Vista won't boot with printer turned off

I have an Epson Stylus CX4800 all-in-one printer with built-in card reader.

If my printer is turned off, Vista will not cold-boot (restores from
hibernate with no trouble, though). As well, some applications or installers
won't function properly (ATI Catalyst installer hangs while searching for
hardware, but continues the moment the printer's turned on, and Acronis
TrueImage hangs while checking the drives, but continues when I turn the
printer on) unless I turn the printer on.

Has anyone got any clue what could be causing this? I'm running the Vista
drivers for it, and the machine works perfectly, but unless I leave it on
24/7 my computer has trouble. This makes me nervous, too, as if the printer
breaks it could leave the printer unbootable, not to mention I can't upgrade
the printer if I want to.

Help!

"TurboFool" <> wrote in message
news:0BF89985-643A-4445-8784-...
>I have an Epson Stylus CX4800 all-in-one printer with built-in card reader.
>
> If my printer is turned off, Vista will not cold-boot (restores from
> hibernate with no trouble, though). As well, some applications or
> installers
> won't function properly (ATI Catalyst installer hangs while searching for
> hardware, but continues the moment the printer's turned on, and Acronis
> TrueImage hangs while checking the drives, but continues when I turn the
> printer on) unless I turn the printer on.
>
> Has anyone got any clue what could be causing this? I'm running the Vista
> drivers for it, and the machine works perfectly, but unless I leave it on
> 24/7 my computer has trouble. This makes me nervous, too, as if the
> printer
> breaks it could leave the printer unbootable, not to mention I can't
> upgrade
> the printer if I want to.
>
> Help!

Have you tried disconnecting the printer from the computer when the computer
is off? Does it start up normally then? If so, then it is a driver issue
with the printer, and once it is physically disconnected, you should be able
to attach another printer. And as far as upgrading the drivers, that is
what I would seek to do first. ;0)


Captain Roberts

"Captain Roberts" wrote:
> Have you tried disconnecting the printer from the computer when the computer
> is off? Does it start up normally then? If so, then it is a driver issue
> with the printer, and once it is physically disconnected, you should be able
> to attach another printer. And as far as upgrading the drivers, that is
> what I would seek to do first. ;0)
>
>
> Captain Roberts

I have tried all of that. Essentially if the printer not fully communicating
with the computer, it does not boot, disconnected included.

And the drivers have been upgraded. I was referring to upgrading to a newer
printer when I mentioned upgrading it. The software is the latest
Vista-compatible build directly from Epson.

TurboFool

Go to Start | Printers

High light your printer. Then delete the printer

Reboot your computer. The O/S should re-detect your printer. Allow the
system to use the default drivers supplied by Vista. If/when you find
totally compatible manufacturer drivers specifically for Vista - install
them. If they are not designated as being for Vista, do NOT install them.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"TurboFool" <> wrote in message
news:21C523D3-0421-4789-83E4-...
> "Captain Roberts" wrote:
>> Have you tried disconnecting the printer from the computer when the
>> computer
>> is off? Does it start up normally then? If so, then it is a driver
>> issue
>> with the printer, and once it is physically disconnected, you should be
>> able
>> to attach another printer. And as far as upgrading the drivers, that is
>> what I would seek to do first. ;0)
>>
>>
>> Captain Roberts
>
> I have tried all of that. Essentially if the printer not fully
> communicating
> with the computer, it does not boot, disconnected included.
>
> And the drivers have been upgraded. I was referring to upgrading to a
> newer
> printer when I mentioned upgrading it. The software is the latest
> Vista-compatible build directly from Epson.
>
> TurboFool

"Richard Urban" wrote:

> Go to Start | Printers
>
> High light your printer. Then delete the printer
>
> Reboot your computer. The O/S should re-detect your printer. Allow the
> system to use the default drivers supplied by Vista. If/when you find
> totally compatible manufacturer drivers specifically for Vista - install
> them. If they are not designated as being for Vista, do NOT install them.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)

If I simply delete the printer and restart the computer it will reinstall
the printer with the same drivers it was using. I would need to go to Server
Properties and delete the drivers, as well, to avoid that.

That said, MS doesn't provide any drivers for this model of printer, and I'm
already using the Vista drivers for the printer. Epson was one of Microsoft's
first printer manufacturers to get Vista certification.

