BleepingComputer.com: HP Printer detected as a drive, not a printer

Hi Guys,

I had a bit of a malware infestation, which has been sorted out by m0le in this thread: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic351619.html

However, since disinfecting the PC I've found that my HP Photosmart A532 printer, connected via USB is not working correctly.

I have another HP Deskjet 930c on LPT1 which works fine.

Basically, Windows XP is seeing the A532 as a CDROM USB Device instead of an actual printer:



If I go to Printers and Faxes in XP and scan for attached printers, XP doesn't find the printer. I can browse files on the memory card in the printer no problem by using windows explorer, so the connection is OK.

I've tried uninstalling the CDROM USB Device and then scanning for the printer, but as soon as XP finds the device it installs as a CDROM USB again.

I also tried downloading the drivers from HP's website and installing them, but any attempt to do this just results in explorer locking up and giving a Dr Watson postmortem debugger error.

So any help would be most appreciated!

Ive seen times when a malware infection has messed with printer drivers. It wa an HP printer.
Completely uninstall the printer through add/remove programs
Disconnect the printer from the computer & restart
Reinstall the drivers & plug the printer in when prompted

Hope that sorts it out for you

The only thing that was removable in the Add/Remove programs window was the photosmart essentials software (Image management), which I removed anyway. The printer is still being detected as a drive and the driver file from HP gets no further than a brief window that says 'extracting', gets to 100%, then disappears only for nothing else to happen.

This is worth a try

HP Print Diagnostics Utility

I tried that first.

Unfortunately, the HP Diagnostic Utility will only diagnose a printer that is connected to the PC. As the PC won't see the printer as a printer, only a drive, there's nothing to diagnose as far as its concerned.

This is certainly a weird one (as evidenced by all the additional assistance I am getting from all the other advisors ((thanks a lot guys!)))

What happens if you remove the device from device manager, unplug the printer usb cable, uninstall the drivers completely, reboot for good measure, threaten to set fire to it, then reinstall & plug the usb cable in when prompted.

Have lighter fluid in hand when you threaten it.
Sometimes that helps

Excluding the Though always an option at the users discretion.

Let`s try a slight alteration on Eyesee`s suggestion. 1 Uninstall the software. 2 Uninstall the device from Device Manager. 3Shut off the PC. 4 Unplug the printer USB cable from the machine. 5 Restart PC. 6 Install the software, plugging in the printer when suggested.

At some point during all this and when convenient, cross-fingers.

This post has been edited by ThunderZ: 28 October 2010 - 05:02 PM

Eyesee, on 28 October 2010 - 04:49 PM, said:

It reinstalls as a drive.

I even tried holding a hammer and looking menacingly at the printer while doing it, but to no avail.

BTW, how can I 'uninstall the drivers completely' as they seem to be dug in a system level, rather than being available in add/remove programs?

Also, I still can't get the HP driver package to do anything useful (ie install itself).

EDIT: Sorry ThunderZ we posted at the same time. Seems like the reinstallation of the drivers is the issue.

This post has been edited by DJBenz: 28 October 2010 - 05:06 PM

Sorry. Stepped away for a bite to eat.

I`m thinking the driver has become corrupted. Even though you have uninstalled them the OS does retain a copy of them tucked away. What I believe is happening is the corrupt driver is repeatedly being re-installed.

Also, not quit sure what you mean by this statement.

DJBenz, on 28 October 2010 - 05:05 PM, said:

Do you have a wireless router?

This printer can be installed wirelesly if you have a wireless router.
I wonder what would happen if we tried that?

I think you are not completely uninstalling the driver. Like someone else said.
In the link below are instructions and advice on how to do that in XP.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5842673_manually-uninstall-printer-drivers-xp.html
When a printer becomes error-prone or refuses to work entirely, one of the first courses of action is to check and reinstall the drivers. However, Windows tends to make it difficult to actually replace the drivers themselves. If you uninstall a printer, when you plug it back in, Windows will simply reload the same driver files from the same location, and if a corrupted driver file is to blame, you haven't done anything to isolate the true problem. Permanently deleting the driver files and reloading them from the original install disk, or a fresh driver download, is often the best way.

ThunderZ, on 28 October 2010 - 05:45 PM, said:

That went back to what I said earlier in the thread:

Quote

Eyesee, on 28 October 2010 - 06:15 PM, said:

OK, how do I go about doing that? I do have a wireless router.

buddy215, on 28 October 2010 - 06:21 PM, said:

Thanks for the link, unfortunately removing the driver that way didn't make any difference. The HP Driver pack still won't install.

This post has been edited by DJBenz: 28 October 2010 - 06:33 PM

For some reason the autorun.inf is not executing after double clicking the downloaded driver. If you still have the printer download then right click on it and see if you have an option to extract or unzip.