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General discussion

Printer changing ports!

Nov 16, 2004 10:51AM PST

I have a Dell 4400 running Windows XP. Everything has been cool for the past year. Last week I installed SP2 and now the printer can't remember what port it should use. I have an HP 940c and when I print from the internet I get a warning that the printer can't be found. When I go to printer properties it shows the printer port has moved from LPT1 to LPT3. When I change the port back to 1 it prints with no problem. When I try to print from Word, I get the same message and have to go back to properties and change the port back to LPT3. How can I make the printer use one port for all programs? Is this something that SP2 caused? Thanks for your help.

Discussion is locked

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Pure WAG remove the printer
Nov 16, 2004 12:34PM PST

and reinstall it.

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Re: Pure WAG remove the printer
Nov 18, 2004 7:05AM PST

OK did that! Re loaded printer software. Tried printer and everything OK. Shut down PC and re booted and have same problem. Very confusing!

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Did you go to Device Manager while in Safe Mode??
Nov 18, 2004 10:46AM PST

Do that to see if there is more than one printer driver or printer installed [safe mode only way to see that]. If there are mutiple entries remove them all and then reboot and install the printer drivers again. If the intent is to install the the software with the printer not connected to the system, you can unplug it with power on if USB. For parallel port turn power off as the way to reboot, disconnect printer while power is off.