TurboFool

I would certainly suspect defective drivers. It wouldn't be the first time a
company has had to deal with that problem! <grin>

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"TurboFool" <> wrote in message
news:5F4104D4-589D-487B-828E-...
> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> Go to Start | Printers
>>
>> High light your printer. Then delete the printer
>>
>> Reboot your computer. The O/S should re-detect your printer. Allow the
>> system to use the default drivers supplied by Vista. If/when you find
>> totally compatible manufacturer drivers specifically for Vista - install
>> them. If they are not designated as being for Vista, do NOT install them.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban
>> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
>
> If I simply delete the printer and restart the computer it will reinstall
> the printer with the same drivers it was using. I would need to go to
> Server
> Properties and delete the drivers, as well, to avoid that.
>
> That said, MS doesn't provide any drivers for this model of printer, and
> I'm
> already using the Vista drivers for the printer. Epson was one of
> Microsoft's
> first printer manufacturers to get Vista certification.
>
> TurboFool

"Richard Urban" wrote:

> I would certainly suspect defective drivers. It wouldn't be the first time a
> company has had to deal with that problem! <grin>
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)

While faulty drivers certainly aren't anything unusual, I've not been able
to locate anybody else reporting this problem with any printer, Epson or
otherwise. That's why I'm not so sure it's the drivers.

When I first installed Vista I installed the XP drivers as the Vista
versions were not yet available, but upon their release I upgraded, which
made no difference in the issue.

Any other ideas? I need to find some way to resolve this to ensure a
reliable computer.

TurboFool

If you physically installed the printer software I would uninstall all of
the software, including the drivers. I would then delete the printer from
the printer folder. Upon reboot you say that there are no Vista supplied
drivers. That was then. As of now, Vista may be able to pull compatible
drivers from the download site if you allow Vista to search on-line during
the driver install.

If they still aren't available I would then install the "latest"
manufacturer Vista certified drivers.

I am assuming that you are running 32 bit Vista. You didn't say, and it
matters a lot. There are damn few drivers for 64 bit Vista.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"TurboFool" <> wrote in message
news:6BE1AE18-0163-4739-8608-...
> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> I would certainly suspect defective drivers. It wouldn't be the first
>> time a
>> company has had to deal with that problem! <grin>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban
>> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
>
> While faulty drivers certainly aren't anything unusual, I've not been able
> to locate anybody else reporting this problem with any printer, Epson or
> otherwise. That's why I'm not so sure it's the drivers.
>
> When I first installed Vista I installed the XP drivers as the Vista
> versions were not yet available, but upon their release I upgraded, which
> made no difference in the issue.
>
> Any other ideas? I need to find some way to resolve this to ensure a
> reliable computer.
>
> TurboFool

"Richard Urban" wrote:

> If you physically installed the printer software I would uninstall all of
> the software, including the drivers. I would then delete the printer from
> the printer folder. Upon reboot you say that there are no Vista supplied
> drivers. That was then. As of now, Vista may be able to pull compatible
> drivers from the download site if you allow Vista to search on-line during
> the driver install.
>
> If they still aren't available I would then install the "latest"
> manufacturer Vista certified drivers.
>
> I am assuming that you are running 32 bit Vista. You didn't say, and it
> matters a lot. There are damn few drivers for 64 bit Vista.


I am running 32-bit for compatibility reasons, although I may dual-boot to
64-bit after my next reformat to see how that works for me.

I'll have to try that whole process over again. I'm just nervous about
uninstalling the drivers, unplugging the printer, and ending up with an
unbootable computer for whatever reason. I guess I'll just have to image the
partition before I do it, though, just in case.

Thanks,

TurboFool

Hi, TurboFool.

You haven't yet told us the interface that printer uses: USB? SCSI?
Parallel? Or???

Your description sounds like some of the problems that I used to have when I
was booting from SCSI and had some SCSI peripherals If they weren't all
online at boot time, the SCSI BIOS got confused.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta in Vista Ultimate x64)

"TurboFool" <> wrote in message
news:F0DCD32D-FA03-421E-9659-...
> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> If you physically installed the printer software I would uninstall all of
>> the software, including the drivers. I would then delete the printer from
>> the printer folder. Upon reboot you say that there are no Vista supplied
>> drivers. That was then. As of now, Vista may be able to pull compatible
>> drivers from the download site if you allow Vista to search on-line
>> during
>> the driver install.
>>
>> If they still aren't available I would then install the "latest"
>> manufacturer Vista certified drivers.
>>
>> I am assuming that you are running 32 bit Vista. You didn't say, and it
>> matters a lot. There are damn few drivers for 64 bit Vista.
>
>
> I am running 32-bit for compatibility reasons, although I may dual-boot to
> 64-bit after my next reformat to see how that works for me.
>
> I'll have to try that whole process over again. I'm just nervous about
> uninstalling the drivers, unplugging the printer, and ending up with an
> unbootable computer for whatever reason. I guess I'll just have to image
> the
> partition before I do it, though, just in case.
>
> Thanks,
>
> TurboFool