We bought a HP PSC 1205 all-in-one printer/scanner/copier from PC World a little while ago (a commando-like raid with a clearly defined mission: buy a printer; don’t engage with the idiot workforce; get out, quickly). The hardware seems pretty good for the money, but the bundled HP software is really bad.
My major gripe is that the HP Director item is added to the Dock on every reboot (or login). Having it put there on installation is almost excusable, but on every login? No! (I was going to link to something authoritative here that backs up my belief that items in the Dock should ultimately be under the user’s control, and software that installs Dock items willy-nilly is counter to some user experience guideline carved into a stone tablet somewhere, but couldn’t find anything; so it seems “anything goes”)
Luckily, a quick search revealed this MacOS Hint that fixes the problem by deleting the Director Docker application. Director Docker gets launched when you (or any user logs-in) and restores HP Director to the Dock. That works, but now your Mac is attempting to launch a non-existant application on every login. Here’s my tip: attack the root of the problem by editing the /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist file to remove the dict entry that launches the application.
Published at 12:22 pm on April 10th, 2004.
Topics: Mac
54 Comments
I recently purchase a HP PSC 1350 all-in-one Printer, Copier, Scanner with the latest Installation CD version 3.5. You are absolutely correct. The Hardware is actually very good for the money. The software, especially the HP Director, stinks. HP S/W engineers are clueless!!!
I’m running on a PC with Windows 98 Second Edition.
Hp’s solution to my HP Director problem doesn’t work!!
Comment by Jim Hegyes at 6:29 am on August 15th, 2004 #link
u know if u would show me how to go about having a choice to pick the hard drive i want and him the other then i could give u all u want so dont play games and do what u need,,,until then,,,sorry
Comment by kathy at 6:05 pm on August 20th, 2004 #link
I purchased an office Jet6110xi and the HP Director worked one time and since refuses to work. any suggestions would be appreciated.
Comment by wilbur deeter at 3:50 am on September 27th, 2004 #link
i bought a hp printer 1300 series and i can’t get it to work where can i buy a good one that will work . it seems that no one can help me. there is one thing that i will never do again is buy an hp product
Comment by leo dagenais at 12:37 am on October 31st, 2004 #link
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Comment by Matt at 9:18 pm on December 31st, 2004 #link
I bought an hp psc 1315 from walmart. good price bad software. I could not just add a printer. Had to go thru a long installation process and never a printer in my printer folder. Printer worked stand alone and that’s it. Needed patches on the first installation. Will not buy hp products again.
Comment by grnpoppy at 10:06 pm on April 3rd, 2005 #link
Thanks for blogging this, I’d hunted high and low for a solution to this until I came across your entry.
Comment by Marc Hadley at 5:03 pm on May 4th, 2005 #link
Thank you very much for this hint!
Comment by Jollino at 7:41 am on July 10th, 2005 #link
Thanks for the great hint! You posted it, and Google led me here… gotta love it! My rambling blog post about this
Comment by Avi Flax at 1:10 am on July 15th, 2005 #link
This fix didn’t help me. os 10.4.2. Please make it go away!
Comment by kevin at 6:25 pm on July 27th, 2005 #link
Didnt work 10.4.2
Comment by Brian at 6:47 pm on August 15th, 2005 #link
Re: #10 and #11 “did’t work”.
This topic is well over a year old, and 10.4 wasn’t out when it was originally posted. In 10.4 there isn’t a ‘loginwindow.plist’ file anymore (it seems that it is now called ‘com.apple.loginwindow.plist’, and it’s in the new binary plist format). I’ve no idea if HP has updated thier installers or methods since posting this, either.
So, it seems, this fix doesn’t work anymore (and your comments don’t enlighten the topic further), so, if anyone knows how to stop this happening on 10.4 or above, post a comment here!
Comment by Tim at 10:02 pm on August 15th, 2005 #link
I bought a hp 5500, nice machine but I’m losing out on a lot it can do because the software supplied, hp director as its called wont’t install. What can I do?
Comment by tim at 2:32 pm on August 22nd, 2005 #link
Just bought an HP 1410V all-in-one…YES the software sucks. Haven’t they heard of File > Scan > Save as…. instead of all that cutesy stuff?
Am going to return it if I can’t find other software to use.
thanks for listening. sp
Comment by susan at 12:39 pm on August 24th, 2005 #link
hp image automatically took the place of hp gallery on my hp pc…………….but on the dell pc…….it still has hp gallery and hp and the pc both acknowledge any automatic updates for the photosmart psc 2410xi all in one……should i delete hp gallery and director first or should i just download the update for hp image and/but why didn’t hp image automatically update and take the place of hp director and gallery like hp image did on the hp pc…………………….talk to you more later………….maybe you have an answer…..gotta run now………thanx, V
Comment by veola at 5:39 pm on August 29th, 2005 #link
Re: #15
This topic is Mac related, you should look elsewhere for answers to Windows-based problems. Try the HP support website.
