David:

You might try going to the HP site and downloading the latest driver for that printer.

Does XP not give you the "found new hardware" window when you plug it in?

I forgot--did you say you plugged it into more than one USB slot?

I tried another USB printer and rceived the same error message.

I am using the most current driver from HP.

I did do a reboot after removing all drivers, to no avail.

I did find an HP technical article that explained that I could have a USB chipset that has a random compatibility issues with some USB printers.

What confuses me is that I have had two different USB printers connected to this computer for about a week, and everythng worked fine. Prior to that I had a parallel printer.

Michel,

The most recent software I installed was the HP 1012 printer software. That was two weeks ago and everything installed just fine.

My USB connection is a direct USB connection.

Have you done:

- a virus scan?
- a spyware scan?
- a disk error check?

Double check the printer driver instructions. Sometimes the driver needs to be installed before the printer is first connected. Which means disconnecting the printer, removing the old driver, rebooting (sometimes a power down is a good idea), then install the driver, and then reconnect the printer.

You might also check your event log to see when the latest Microsoft patch was installed. It could be that the latest patch broke something in the USB and/or HP drivers. That has happened to me several times. Several of those 'problems' were the direct result of using very old hardware devices, though.

I've never done it, but you should be able to uninstall the Microsoft patches through the Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel. You might be able to use the KB numbers to see when they were released and what they fixed. I would think that they would automatically re-install if you have automatic updates enabled.

Programming: the art of removing old bugs and replacing them with newer ones.

Carl

  Guntersville Laser Engraving
  Guntersville, AL
  http://www.guntersvillelaser.com

Rodney,

A system restore is the first thing I did. I was shocked that it didn't solve the problem.

Okay Mo
How much do you know about computers? How comfortable are you trying things? Don't really need those answers. The next question is where are your connections to the USB, on the front or back of your computer? If they are plugged into the front ports move your printer cable to the USB ports on the back of the computer. 90% of the problems with USB is the way they are ported to the front or other locations on the computer. Printers are the most notorious for having problems with secondary USB ports. Plug your cable in there and reboot and see if the computer sees new hardware and installs it. If none of that works try the next steps.

First thing is go to start/settings/control panel/device manager/printers. Look at the list of printers and see what the computer says about their connections. If there are no errors go back to the device manager and open the system properties. Look for any yellow question marks next to any of the devices you see. If there are any there is a hardware conflict of some kind.
Next go to the item that says USB and click the plus sign to see if there are any problems with the USB ports.

Bill,

I removed, deleted and cleaned up anything associated with a printer. I did a complete shut down. I connected the printer to the USB port on the front, because it was originally on the back. I started up the computer and and same negative result when the system was trying to set up this hardware.

The new hardware gets recognized, but when it tries to set up the connection leaves that evil message.

I've put as much time into this as I am willing to. It's off to the professionals in the morning. Thanks so much for your help.

A big thank you to everyone who tried to help with this issue. You all exceeded my expectations with your excellent advice. This is one of those issues that is a bear. I've googled it and tried every angle possible and have had no success.

I'll be taking this one to the professionals. I'll let you know what the professionals determine the problem is.

This begs the question, with the price of PC's coming down so much, how much time does one waste on these more-difficult PC issues. I figure I have spent about 15 hours over the past week trying to figure this thing out. Based on my hourly wage, that is enough for a new PC. Unfortunately, one never knows how much time they will have into a project like this until the time is already past.

Carl,

My wife and I are still using the computer in its printerless state. My business hours match my local computer tech's business hours exactly, except for one hour on Saturday. I hope to drop it by this Saturday during that time. It's the first chance I will have to do so.

Are you running a PDA or other device that uses a USB port?

I had that same problem when my Handspring PDA was installed.
It seems that the taskbar quick launch immediately takes over the USB.

If you have any USB devices listed in the task bar, right click on their icon and check their settings.

XP is known to "flake out" once in a while.

Some thoughts from a real live techie (I'm a system admin)

First off: It looks like the problem is not your driver, but your port. If you connected another USB printer and got the same error, that takes the printer and the printer drive completely out of the picture. If you have a flash drive or something like that try plugging that in and see if it recognizes and works. If it does the plot thickens, if it doesn't it could be that your USB driver has become corrupt or lost. Right click on my computer and choose properties, choose the hardware tab, and then device manager. If there is anything with a yellow or red mark on it, this is of concern, please post it here. Specifically we are looking for the Universal Serial Bus (USB) controllers. Thier icon should look a little like the end of a fork. If any of those have a mark we may have found the problem. Going to HP's website and chosing downloads (or something of the like) and putting your PC's model number in should get you to where you need to be. It is unlikely they will list USB specifically, but most likely you will see something more vague like motherboard drivers, this will typically include USB drivers as well. Hopefully this points you in the right direction... post again with any questions. My e-mail address is listed in my profile, but I won't be at work till 6p EST so posting on here is your best means of communication before then.

Gary