Can't Add a Printer (WinXP Pro )

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-25 18:17

I just discovered that the printers that were configured on this system are no longer there and when I double-click Add Printer I get a message that says "Operation could not be completed"!! I tried to use System Restore to go back to an earlier configuration but it says there is nothing saved, in spite of the fact that I did use Restore to go back a few days a couple of months ago and its settings say that it is active.

My system has gotten pretty flaky recently. Is there any way out of this except to format the hard drive and re-install the 'Recovery" CD that came with it and re-install everything?

Thanks,
Bill

**bigaldoc** · 2002-05-26 10:51

You did say PRINTERS (plural), Bill. Are the printers somewhere on a network? You also didn't say, but are you logged on as the same user as you used to be? Mainly, are you logged on with administrator privileges?

Something to be said for "third party" backup products, huh? You ought to consider something like Drive Image or whatever. At least you wouldn't have to put the machine back into a plain-vanilla condition.

Al

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-26 11:16

Yes, I had 3 printers configured, one that is plugged into the laptop that has the problem, one that is on my home network and one that is on another network I sometimes plug into. All three are missing now, along with a lot of other stuff. For example, I can no longer see the network although the other PCs on the network can see this one and when I tried to run System Information it said it cannot run! There have been some other basic functions that don't work too but I can't think what right now.

I do have decent backup software (NTI Backup NOW!) that can save a drive image but I haven't had any place to put the image (except many CDs) until a few days ago. I just installed a big new drive on my wife's PC so I do have a place I could put an image but it's too late at this point! Maybe the next time I'll close the barn door first!

This relatively new Toshiba laptop came with WinXP on it and it has hung from time to time all along. I've been surprised because I thought NT systems were supposed to be so much more stable that Win98 systems. Should I consider switching to something else if I'm going to start over? Win2000 maybe?

Thanks for your thoughts, Al,
Bill

**bigaldoc** · 2002-05-26 11:29

First of all Bill, I'd sure stick with XP Pro. If you read Microsoft's product "phase out" strategy, I don't think it will be too long before NT and 2000 are non-supported products. Not that that has ever mattered much to me, I NEVER get any support from MS anyway <grin>

Man, it sounds like some kind of "privileges" problem to me, Bill. Hate to see you throw in the towel. I don't know which system functions, like maybe System Info, etc., require administrator rights, but I think I'd start by checking your USER name and as many of the surrounding conditions as you can think of or run across in Control Panel. If it "used to" and now "it won't" there must be something that has gotten capriciously un-checked. Hard to be specific, especially if the other computers can "see" the XP machine.

Al

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-26 13:29

Yes, I forgot to respond to the privileges thing in your earlier post. My account is the only one on this PC and it has administrator privileges so I don't know that there is any more I can do in that area. I did just check User Accounts in Control Panel and that scenario hasn't changed as far as I can tell. I did finally sign up for a Microsoft Passport a couple of days ago in order to get access to something on one of their web sites and I noticed just now that my Passport is noted in my User account. A month or so ago I installed some stuff from my daughter so I could look at something she wanted me to and part of that install was MS Mapping software of some kind. A few days ago I completely uninstalled Office 97 and Office 2000 because I was having some problems with them. After I carefully re-installed them I began getting messages about some Mapping thing couldn't be found when I tried to use Office 2000. I decided to go uninstall that map stuff I installed a month or so ago and when I clicked on the Remove button I got a message that it was unable to uninstall it! My serious problems seemed to start after I re-installed the two Office systems so I think I'll uninstall them first and see what is happening then. I'll also look around the Control Panel thngs and see if I can find any problems there.

Another thing that is not working is my Norton AntiVirus won't keep Auto Protect turned on and the Automatic Live Update feature can no long be turned on at all! That may be totally unrelated to the apparent system problems but it is all happening at once! Both of those features were working a couple of days ago.

Thanks,
Bill

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-26 13:40

I left out the important thing that won't run in my previous post. When I try to uninstall that MS MapPoint program the message I get is "the Windows Installer is not correctly installed"! That was the final straw yesterday that lead me to think that my system is too far gone to recover.

Bill

**bigaldoc** · 2002-05-26 13:44

Wow Bill, you've got a spider web of possible candidates there! I'm hoping someone else will jump in here, 'cause I don't know anything about MS Passport, but I wouldn't be surprised if.....

Yeah, it sounds like a prudent thing to do would be to try uninstalling several of those things you mentioned, maybe even including Norton, I don't know. Maybe somewhere in that "backward moving" scenario something will click back into place.

Good luck and I hope someone else with an idea will jump into this thread!

Al

**DaveA** · 2002-05-26 15:42

"Norton AntiVirus won't keep Auto Protect turned on and the Automatic Live Update feature can no long be turned on at all! "
There is a virus out there that will do this to you. It will not allow you to install or remove some programs. It will also give you an error message about not being able to start some programs.

The ONLY fix is to format the drive and rebuild the system. <img src=/S/evilgrin.gif border=0 alt=evilgrin width=15 height=15> <img src=/S/devil.gif border=0 alt=devil width=15 height=15>

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-26 21:27

WOW! I wasn't aware of that one. After reading your message I updated the Norton virus definitions and rebooted and then scanned the entire computer and it found nothing. Does that still leave the possibility that I have that virus? Do you know the name of that virus?

Thanks,
Bill

**DaveA** · 2002-05-27 20:04

It was a combination of the W32.Sircam.Worm@mm and W32.Klez.H@mm. The machine was hit by both, and the owner did NOT keep his AV upto date.

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-27 20:57

That's certainly not a happy situation! I have kept my virus definitions up to date except for a few days a week or so ago when Automatic Live Update quit working and I didn't know it. And I feel sure that the current NAV definitions would find both of those if I still had them. I do receive one of more messages with the Klez virus almost every day. I'm not shy about telling the sender about the problem but with that virus there is no way to tell where it came from.

Thanks,
Bill

**DaveA** · 2002-05-27 21:04

The trouble is, that is, it may NOT be the true sender. This virus ca send out email using a different address that is in the address book. It is like pointing the finger to the wrong person, he (she) just happens to included in the address book of the REAL person.

**BillWilson** · 2002-05-27 23:59

Yes, that is what I said, "there is no way to tell where it came from." <img src=/S/shrug.gif border=0 alt=shrug width=39 height=15> Most of the ones I have received have had a return address that clearly wasn't a valid address anyway. They look like they have been truncated on the right end.

Bill

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