Comment by Tim at 8:12 am on August 30th, 2005 #link
I have fought this problem a couple times. I just reinstalled Tiger and I think I’ve found a good solution for me. First I removed any items HP installed in my user ’startup items’ list. Then I deleted the entire loginwindow.plist file that HP had put in Library/Preferences. That stops anything from starting up when I log in, and I can still print to the printer (it’s on a network and I never use the scanner).
Comment by Eric at 7:39 pm on September 20th, 2005 #link
I have an HP all-in-one 4110 and 3970 scanner that function normally. however, the HP director no longer works and therefore I can’t alter my scanner settings. The factory is clueless about fixing my problem. I will not buy another HP product
Comment by Robert at 11:29 pm on September 20th, 2005 #link
Re: #17
Eric, I’ve now done the same. I haven’t installed the HP software under Tiger. The printer works fine, although there isn’t a way native way to use the scanner (which I hardly ever use).
I downloaded the trial of VueScan, which worked perfectly to get the scanner working. The benefit is it doesn’t install any extra guff like the HP software.
Comment by Tim Brayshaw at 9:10 am on September 21st, 2005 #link
I don’t think the best idea to get rid of it in Tiger is to remove the loginwindow.plist file completely, since you may have other apps (Example: Adobe CS2 Suite) that use the file for things that don’t annoy you.
If you just double click loginwindow.plist it opens up the built in editor which will let you remove the offending lines, but it won’t let you save. So, what I did was go into terminal and type “sudo open /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist” - it still wouldn’t let me save but if I went “save to…” it would (curiously) let me overwrite the original file (without asking).
Comment by Andrew at 9:59 pm on September 30th, 2005 #link
Re: #20
Good point: I wouldn’t suggest deleting the entire file. Just delete the dict entry related to the HP software.
Tim.
Comment by Tim Brayshaw at 11:22 pm on September 30th, 2005 #link
Actually, there’s a much simpler solution that doesn’t involve deleting any files… just left-click on the HP Director dock icon to bring the application to the front (which also displays the context menu), then look for “Preferences…” in the menubar. There is one option in the tiny preferences dialog: “Activate Dock Menu Item at Login.” After unchecking this box, the icon no longer reappears uninvited in my dock. I think I also removed the director from my list of login items at some point using the Accounts Preference Pane.
Comment by David at 5:08 am on October 14th, 2005 #link
We are using hp psc 1350 all-in-one on my wifes comp. We don’t want hp Director, the printer/scanner works fine, but is there a way to check INK LEVELS without having hp Director installed, hp tech support doesn’t have clue, and I am ready to buy another make.
Comment by The Viking at 6:56 pm on January 6th, 2006 #link
I have a HP officejet V40, & since I had a virus, I cannot receive or send a fax. I do not have the Director in my programs anymore.What can be done about this???
chanel19335@msn.com
Comment by Marge Riggi at 8:34 pm on January 17th, 2006 #link
Btw bak to the HP director issue: I have managed to remove it by deleting a file named “Director Docker” which is stored somewhere in the HP folders (use SL). This was on Mac OS 10.4.4 Thanks for the nice thread.. Valerio.
Comment by Valerio Amoretti at 6:21 pm on January 21st, 2006 #link
good grief, what a shock, I thought I was the only person going through this…. HP should put this right….so many complaints….my printer has not worked correctly at all right from the first installation…. and mine too came from PC World…who also said… nothing to do with them contact HP….so if we all get together and send one very long email with all our complaints maybe something will be done…regards Loveday
Comment by Loveday at 4:33 pm on January 29th, 2006 #link
I finally came across this while trying to figure this out for the umpteenth time. HP support claims this can be done through the preferences dialogue as someone suggested above in 22. This worked on 10.3/panther, but doesn’t on 10.4/tiger.
The posts about the loginwindow.plist solved my problem (my particular version of the software doesn’t have “Director Docker”, so I couldn’t delete this). In case there are people still having trouble, I thought I’d add some additional info.
The problem between 10.3 and 10.4 using HP’s suggested solution is that the plist file formats have changed from ascii to a compressed binary format. This can be edited with the builtin preferences editor - but only if you installed the developer tools from the Xcode package. Find the Hewlett Packard entry and delete it. For those who do not want to install the developer tools, you can download a free plist file editor from here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26268
cheers, jrh
Comment by john at 6:09 pm on January 29th, 2006 #link
We have a HP PSC 2400 all-in-one and the software is useless! It runs, and installs about 4 different components upon every logon to Windows XP. WTF? How did this ever get through quality control?!? Ideas on how to stop it would be appreciated!
