Computer Fails To Start When Printer Is Connected

[Rob]

I bought a new Dell laptop (Vista Home Premium) 1 month ago and transfered
all my files, outlook data etc accross from my old machine. Also I installed
my scanner, digi camera, printer (HP Photosmart 7960) etc. All was fine until
yesterday.

I went to start the machine and all I got was the "Dell" screen and then a
black screen with flashing cusor top left, nothing else.

After some experimentation I noticed the machine would start normally if I
remove the USB cable connecting the printer. Once the machine has started I
can plug in the USB from the printer and it works fine but every time I try
to start it with the printer plugged in it fails.

So far I have: replaced the USB cable and uninstalled / reinstalled the
printer neither have made any difference.

Any ideas would be most welcome!

 

[Synapse Syndrome]

I bought a new Dell laptop (Vista Home Premium) 1 month ago and transfered
all my files, outlook data etc accross from my old machine. Also I
installed
my scanner, digi camera, printer (HP Photosmart 7960) etc. All was fine
until
yesterday.

I went to start the machine and all I got was the "Dell" screen and then a
black screen with flashing cusor top left, nothing else.

After some experimentation I noticed the machine would start normally if I
remove the USB cable connecting the printer. Once the machine has started
I
can plug in the USB from the printer and it works fine but every time I
try
to start it with the printer plugged in it fails.

So far I have: replaced the USB cable and uninstalled / reinstalled the
printer neither have made any difference.

Any ideas would be most welcome!

Maybe the computer is somehow seeing the printer as something that it can
boot from, and it is attempting to do that.

In the BIOS settings, look at your Boot order. I think you will find that
booting from a USB device may be high on the list, above your C: drive.
Remove it from the list or move it down to the bottom.

Another thing you can try is to disable USB support for legacy devices, in
the BIOS. Try this if the first suggestion does not fix it. You might need
USB legacy device support if you have a USB floppy or optical drive that you
boot from.

ss.