deleting and re-installing a printer

Question

I have an HP 3600 printer connected to a USB port.  It decided to stop printing today, and I couldn't get it to print again.   No problem... I'll just delete the old printer and re-install the same one.  The problem is, the old icon has one print job pending and the icon says 'deleting' underneath, but it never deletes!  Rebooting has no effect! and I can't delete the print job.   Installing the printer again doesn't work either.... the old printer won't delete and won't print, so I'm stuck.   How do I fix this without re-imaging the hard drive? thanks in advance,

bacillus · Answer

Is there still a printer icon in systray?

dgbowen · Answer

using 'net stop spooler' at the DOS prompt followed with 'net start spooler' had no effect. re-installing windows XP would fix this, but there has to be an easier way... doesn't there?

dgbowen · Answer

I believe there is.  I'm missing some concept about how USB printers work.... example: when you unplug this printer from the USB port, XP should make some noise that acknowledges that you've just unplugged a USB device.  It doesn't... Likewise, when you plugh it back in, XP takes no notice.  It should.   I'm going to look in the Add/Remove hardware dialog to see if there isn't HP software of some sort that may be removed from there.

bacillus · Answer

If the printer icon is still in systray try right clicking it and see what print jobs are in the queue. If you see any, cancel them.

blum_amy · Answer

Also delete the old ports in the registry

dgbowen · Answer

you can not cancel the print jobs, and you can't delete the printer. I would be happy to delete the old ports in the registry... how is that done?

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