Comment by Richard Maynard at 9:37 pm on February 6th, 2006 #link
Comment by Mark at 6:05 pm on February 27th, 2006 #link
My scanner refuses to function. I can get a copy sometimes but never when I really require one in a hurry. I have unplugged and re downloaded , gone by the book but no go.I have a 1200 all in one well its supposed to be all in one
Comment by Joie at 10:49 pm on April 14th, 2006 #link
HP is simply crap!!! Never Again
Comment by T Henchmen at 9:03 pm on April 18th, 2006 #link
I have tried and tried to get HP Director and every time I get in touch with your socalled experts they have me reload the hp1300series to get the director and all it does is screw up my computer. Why don’t you get someone that can speak English and that know what to do. HP IS A BIG RIPOFF. John
Comment by John Hulderman at 1:40 am on April 24th, 2006 #link
Hi I have a hp psc 2210 all in one and I like it. I put the fax on and now I want to turn it off.. In my manual, it doesn’t address that..if it does, where is it..Kindly inform me on the procedure to remove it Thanks Neil
Comment by Neil Kennedy at 5:49 pm on May 3rd, 2006 #link
Has anyone started a class action lawsuit against Hewlett Packard for the junk they sell on the consumer market? I would gladly become involved in such!!!! I consider any HP software on my computer to be a virus.
Comment by casey at 12:14 am on May 7th, 2006 #link
I bought a 5510 all in one hp officejet. I cannot fax out from it!!! I have tried deleting the whole software from my pc and reinstalling, but the director will not work to enable to fax out. HELP!!! Tried a day worth of attemps…NOTHING WORK
Comment by Minister at 7:09 am on May 9th, 2006 #link
Thanks a lot for this!!
It worked perfectly!
p.s. you’re 1st on google by the words: removing from dock hp
Cheers!
will.
Comment by william at 1:51 pm on June 3rd, 2006 #link
have hp 1310 all-in-one series,have uninstalled and reinstalled 5 times. hp director will not show even after I click on the icon.hp has lost a good customer after 4 printers.
Comment by jessie wright at 3:53 pm on June 8th, 2006 #link
ive lost the cd to be able to use my printer(hp psc 1410v) could somebody please help me
Comment by john at 1:20 pm on June 13th, 2006 #link
I have HP Photosmart 7350
I cannot open “hp director”. When I click on the icon the desktop goes blank and then re-opens. Please list previous troubleshooting steps, or information that can help HP assist you. Reinstalled updated printer software. Real time Chat Session with HP technician who did not solve the problem but instructed me to instal “HP Photosmart Essential Software”.I do not like this and wish fix the problem with the “Director
This was a frustrating experience try to work with HP technicians who lack the knowledge to solve a software problem
Comment by Jim at 6:25 am on August 12th, 2006 #link
I have a HP 2600. when trying to reinstall the software it never gets as far as reinstalling the HP Director icon. It actually did once but when I clicked on it , it was not linked to the program.
HELP
Jim 12 Aug 2006
Comment by Jim at 3:54 pm on August 12th, 2006 #link
I have a HP Scanjet 4070 Photosmart scanner.Worked fine initially, then a conflict with XP required a format. Scanner buttons no longer work, No HP Director to be had. Downloading HP fix no help. Used perhaps 100 times at most, going to the dump on Monday where it belongs. No more HP products of any type for me,ever again !!!!!!!!!
Comment by Tom at 5:35 am on January 7th, 2007 #link
I gave up chatting with HP Helpdesk after many trial of fixing my problem.I have HP 1317. It crashed my system several times when I load the driver before it finally stabilized with 1310 driver. Now HP Director is not working. Anyone with this experience pls before I decide to ebay it (if anyone will buy)
Comment by Segun at 12:49 pm on January 16th, 2007 #link
Have an HP2610, and it’s working fine except for the HP Director, it doesn’t launch, i’ve search from some answers and here what i found, all you need to do is close all the open browsers, click on the HP director icon, press ALT & Space Bar alltogether, then you click minimize, then there you’ll find the HP director bar below the taskbar, then click on it. it works for me and hope it works for the people having the same problem
Comment by edwin at 5:28 pm on January 22nd, 2007 #link
This is unbelivable I thought the problem had to be me - HP have a great reputation for making test equipment but they should leave computer hardware and especially software to those who can…
I have to use director to scan because the twain drivers are simply not recognised (MAC) but if you save a document to sat pdf the settings are ignored and the image is so much larger than it should be - I now use my old Microtec scanner which continues to give excellent results after 10 years - I don’t like to use the word but HP your software is CRAP
Azif Akbar
Comment by Azif Akbar Ikare at 12:37 pm on April 12th, 2007 #link
well you all know it director isnt working and now im having USB hub power serge ,have to unplug printer and reset the hub the popup says , printer is going in the garbage , PS i think hp has programed there printers etc to not work after a while so u buy a new one that dosent have much ink in it to boot , Oh one more thing you all like the page counter on the ink cartriges , I took one apart there was still lots of ink left what a scam , HP you have lost my patronage for ever by by
Comment by jack at 12:30 pm on May 20th, 2007 #link
do some body know how can i add a second device to the hp director ? I installed an other printer on my network, and I installed as printer on some PC’s , but I don’t know how to make HP Director be notified I have a second printer on the LAN. Regards Augusto
Comment by augusto at 7:51 pm on August 9th, 2007 #link
I have an hp officejetv40. Tried to delete software but control panel does not work. Then went to Start, All Programs, then HP and all I get is read me. Will not allow me to delete software. What to do??
