Printer reinstalls itself at every startup

[Ebisoba]

It's a HP Laserjet 1200. OS is win2k. The printer is installed through parallel port and it works, but when the system restarts it tries to reinstall itself. Strange thing is that it asks for an usb file (usbinst.dll, which is on the system) even though it's connected through parallel. It shows up in Device Manager as a HP DOT4 category with the usb icon. I tried to disabling it, still happens at bootup. It wouldn't allow to uninstall it under device manager. There's no HP software in add/remove programs. I've remove and reinstalled the printer. Remove the driver from Server Properties in Printer section, no luck. Help please?

[TOAD6147]

WHat OS are you using?

[muno]

Hehe... Some of our hp1200 printers do the same.. It's very strange since there is no connection between the computers that do that and the computer that don't.

Some computers install it correctly as hp1200 parallel printer, some insist on installing the dot4 printer device at every boot.

I can't recall how it could be fixed, but you could try removing the printer and letting it install the dot4 device.
-M

[Ebisoba]

The OS is Win2K. I swear that I did let it install as the DOT4 device and still does that. Have to double check later.

[TOAD6147]

Verify that the HP Jetdirect firmware revision is the most current. Although this may not directly affect the network connectivity of the HP Jetdirect server, new firmware can often resolve errors and server connections. Click here to download HP Download Manager used to upgrade the HP Jetdirect firmware.

[muno]

Umm. The hp1200 is a personal printer, and does not have a jetdirect card.

Although, if that, for some odd reason should fix it, great

I did try to replicate the problem on my own computer, but couldn't
-M

[TOAD6147]

The hp1200 is a personal printer, and does not have a jetdirect card.

I just followed the troubleshooting tree at HP and this is where it took me. I may have gotten off track at some point (easy to do on that immense site) but then there are three different 1200 models: the 1200, 1200n, and 1200se. Perhaps it's the "n" model that has the JetDirect card.

[muno]

If hp follows the normal naming model then yes, any hp printer with the model hp####n is a network printer with jetdirect card.
-M

[TOAD6147]

How old is this printer? Is it still under warranty? Perhaps you should take this problem directly to HP tech support. I've scanned all the on-line resources as well as the HP discussion groups and I've not found any reference to this particular problem but I did find the following:

If you continue getting the problem with USB, or with the printer direct connected to the parrallel port, then you probably have a faulty formatter - there have been a few identified here in Australia - it should be replaced under warranty with no problems...

[zepper]

Check for ghost devices. Boot into safe mode (or the W2k equivalent) and go into the Dev Mgr (or equivalent). Look for duplicate devices under all headings. Remove all instances of duplicates and reboot. You will need the latest drivers for all the duplicate devices when you boot into normal mode and they are redetected.
.bh.