BSOD when connecting printer

[alegator]

I have a USB printer that I always keep unplugged from the power and disconnected from the PC and only connect it when I need to use it. I never had any issues for years. Now whenever I plug the printer's USB cable to the PC, Win XP crashes with a BSOD and reboots, triggering an endless loop of BSOD and reboot unless I disconnect the USB cable in which case Windows starts normally again and reporting an error. I tried reinstalling the driver with no success. Any ideas how to fix this? Thanks.

[TooLFooL]

what error are you getting on the BSOD? could be drivers, or a faulty printer or cable...

[alegator]

This is the error message I get once the PC reboots from the BSOD

[Krispy Kritter]

Most likely culprit would be faulty hardware. Are you able to connect and use any other USB device?

[alegator]

Yes, the USB scanner is connected to the same USB hub (I use a Belkin USB Hub) and it works fine. So it could be either the USB cable from the printer or the printer itself?

[alegator]

I just tested the printer and cable with the same computer but with a freshly installed WinXP (I used another hard drive for this) and the printer works perfectly, so it must be a software issue in the original hard drive. I uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers and HP software with no success. Any ideas? Thanks.

[cd090580]

Did you tried to connect the printer without the USB hub ???

[alegator]

Yes, I tried connecting the printer directly to the USB port in the PC and same problem. As I said, by freshly insstalling WinXP the issue is solved, so it's a software issue with my current OS installation rather than a hardware issue (printer, cable, USB hub, etc). I tried as I said uninstalling/reinstalling the printer drivers/software but the problem ersists. I would like to find a fix before having to reinstall WinXP. Thanks.

[aedipuss]

you can try forcing widows to re-install the usb drivers. first unplug ALL usb cables and devices.

Go into Control Panel\System\Device Manager and uninstall anything you find under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" after clicking the "+" sign.

reboot

after they are found as new devices and reinstalled go back to the device manager and check for any listed as yellow or red. if there are any you may need to reinstall the motherboard usb drivers also.

also unless that hub is self-powered with an ac adapter throw it away. they cause many usb problems.

[alegator]

aedipuss, the USB hub is a Belkin self-powered, so no problem there. Is the procedure you're describing risky? I mean, can I mess WinXP altogether forcing me to reinstall the OS? And in case I need to reinstall the mobo drivers, where can I get them from? The WinXP installation CD?? Below is a snapshot of my USB Controllers listed in device manager:

[ranchhand]

You have a lot of different manufacturers in that listing: Dell, Intel, NEC, Plantronics and generic USB Root Hubs. I am not sure if that could cause conflicts or not. When my clients have problems with USB, I use aedipuss' method and haven't had any problems with it. If worse comes to worse, do a repair reinstall of XP from the system disk to reinstall the USB, and be sure to upgrade to SP2 if you haven't done so. Don't do this if you only have restore disks-they will wipe everything.

You must get your mobo drivers from your mobo manufacturer; a disk should have come with your computer. Otherwise, go to their webpage and see if they offer the latest mainboard drivers there. You should have them anyway.

[Nelson37]

Printer OK on another PC, other USB devices OK on this PC. Focus on printer drivers. Try manually remove.


If this is an HP printer, delete ALL HP directories, all files in windows\system32 that begin with HP, delete all temp files in windows and user directories. reboot, then re-connect.

If other brand, see if they have an uninstall tool. Standard uninstall is often not sufficient.

[alegator]

Yes, it's a Hewlett Packard printer (Photosmart P1100). I'll try uninstalling everything HP related before attemtping the more radical method of cleaning USB/Mobo drivers. I guess that using System Restore will restore everything to my present state in the event something goes wrong while uninstalling USB/mobo drivers?

[aedipuss]

only problem i see is that you may need a ps2 keyboard after uninstalling the usb devices until the drivers reload. the nec pci card, and platronics audio you will probably need drivers for.

[Krispy Kritter]

Yes, it's a Hewlett Packard printer (Photosmart P1100). I'll try uninstalling everything HP related before attemtping the more radical method of cleaning USB/Mobo drivers. I guess that using System Restore will restore everything to my present state in the event something goes wrong while uninstalling USB/mobo drivers?

You can remove/delete any hardware listed in Device Manager. This isn't a "radical" procedure. Just remove and reboot. Windows will find the hardware during bootup and reinstall the drivers. This procedure comes in handy for fixing cd/dvdrom issues and some video card related issues as well. You will spend much more time and effort deleting folders and searching the registry (which is a radical procedure for many people) for all HP references.

[Nelson37]

You have to manually remove the HP files. Uninstall is not enough.

Removing the motherboard USB devices is very simple and should not present a problem, re-install also very simple.

System Restore won't work unless it is a simple Registry corruption. This is also quite possible.

[alegator]

Well, I completely uninstalled everything HP related software/drivers, rebooted into safe mode and uninstalled every single device under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" in Device Manager. Then restarted the PC and Windows automatically reinstalled all of those devices without the need of the WinXP Installation CD. Next I reinstalled the HP printer software/drivers and when prompted to connect the printer to the PC it started picking up the necessary drivers ("New Device found"...) and all of a sudden again the BSOD with endless reboots same issue as originally reported). By the way, I followed the procedure described here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310575
So now I'm lost, is there anything else I could try before the unwanted reinstall of WinXP? Thanks..

[Krispy Kritter]

It's probably irrelevant, but when I install my HP printer, there is a specific order (listed in the manual and onscreen) in which to install the printer. I have to install the software (and I've had issues trying to do a "custom install" and not installing all of the default software) ***NOTE - the printer CANNOT be connected at this point***, after the software install is complete, a popup appears on the screen stating to connect the printer and then power it on. In my case it the printer is connected before it states, the install fails. Even when following the steps, I have about a 50/50 shot of it working on the first try. Even with all of those hassles, I've never had a BSOD during install.

