Printer

Right click on My Computer, select Open. One of the folders is Printers.  Double click on the Printers folder and that will show you your printers or allow you to install new printers.

Thats not there either

Does it show up in Control Panel?

Is the printer functioning?

Nothing in Control Panel.
It works, but not with all programs.

Okay, let's dig deeper then. What kind of printer is it?

Have you installed any type of print software other than drivers?

When did this first happen? Was the printer working at all? If so, what changes were made that caused it to stop working?

okay, its a hp deskjet 660c...
no other software installed...
The printer was working fine...then I had it disconnected for awhile (no paper). When I hooked it back up and went to check on the settings, I was unable to find the printer folder anywhere.

Prestige, let's see if we can get the folder back. And to confirm, there is no printer folder at all when you go to My Computer, correct?

Correct, no printer folder, anywhere

Prestige, let's run through some diagnostics so we can see why these folders have disappeared.

Are you the only user on this system? If not, could someone have made a change in the registry to hide the printer folders?

Have you installed the Tweakui tool. If so, check to make sure that no inadvertant changes were made there that may effect your system.

Let's try the following:

1. Unplug the printer cable from your PC.

2. Boot your PC to a command prompt. You do this by restarting the system and right after the memory post, but before you see the "Starting Windows>>" dialogue, start tapping the F8 key. This will bring up the boot menu. Now choose command prompt only.

3. Now change directories to \Windows\Command. You do this by type CD windows\command<enter> and the dos prompt.

4. Now type SCANREG/FIX<enter>

5. After scanreg has run, restart the system.

Is the printer folder now available anywhere?

before I do that, I think the problem is that I am missing the printer cpl file. I dont have a .cpl anywhere for printers.

Here's a list of the cpl files you'll normally find. Note, main.cpl handles printers. There is no printer.cpl!

Access.cpl     Accessibility properties
Appwiz.cpl     Add/Remove Programs properties
Desk.cpl       Display properties
FindFast.cpl   FindFast (included with Microsoft Office for Windows 95)
Inetcpl.cpl    Internet properties
Intl.cpl       Regional Settings properties
Joy.cpl        Joystick properties
Main.cpl       Mouse, Fonts, Keyboard, and Printers properties
Mlcfg32.cpl    Microsoft Exchange or Windows Messaging properties
Mmsys.cpl      Multimedia properties
Modem.cpl      Modem properties
Netcpl.cpl     Network properties
Odbccp32.cpl   Data Sources (32-bit ODBC, included w/ Microsoft Office)
Password.cpl   Password properties
Sticpl.cpl     Scanners and Cameras properties
Sysdm.cpl      System properties and Add New Hardware wizard
Themes.cpl     Desktop Themes
TimeDate.cpl   Date/Time properties
Wgpocpl.cpl    Microsoft Mail Post Office

oh great, I dont have it :(

Which don't you have, main.cpl?

Click Start, Run and type in SFC and click ok.

Put your win98 cd into the drive.

Now choose to extract one file, main.cpl, and save it to your system.

thanks :)

Do you now have the icon in control panel?

It brought up the mouse panel, with pointers :(

Hey, that worked! You are a GOD SEND!!
I cant thank you enough :)

Glad you're up and running!