Hi all,
I have a HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-One printer, scanner, copier which sits on my network for all the pcs in the house to connect too.

The problem I have is with the utility software that HP deems as a driver. On my main PC I have installed the full version so I can use the scanning feature now this (just for a driver) is 256MB! Also even though I have downloaded all updates and fixes it still crashes regularly and makes my PC horrible and slow. Starting my PC takes at least another 2 minutes when I install this software. There is a lite version which I use on laptops etc. but this just covers general printing not scanning etc.

So my question is this : Are there any alternatives to HP's super bloatware that will allow me to use my printer on my network without losing functionality? (scanner/copier etc.)

Does anyone else have any experience with this device? Any fixes or tweaks to make it a bit more stable?

When I uninstall this 'driver' my PC really flies so I know somethings up.

Anyway thanks for your time.

Have you run the "Check" for current/proper driver installation from this page?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...&lang=en&cc=us

I gather your O/S is XP - SP2?

So my question is this : Are there any alternatives to HP's super bloatware that will allow me to use my printer on my network without losing functionality? (scanner/copier etc.)

For a device of this "magnitude" (three devices in one), any driver package will be quite large. (Read - bloatware)

It's been my experience with these HP All-In-One PSC packages that several things automatically load on startup (Photo elements etc.) You can use msconfig to stop some of these and speed up your boot time and free some resources.

As far as alternate driver packages;

From "Open Drivers"
Full driver package; (527.11 MB)
http://www.opendrivers.com/driver/23...-download.html

Basic drivers package; (106.68 MB)
http://www.opendrivers.com/driver/23...-download.html

"Free-Driver-Downloads" (Full package, 527.11 MB)
http://printers.free-driver-download...E-2000-XP.html