Computer will not boot with power applied to printer

[Old Redneck]

This is VERY STRANGE.

I'm running an HP a1140n desktop with WinXP SP3. No problems with the
computer.

Connected to the printer are several USB devices:
-- HP Laserjet 1320 printer (which has been in use for three years)
-- Epson V500 scanner (installed six months ago, works fine)
-- Seagate ???? external hard drive that I use for backup

Last night I installed a new HP D7560 PhotoSmart printer. The installation
and setup went smoothly and I can print plain paper and photo paper with
this printer.

The problem is this: When the PhotoSmart printer is turned on, the computer
will not boot. In order to get the computer to boot, I must turn off power
to the PhotoSmart printer -- don't need to disconnect the USB cable from
computer to printer -- just turn off the power.

I have tried this several times -- turn computer off, turn printer on, turn
on computer and see the HP splash screen then, nothing, nothing at all --
nothing on the monitor, computer not booting. Push the power switch on the
computer to turn it off, turn the printer off, and the computer boots
without a problem.

If I turn the PhotoSmart printer on after the computer boots, everything
works fine.

Now, I plan to use this printer only to print photos -- the laser printer is
my default printer, so, it won't hurt anything to leave the PhotoSmart
printer turned off and turn it one when I need it -- and, I'll save
electricity by not leaving the PhotoSmart printer turned on all the time.

Still - this is strange.


And -- one more thing -- starting about two weeks ago, whenever I boot the
computer, it boots normally and, after it's booted, Windows Explorer (NOT
Internet Explorer) opens to the HP folder in the Program Files directory.
This started long before I installed the PhotoSmart printer so the two
occurrences are not related.

 

[John John - MVP]

The computer BIOS probably thinks that the card readers in the printer
are bootable devices and it tries to boot these devices instead of the
hard drive, the same thing often happens when you leave a USB thumb
drive plugged in. Go in the BIOS and check the boot options and boot
device order/priority.

John

 

[Twayne]

This is VERY STRANGE.

I'm running an HP a1140n desktop with WinXP SP3. No problems with the
computer.

Connected to the printer are several USB devices:
-- HP Laserjet 1320 printer (which has been in use for three years)
-- Epson V500 scanner (installed six months ago, works fine)
-- Seagate ???? external hard drive that I use for backup

Last night I installed a new HP D7560 PhotoSmart printer. The
installation and setup went smoothly and I can print plain paper and
photo paper with this printer.

The problem is this: When the PhotoSmart printer is turned on, the
computer will not boot. In order to get the computer to boot, I must
turn off power to the PhotoSmart printer -- don't need to disconnect
the USB cable from computer to printer -- just turn off the power.

I have tried this several times -- turn computer off, turn printer
on, turn on computer and see the HP splash screen then, nothing,
nothing at all -- nothing on the monitor, computer not booting. Push
the power switch on the computer to turn it off, turn the printer
off, and the computer boots without a problem.

If I turn the PhotoSmart printer on after the computer boots,
everything works fine.

Now, I plan to use this printer only to print photos -- the laser
printer is my default printer, so, it won't hurt anything to leave
the PhotoSmart printer turned off and turn it one when I need it --
and, I'll save electricity by not leaving the PhotoSmart printer
turned on all the time.
Still - this is strange.


And -- one more thing -- starting about two weeks ago, whenever I
boot the computer, it boots normally and, after it's booted, Windows
Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer) opens to the HP folder in the
Program Files directory. This started long before I installed the
PhotoSmart printer so the two occurrences are not related.

That sounds like the same problem some external USB hard drives exhibit.
In my case I simply switched to a FireWire connection, but I know you
may not have that choice.
I have seen this discussed re USB hard drives here or a nearby group
so you might be able to find them with a newsgrou search or even Google.
The fix had something to do with a "Legacy USB" setting in the CMOS
settings IIRC. There was another possible fix too but I can't recall
it. Perhaps someone reading will recall it and chime in with those
solutions.
I know they they were about USB hard drives, but no reason it
couldn't extend to other equipement too, near's I can tell.
OTOH, perhaps separating the new equipment and external drive to
separate USB ports might make a difference; easy to check out at least.

As for the Win Explorer issue, I do have something in my archives about
that I could look up. If you don't get a response in a day or so about
it, I'll see if I can dig that out. It's a farily common issue for some
reason.

Just for GPs: What version of XP?

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Old Redneck]

The computer BIOS probably thinks that the card readers in the printer are
bootable devices and it tries to boot these devices instead of the hard
drive, the same thing often happens when you leave a USB thumb drive
plugged in. Go in the BIOS and check the boot options and boot device
order/priority.

John

Thanks, John -- BIOS says the boot order is "HD group" first then "CD
group" -- so -- looks as though it's trying to boot from the HD first.

I did not change to boot order -- should I have?

Meanwhile, I'm leaving the printer turned off. Maybe that's the best thing
anyway.

 

[Johnsox]

Had same problem using an HP Photosmart C4485 Printer USB connected to a Dell GX270 PC would not boot with printer switched on. but worked fine if printer was switched on after booting. ( Previous HP PSC 1210 worked fine) The C4485 has a card reader.
Solution was to go into the BIOS (F2 on the DELL) and turn OFF the 'USB EMULATION' feature. ( Leave 'USB CONTROLLER' on)
Now all works fine.
Hope this helps someone.....wonder how many printers have been dumped or sent back as faulty because of this?
John