printer reinstalling itself after reboot

hi everyone

i'm having a problem with a clients home pc at the moment,the problem is that every time the pc is rebooted the printer tries to reinstall itself over and over again.

the os on the machine is xp home and the printer is a hp deskjet 940c connected via parrallel cable,

i've tried uninstalling the drivers reinstalling the drivers,uninstalling the built in windows drivers,tried using a usb cable instead,
now here's the strange thing this is even happening when the printer is not connected to the pc and there is no drivers on the pc for the printer,

i read something similar to this problem before where that it was to do with reg entries left behind.

just wondering has everyone came across this problem before.

any help will b greatly appreciated

Sounds like something could be in the run key. Every time the computer boots up it executes whatever is in the run key and woahla..

give that a check and see what you find.

Or you could do a msconfig at the run prompt.. could be something i there as well. Just click on the startup tab.

These are just some options.
Let me know how it goes.

P.S- lol you did check to make sure there is no media in the drives. I've made that mistake before.. :oops:

ok we can rule out the media in the drive thingy,

done the msconfig thing just have the basic things he needs starting up like nav

now the run thing is a possability,

by the way when it tries to reinstall the printer again it fails,but the printer still works.

also this pc had numerous viruses about 8000 infected files in total

Hey dude.. well it sounds as if there is something in the run key that is prolly trying to call something from the install CD. I would go to regedit and do a search for the run key and check that out and see what you find.

and if all else fails. c:\ format!! 8000 infected files sounds like alot!

nah don't format but check the run Key and see what you find.

Since you stated you had over 8000 viruses its any body’s guess what’s going on with your system, it could be so terrible hosed right now that your only solution is to nuke and pave (format and start over), with that many viruses honestly I think that’s what I would do any way. When you do that ensure you do a fdisk as well and recreate the partitions. This will address any viruses that may be nested. Any data on this system I’d be very leery about keeping due to the plethora of viruses. If you do decide to keep beating your head on this then yes look in the registry also do you have System Restore on?

Registry Entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
And: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce

Check for your printer software here, if it is then remove it.

Remember to always back up your registry before modifying or editing your registry, if you goof up you can cause your self headaches. If your not comfortable doing this then seek the assistance from a buddy who is better in computers and have them help you.

One last thing, you need to ensure you are or have administrative permissions to do the above tasks.

Which viruses?