Comment by Stephen Zimmett at 2:21 pm on October 1st, 2007 #link
I’m having the same problems as all of you. I called HP yesterday — you know the drill…press this # if you want this…then press this other # if you want this. Finally reached the Macintosh/HP printer help desk and was told “HP no longer provides support for this printer on the Macintosh platform”. Makes me want to ship my printer back to HP. What’s wrong with those people? Yup, I’d go for a class action suit.
Comment by CC Caldwell at 2:14 am on October 14th, 2007 #link
I purchased an hp psc 2210xi all-in-one. It has never worked properly from the start. I have tried dealing with HP support for over 3 years trying to resolve the issues to no avail. The latest debacle is that HP Director will not load after I updated to Windows XP IE7. They say they know about the problem and are ‘working’ on it. I would recommend that nobody ever buy an HP again. Their hardware is OK, their software/support is just awful. I purchased a Dell computer rather than an HP the last time around because of my bad experiences.
Comment by Phil Tersigni at 5:39 pm on October 17th, 2007 #link
Got a PSC 1315 all-in-one for nothing from my brother. I thought, this should be a snap because I have a Mac and Macs make sense. Unfortunately, the folks at HP are unaware of how things are supposed to be, and this all-in-one can only do one-in-all! I can print fine, but so long to my dreams of scanning away into the night, because the image zone software sucks (how do you have a program that’s running a SCANNER and there is no SCAN button?) I tried several of the fixes listed, but to no avail. I don’t even have the Director, but some “director docker”, which doesn’t even open at all! I’m just glad I didn’t have to pay for this aggravation.
Comment by Adam at 8:42 pm on November 25th, 2007 #link
I feel the pain you all speak of. I have a Macbook and a HP 1315 psc scanner. Thought “wow.. Great, I can scan at home now cause it should just work great with my brand new mac!” Yah.. Wrong.
Can’t get my mac to recognize the scanner in Acrobat and I downloaded the HP software and it seriously blows.
Solution: I downloaded VueScan (www.hamrick.com) and it works right off the install. Scanner recognized and no setup was required. The trial version watermarks the scans with dollar signs. $40 for the full version. Just pissed that this is my only option. Step up to the plate HP.. service your product!??!
Hope this helps.
Comment by Marty at 12:25 pm on June 19th, 2008 #link
Hiya all I also bought a Hp1315 all-in-one when it first came out, after 2 weeks it had to go back to the shop, dixon’s reluctantly took it back, I thought maybe they would give me a new one, but no I had to wait 1 week, got my printer back, and after 1 month it started doing crazy things, printing pages of nothing, then just printing 1 line etc etc, both ink cartridges were new and it was not responding, not turning off(eventually had to unplug it each time. So my verdict is never buy a HP!!:) The only plus side is when its working(which in not very often) it prints very good, top quality photos.
Comment by Lucie at 3:32 pm on November 15th, 2008 #link
I found a useful link @ out-of-warranty.com on how to properly uninstall you Hp software. It help me a lot, I hope it helps you too..
best regards..
Comment by jay at 5:15 pm on December 20th, 2008 #link
I think all of us should file a class action lawsuit against HP I have an HP Office jet V40 and have tried time and time again to remove the software but it won’t allow me to do so. Any suggestions? I can’t get rid of it the old fashion way by mean of start/ control panel/ add or remove programs because i have no box giving me the option to remove it. I call HP today 6-20-2009 and they said they would help remove it but I had to but a new printer. Yeah like I want to but another P.O.S from them again!!!!!! Any suggestions will be welcome larrybmurr43@hotmail.com and let me know how to remove this so I can re-install it and if it does it again I will send the unit to the CEO of HP and tell him to shove this piece of shit up his ass!!!! While I’m at it I will tell there are more people out there that want to do the same thing!!!!
Comment by Larry at 2:26 am on June 21st, 2009 #link