printer works on xp home but not xp pro

[bbxrider]

i have kinda old beater hp laserjet 6L, but works fine for what is needed of
it and is currently installed on an xp home machine. am replacing that box
with an xp pro machine, but get error on install either with new hardware
found or install new printer.
the error msg is not helpful and there is nothing in the event viewer
'printer driver was not installed, operation could not be completed'
the install finish flashes a 'copying files' box with a path leading to
"windows/system32/spool/drivers..../30603552"
the names of files its trying to copy flash by too fast to see them, except
for the last, unidrv.hlp
it literally has the ...... like a link to long url
i copied the hp folder in that path on the xp home machine to the xp pro but
no help there.
from the looks how its installed on the xp home machine, xp pro is trying to
create a folder under win/system32/spool/drivers with at least one file
named 3060352
there are no drivers available on the hp site that i can find, its a dead
end there, and there are some posts indicating that the only drivers that
will work are the ones supplied with xp, i downloaded some drivers from the
net, but they appear to only go as far as nt4.0, the installer does not
acknowledge the .inf
since it installs on xp home and it is specifically there in the xp pro list
of available printers and new hardware found recognizes it as a laserjet 6L,
there must be someway to get it installed?
i thought there might be someway to get the xp home install over to the xp
pro box?
is there some way to see what list of files xp pro wants to copy and if i
had that i could somehow find a way to make sure they are available?
bob

 

[Leonard Grey]

"Error message when you try to add a printer in Windows XP: "Printer
driver was not installed Operation could not be completed"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281534

Windows XP has its own driver for the 6L. Do not install any other driver.

Shut down and power off your computer. Disconnect the parallel cable to
the printer. Restart your computer and delete the printer from Control
Panel > Printers and Faxes. Shut down and power off your computer.
Reconnect the parallel cable and restart your computer. Let Windows
install its own driver.

 

[bbxrider]

ok will try all that, will have to wait for tomorrow. except that there is
no printer in the printer and faxes, there never was because
it never installed in the first place, from when i first attached it to the
parallel port and xp recognized it
with new hardware found as a laserjet 6L, but never got past that to install
it. if windows announced it recognized new hardware
as something it knows, would it not then go forward and use;/install the
drivers, etc associated with that recognition?
so i have doubts but am certainly willing to try
this seems to happen all to frequently with installing either hardware or
software to windows. i'm just wondering what is it
that removing or uninstalling or disconnecting and then restarting, without
the problem install thing there, and then
restarting again, can sometimes solve the problem? if there is an answer to
such a question

 

[Patrick Keenan]

ok will try all that, will have to wait for tomorrow. except that there is
no printer in the printer and faxes, there never was because
it never installed in the first place, from when i first attached it to
the parallel port and xp recognized it
with new hardware found as a laserjet 6L, but never got past that to
install it. if windows announced it recognized new hardware
as something it knows, would it not then go forward and use;/install the
drivers, etc associated with that recognition?
so i have doubts but am certainly willing to try
this seems to happen all to frequently with installing either hardware or
software to windows. i'm just wondering what is it
that removing or uninstalling or disconnecting and then restarting,
without the problem install thing there, and then
restarting again, can sometimes solve the problem? if there is an answer
to such a question

Try installing a generic, text-only printer to FILE, and print a document to
it. The success or failure of this will tell you if there is a fundamental
problem with the Windows printing subsystem.

HTH
-pk

 

[msnews.microsoft.com]

t hanks for the reply

Try installing a generic, text-only printer to FILE, and print a document
to it. The success or failure of this will tell you if there is a
fundamental problem with the Windows printing subsystem.

can't install the generic to a file, same error message as before,
'printer driver was not installed, operation could not be completed
so that means i have a bad windows printing subsystem?
so the usual, try a windows repair, and if that doesn't work, do a complete
windows reinstall?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

t hanks for the reply
can't install the generic to a file, same error message as before,
'printer driver was not installed, operation could not be completed
so that means i have a bad windows printing subsystem?
so the usual, try a windows repair, and if that doesn't work, do a
complete windows reinstall?

This does indicate that the problem is not with the printer you are
attempting to install, or its driver, but with the Windows install,

Repair installs use most, if not all, of the existing registry, so if that's
where the problem is, they won't fix it.

You may find it faster and more reliable to back up your data, wipe the
disk, and reinstall clean.

HTH
-pk