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Office XP Pro applications suddenly cannot "see" installed printer

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by ken e 1 view

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A Norton 360.v2 blow-up got me. Their tech guy messed-up my Windows registry [Vista Ultimate 64/SP1] trying to fix the 360.v2/IE7 problem. Now, I cannot print from Excel or PowerPoint, but I can still print from Word. Those applications [Excel, etc.] no longer recognize the installed local printers and erroneously display the "NO PRINTER INSTALLED" message box.

A secondary symptom is that the EULA choice box shows-up every time I launch an Office XP Pro application, but the suite passes MGA test and is activated. Coincidentally, I can print the EULA even when it is displayed for Excel or one of the other "broken" applications.

An uninstall / restart / reinstall, of Office XP Pro did not resolve this issue. Any ideas where to look? This issue has not affected IE7, Microsoft Mail nor many other applications, only those in Office XP Pro.

15 replies

by rob miners

Disconnect the printer from the PC

Go to the Control Panel and click on Add/Remove Programs. Highlight any Printer Software that is listed here. Select Remove.

From the Control Panel, click on Printers & Faxes. Right click the printer in question and select Delete

Look at the Toolbar. Select File, then Server Properties. Look in the Drivers tab. Highlight the printers drivers listed here and click on Remove for each one.

Reboot the PC. Do NOT reconnect the printer!

Go to the website of your printer manufacturer. Look for new XP drivers for your model. Download the correct software.

Run the exe file you just downloaded. It should auto-start the installation program.

The software will tell you when to connect the printer.

Once the software is installed and the printer connected, Set the printer as the Default, try a test page.

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance. ;) :D

by ken e

I have not performed all those steps in that order. I'll give it a go today; though I am unclear as to which application toolbar would have "server properties." It is my stand-alone PC at home so there is no file server involved.

The printer in question is a Brother HL-5140 and connects through a generic USB port. The other two items in the printer control panel are the Microsoft XPS Document Writer and a generic fax, both of which are part of the OS - I think. Should I leave them alone?

My OS is MS-Vista x64 [Ultimate], so shouldn't I select those drivers on mfg site? Test page from the printer control panel will print now. It is just some of the MS-Office-XP suite [MS-Office 2002] applications that cannot "see" the printer. Most other programs on my PC [haven't re-tried them all] have no issue.

I'll await your reply before starting this sequence. Thank you.

by rob miners

the Brother HL-5140. 1bn0 has a good idea if this doesn't work. You should create another user account on Vista with Admin privelages if you arn't going to enable the real Administrators account. This will allow you access if something does happen to your profile. Server properties is the name on the Menu. This area controls the drivers for the printers.

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance. ;) :D

by 1bn0

You might have a corrupt profile.

by ken e

I do not have any additional user profiles. There is only the single default profile established during OS installation. If the steps in the post above do not work, I can add an additional profile and see if that resoves my problem.

Thanks for the suggestion.

by ken e

The methods suggested did not provide the relief sought, but did provide other ideas. After disconnecting the printer cable, uninstalling both the printer driver and the Office XP suite, I performed a restart and re-installed the Office XP suite.

I performed another restart, then reinstalled the WRONG print driver [MS-Windows XP], during which I had to plug-in the printer USB cable. Restarted the PC then went to the printer panel in the control panel and UNINSTALLED the WRONG print driver and installed the VISTA-64 driver. Important note - NO printer [XPS/Fax/Brother HL-5140] was selected as a default!

Restarted the PC. Opened MS-Excel and received the same old Printer not installed error box when I attempted to print a file. Opened MS-Word and got a different error message upon attempted print - "no default printer assigned." Closing that error message brought up a PRINTER SELECTION panel with the option to name a default. I selected the Brother printer and clicked the "Make Default" button.

Problem solved. I used MS-Word [the one Office application which I knew to recognize the printer earlier] to force the Vista system settings needed for all the Office applications.

Now if I can just find a way to kill the damned EULA question box that still appears every time I open an Office application, I'll be back to where I was before the NORTON tech made such a mess of everything!

Thanks to all for their suggestions. I'm gone.

by ken e

I have been using this same MS-Office XP software suite for over 4 years, installed on multiple [successive - not simultaneous] PC's and OS flavors, and have never had to repeatedly satisfy the EULA question box *each time* an application is launched - until this past week. The same is true of my work PC at the office. We [over 30,000 at last count] do not see the EULA on a daily basis.

Previously, the EULA was presented only on the initial launch of each application after a new install, or a re-activation after a hardware upgrade. If this multiplicity of acknowledgements is the new "normal" condition - I'm thankful that it was "broke" for all these many years. Not "remembering" my previous answer when there have been no system changes since said answer was last given, is infuriating to me as a consumer and I would think, not in the best interests of Microsoft.

That is why I do not believe your last [partial] post to be entirely accurate, at least not in the USA, in my experience. But I do thank you for the earlier suggestions that led me to the solution to the print issue.

by rob miners

it is pretty obvious that there are problems and lots of them after useing Nortons 360 that have effected the Registry. When you have problems with the Registry it can and will effect the software on the PC. Hence the EULA problem with Office and the problems with the Printer. Norton was what broke your PC.

by rob miners

that you are trying to make here. That is the same link that I provided in a previous post.

by ken e

Of that there is no doubt! It is not the first time a Norton application or a Norton technician has messed-up my PC. I guess that makes me somewhat hard-headed since I still use them.

When my current subscription expires, I will go with another solution provider. Probably McAfee since that is what is used in my office. Or if I'm going the cheap route - AVG Free.

Did I read somewhere that Microsoft was going to make make Windows Live OneCare a free option? If so, and when they do, I might go that route.

by ken e

The link shows so faintly on my monitor that I overlooked it. I apologize - but it possibly would have given me more heartburn because in Vista x64, the registry keys are located in a different stack - under the WOW6432node. The British site had a follow-up note giving that change.

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