printer error and HD problem

[CheesePoofs]

I've got a DFI ultra-d and a PCI parallel port card, cause my mobo doesnt' have a parallel port and I'm using a really old printer.

After I installed the drivers for the parellel port card, it came up with the windows saying it has detected my printer, etc, but then it would give me an error and say it wasnt' able to properly install the printer. I manually installed the printer, and it works fine, but now every time I boot, I get the same "windows has detected new hardware" window, with the same error. How do I turn this off??

Also, I have a 160gb HD, but windows says there is only 127gb available for use. System restore was taking up 15gb, I believe, but that still doesn't make up for the 33gb missing. Does anyone know of a way to get my space back, or of a free utility I can use to make sure my partition actually spans the entire HD?

 

[FlyingPenguin]

A lot depends on the printer. First of all, if you disconnect the printer and reboot do you still get this message? If so, it's not related to the printer, it's probably related to the card.

If it IS printer related then you probably need to run the printer driver installer properly to satisfy the installer wizard. Download the latest driver from the manufactuer's website and run the installer for it.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Well, the problem is this is a HP LaserJet from '96. If they still have drivers for this printer, I'd be suprised.

Edit: nevermind, HP does have drivers for this thing still. I'm installing them now.

Edit 2: I installed the drivers, rebooted, and have the same problem. The error is: " the specified port is unknown."

Edit 3: The real problem is that the first time the message came up saying it couldn't install the printer, I unchecked the box that said "do not promt me again to install this software." Is there some way I can undo my unchecking of that box?

 

[FlyingPenguin]

I don't think it's related to the printer. Have you tried what I suggested to confirm this? Unplug the printer and reboot. If the error comes up it has nothing to do with the printer.

Check Windows device manager. Any devices with an exclamation? If so, disable it and reboot to see if that clears the error.

From the error you may also have another printer driver installed that's looking for a port that no longer exists. Uninstall any drivers for printers you're no longer using from the Add/Remove Programs wizard in control panel. Also remove any printers you're not using from the Printers window.

Try disabling the add-on printer port card in Device Manager to see if that's what is generating the error.


Hope this helps...

 

[CheesePoofs]

I'm not sure if I made it clear about whats happening ....

When I start up my comp, it comes up with the "windows has detected a HP LaserJet 5L Printer" thing in the lower right hand corner. It tries to install it, then gives me a page saying that it can't install the printer because "the specified port is unknown." The first time I did this, I unchecked a box on the last page that said something like "do not promt again to install this hardware" I have the printer set up and running perfectly (I manually installed it) but I keep getting the "windows has found new hardware (my printer)" thing. I just want to find out how to get that message away every time I reboot.

I've tried installing the drivers for the printer and uninstalling my parallel card from the device manager and then reinstalling it.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

And I repeat my previous suggestions. It will take 10 seconds to try it. Up to you.

- Check your Device Manager for any devices with an exclamation mark. If there is, disable it (don't remove it).

- Unplug the printer from the computer and see if the message still comes up.

Troubleshooting is a process of elimination.

If the error only happens when the printer is installed then you need to figure out why. The more I think about it the more I think it's related to the installation of your printer port card.

Windows has a peculiar bug that sometime when you install a printer, on reboot Windows redetects it as a new install and wants to install it again (and you wind up with two of the same printers installed). I believe that's what's happening, but something about the installation of your printer port card is causing the auto printer install to fail.

If you can somehow find a way to satisfy windows and allow it to automatically install the printer, it'll be happy.

Have you checked for newer updated drivers for the printer port card?

Hope this helps...

 

[CheesePoofs]

I know what the problem is and what is causing it, I just don't know how to fix it, but I did what you asked anyways and there are no exclamation points and the found new hardware message doesn't come up when the printer isn't connected.

The problem: Windows can't install my printer automatically, so I had to do it myself (tell it what port its connected to, what the printer is, etc). However, when the first "windows has found new hardware - an HP laserjet 5L" window came up and gave me the window that says "an error occured during the installation of this device. THe port is unknows" I unchecked a box that said "do not promt again to install this hardware." I just want to find some way to manually recheck that box, meaning that it would ignore the fact that it sees my printer each reboot.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Printers are the one thing that "Do not prompt again" checkbox never works with. It's an annoying bug in WinXP (and Win2K). Windows MUST install the driver on it's own in order to clear a flag somewhere, and then it never tries to again.

I have no idea if there's anyway to clear this flag manually through the registry. May take some dilligent googling.

As I mentioned before, though, the ROOT of the problem is that there's something no quite right about the way your add-on printer port card is installed. It's preventing Windows from properly detecting the port when it tries to do an automatic driver install. You should NOT be getting that error and you should NOT have had to manually install the printer driver.

If you do figure out how to manually set the flag that prevents Windows from wanting to automatically install the printer, please do post it here. That would be valuable information to many of us in the IT business. I run into problems with that all the time, although it's usually less annoying than your problem.

Usually I wind up with TWO identical printers installed on a client's computer. One (the automatic one) doesn't work and the one I install manually does. You can't delete the bad one or Windows tries to install it again, so I usually wind up having to label it "DO NOT USE" to keep the client from using it.

Good luck...

 

[LiLithTecH]

What OS are you using?

Win2k & XP both have the drivers included.

What type of Parallel cable are you using? (hopefully bi-directional - IEEE 1284)

Lastly, how long is the cable?

 

[CheesePoofs]

OS is Win XP. I don't know what type of parallel cable it is; its what came with the printer, and its maybe 3 feet long max.

The funny thing is, my printer worked fine before I got my new HD and reinstalled XP. Its only after that happened that I get this error.

 

[LiLithTecH]

You may want to try another cable.

Also, check the following:

Go to:

START \ SETTINGS \ CONTROL PANEL \ SYSTEM \ HARDWARE \ Device Manager

click Ports(COM & LPT), right-click Printer Port (LPTx), Properties, Port Settings
and make sure that 'Enable legacy Plug and Play detection' is Unchecked and
under "Filter Resource Method" that it is set to 'Never use an interrupt'

 

[CheesePoofs]

"Enable legacy Plug and Play detection" is unchecked and "Filter Resource Method" is set to "Never use an interrupt."

I have a feeling something just got messed up with my parallel port during the installation of it. I'm going to reinstall windows in a few weeks, so I'll just wait until then and hope that fixes it.