Your problem still sounds hardware related, though it could just be Windows and/or your registry is just trashed.

Have you tried installing/using the printer without the USB hub? Hubs sometimes cause abnormal errors and functionality.

Aside from that, it may be a good time to perform a clean install of your OS.

[alegator]

Yes, of course I follow onscreen direction like plugging the printer only after the software install prompts to do so, etc. Yeah, maybe a WinXP reinstall is the only solution, because the hardware is perfectly fine as stated in my previous posts.

[Nelson37]

Did you manually remove the files as I mentioned?

This can happen if a file corrupts during install, it can also be caused by previous HP-installed software.

The simple uninstall is sometimes not enough, this may be one of those times.

This recommendation and procedure comes direct from HP tech support.

Don't recall any BSOD with this issue but certainly some serious install problems, which were solved completely by the manual file removal.

What you've done so far is come the long way around the horn and end up right where you started. Necessary to narrow down the problem, but you could have saved yourself some time.

[alegator]

Hi Nelson and everyone else. This is an UPDATE to let you know I finally solved the issue by performing a Windows Repair. This was the only solution left before being forced to reinstall Windows. I did uninstall all HP software/drivers, reinstall all USB controllers, etc as mentioned before without success. I even tried repairing the registry with 3rd party software, all without success. So repairing Windows was the only road left before the undesirable Windows reinstallation. However,hhis road was not without trouble and I want to share the fixes I applied so it can help you in case you ever cope with repairing Windows. The trouble was only related to being unable to perform Windows Update after the Repair process completed, and from what I read this is a common side effect of Windows Repair. Here are the fixes that worked for me.
STEP 1: I performed a Windows Repair carefully following these directions:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
STEP2: After the Repair process completed I found out that Windows Update was unable to retrieve any patches as it needed to Update the Windows Installer but was unable to. I solved this issue by following Naki's 2nd proposed method outlined here:
http://help.wugnet.com/windows/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=377610&postday...r=asc&start=15
STEP 3: I then folloed this link to check the Installer version:
http://blogs.msdn.com/windows_installer_team/archive/2005/08/05/448386.aspx
STEP 4: Once the Windows Installer was successfully updated, Windows Update was then able to retrieve all necessary updates but installation failed. So I followed METHOD 1 suggested here to fix this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144
STEP 5: Finally after Step 4 I was able to successfully install ALL Windows patches!!
STEP 6: I reinstalled HP software and when prompted to connect the printer I did so and this time no BSOD!!! Printer works perfectly, all systems GO!
Hope this helps anyone that might need to do a Windows Repair.

[Nelson37]

I keep asking if you manually removed the files and you keep answering that you uninstalled the files.

This is not the same thing. No I don't think you understand the difference or you would state your procedure more clearly.

You have to delete each "hp*.*" file in windows and windows\system32, plus all HP directories, using windows explorer or something similar. You also have to clean the registry and remove all HP entries. This should have solved the problem. Simply deleting printer, or using an "uninstall" program, is NOT repeat NOT sufficient. An incomplete install can prevent the uninstaller from running, hence the need for this procedure.

DID YOU ACTUALLY "DELETE" THE NECESSARY FILES? I am an HP-certified technician with a CZ number. An accurate answer could get software updated, or free hardware to you. Current answer goes into the circular file.

People wonder how incomplete or incorrect information gets into the problem-solving procedural database. This is how it happens.

BTW, you did actually re-install Windows. It was not a "clean Install", but it was a "re-Install".

[alegator]

Hi Nelson again. I thought I already answered you in my previous post but here goes again with more detail. First I wanted to make sure this was not a hardware issue, so I connected the same printer/cable/usb hub to the same PC but with a previous WinXP installation I kept in a separate drive and it all worked fine, so I concluded it was a software issue with my current WinXP installation. Being a software issue, my first approach was the simplest one, i.e., clean uninstalling/reinstalling any HP-related software.
Regarding the HP software installed in my PC I did uninstall all of it using the original HP software used to install it. This removed HP-related folders in the C drive as well as various HP-related registry entries. After this uninstall I then manually checked the C drive and registry for any HP leftovers, and there were no HP files or folders left in the windows folder or subfolders, or in program files folder or anywhere else, plus the registry was clean from any HP entries. As stated in this thread, the HP-cleanup just detailed DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT fix the issue, forcing me to explore additonal alternatives.
Being my PC completely clean from any HP software as steted above, I then clean uninstalled all USB controllers from Device Manager as detailed in this thread and this DID NOT fix the issue either, I repeat, DID NOT fix it.
Next, I tried performing a Registry cleanup with 3rd party software to fix any errors/delete unnecessary lines, and this DID NOT fix it either.
Finally I was left with either REPAIRING windows or REINSTALLING it. By "Reinstalling" I mean "CLEAN INSTALLING", which is the most radical approach (deleting all partitions, creating them, formatting, and installing a fressh copy in a clean Volume). By "WINDOWS REPAIR" Microsoft means deleting Windows System files and replacing them with same files provided by the original Windows installation disc, keeping all installed programs and their settings intact. Obviously this method is not risk-free so I cloned my Windows installation to another drive just in case. This is not the same as "reinstall" windows which means "clean installing" windows. And I'm using Microsoft's techniocal jargon, not my own's.
With regards to the difference between a simple "uninstall" and a "manual removal", or between "Windows Repair" or "Clean Install" I perfectly know the difference as you can now infer. I'm not a "Certified Technician", but I do have many years of self learning in hardware/software issues to consider these terms very basic.
With regards to the issue at hand I think that I followed the most optimal road to fix this issue, saving many many hours (or days) that a clean install would have demanded, and I thank everyone for their suggestions. Regards.