Error when trying to create a TCP\IP port in Windows XP

I have a printer wired to a nextwork, with an IP address, which I can connect to via a browser (so the connection is fine), but when I try and install the printer by having it connect via the network, windows crashes. This happens irrespecitve of using HP’s nextowrk installer, doing it using XP’s intstall new printers, or even creating a new port with an existing printer. Any ideas??? I have seen a post about some files that should be deleted from the system folder, but these files were not present in my case. HP was useless in resolving this. Any help is mucho appreciated…