Unusual Boot Problem

[SARGE]

Got a new HP printer that uses USB. The pc won't boot to the desktop properly unless the printer is turned on. All I get is the background with no icons, just the hour glass pointer. I've disabled all the HP software that loads at boot but doesn't help any. I can turn the printer on, then boot and all is well. This one has me stumped.

[DragonNOA1]

Maybe it's checking for a connection somewhere and when it's off it hangs trying to connect. Maybe somethig is running that is trying to connect. Hmm, weird. It's just a printer right? Not an all-in-one?

[catfishjoe_1]

When my system hangs I run scandisk and 75% of the time it fixes it or makes it better. Sometimes just booting to safe mode and then back to normal also jogs something. These seem to help most on our home/family pc that runs Me.
cat

[GaryRouth]

I was away for a few weeks on holiday, Sarge. Did you get the HP and the desktop into a satisfactory "detente"?
. . . Gary (the ever curious).

[Web Gecko]

Howdy Sarge ( & Gary )

I've been away a lot longer than Gary but your problem does look kinda weird and fascinating. Did you get it sorted and how ?

Assuming your device setup/resource allocations ( which doze version ? ) are causing no conflicts ( IRQ #, IO/memory ranges,
modes, DMA ?) i.e. the HP normally works fine as well as everything else on your system ( generally speaking !!!
[ doing my best to get real] AND your startup manager is covering ALL your startup processes then you got a weird
turkey there.

Have you tried looking at what else is running while the
desktop loads ( Ctrl, Alt & Del ONCE ONLY to see
the Close Program process list and a task list in other
doze versions. Ctrl, Alt & Del twice in quick succession
reboots your system [which you don't want to do right there] !!! ;O) ). Maybe something else
is screwing with your hp software or doze when the desktop
loads ?

I would try uninstalling and reinstalling all the HP software as maybe part of the executable image has gone bad somewheres i.e. either software ( more likely ) or hardware is causing your desktop load to hang ( hardware is GENERALLY more reliable than software but if the driver has gone bad it could cause a hang like that ). There could even be a bug/corruption in the HP stuff that can cause trouble when doze tries to load drivers ( related to the fact that the
device is switched off or on and of course the USB port says I can or can't see the device something else wants to see
[ HP driver or some other part of doze ]. Just because everything seems to work after you load OK doesn't mean there ain't a bug/corruption that only exhibits at load time due
to some status that's buried under 10ft of other software.

Using scandisk and safemode are good ideas. My gut feeling is that a software bug/HDD corruption is at the heart of it.
That's why the software uninstall/reinstall and other options like doing a reboot/restart/log off/on , repower/reset will often
get your system back into a stable state ( with memory/buffers
etc flushed and clean ) for a clean reload etc ( after doze
has twisted it's internals into a nice painfull hernia knot ).
Just normal system usage with doze over time running, installing and uninstalling software ( viruses, system crashes, corruption, bugs) can scramble your HDD image.

The Doze registry can often be a culprit and can get into a real mess after a few months of usage where you are making a lot of updates on your HDD ( even moderate use can cause this ). Sometimes unfortunately the best approach is a total
flushing of your HDD ( either repartition, dos format and total reload of EVERYTHING [ I use a low level format [very carefully !] before fdisk and dos format sometimes to make sure
I flush the whole drive especially after virus activity ). But total reload is a last ditch due to the time it takes and other problems which arise during setting up/reload etc.

Also , how many USB ports do you have ? Have you tried
using a different USB plug in point ( is your USB on a PCI card
or integrated onboard the mobo [possible BIOS problem ?]) ?

I would try uninstalling the hp software and reinstall. IF the problem persists after this you could even have a bug in either the hp software or the image burnt onto your HP install CD.
Could be registry or a heap of other things.

Reloading your whole system can be a pain in the butt
( unless you backed up a good HDD image to CDR[W]
recently !) so I hope one of the other suggestions from the folks here works[ed] for you.

Interested to know what the problem was and how you fixed it.

cheers

Web Gecko

p.s. Ole Satchmo sure was one hell of a jazz player
and his world looked pretty good back then
( must have been pretty good stuff)
but as ever folks, in this CRAZY world
"ANYTHING STILL GOES".

Web Geckos Disclaimer

"So if it turned out to be hardware, please don't
kick my butt too hard !!!" ;O)

With any luck you still have warranty ( insurance ?)

?8O)}

NY " It's better to burn out than it is to Rust !!!".