet Security Pro (current version)	www.personalfirewall.comodo.com	Comodo support
ESET	Smart Security 4	www.eset.com
Kaspersky	Internet Security 2010		Kaspersky support
McAfee	Total Protection 2010	www.mcafee.com	McAfee support
Trend Micro	Internet Security Pro v3.0	www.trendmicro.com	Trend Micro support

Help Documents for Security Software:

Firewall/Security Application	Application Version	Applicable OS	Help Document
Agnitum Outpost 10.0 Free	10.0	N/A	c03457255
AVG Internet Security	8.5	Vista 32-bit	c01715149
AVG Internet Security	9.0/10.0	N/A	c02251000
Avira	9/10	N/A	c02247343
BitDefender	2009/2010	N/A	c02251103
CA Internet Security Suite	2008	Vista 32-bit	c01753120
CA Internet Security Suite	2010 Plus	N/A	c02251287
Comodo Internet Security Pro	4.1/2011	N/A	c02525757
ESET Smart Security	4.0	N/A	c02525907
F-Secure Internet Security	2010	N/A	c02253024
Norton Internet Security	2009/2010	N/A	c02623251
Panda Internet Security	2009	N/A	c01748043
PC Tools Internet Security	2010/2011	N/A	c01772067
SoftPerfect	1.4.1	N/A	c01753070
Sophos Computer Security	4.0	N/A	Sophos Support
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall	9.2	N/A	c01540262
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall	10	N/A	c03415155