I was having problems with the print spooler on a Windows XP Home SP3 machine stopping and jamming everytime I tried to print something. I download the Microsoft Resource Kit and ran the cleanspl.exe file to clean the print spooler. In doing that, it removed all of my printers and the virtual USB ports in the port list. I need to get my HP Laserjet 1020 to work.
To resolve this, I have unplugged the printer, and then uninstalled the printer drivers and software. Then I restarted the computer. Then I plugged the printer back in and it went through the install process. I selected the location of the driver file, which I downloaded from the HP site, and it continued installing, but at the end it said it could not identify the port for the printer, so the installation could not continue. I tried this again and it now states that "An error occurred during the installation of the device: The driver installation file for this device is missing a necessary entry. This may be because the INF was written for Windows 95 or later. Contact your hardware vendor."
This is not an issue with the printer. This is an issue with Windows. PLEASE HELP!!!
Our community of experts have been thoroughly vetted for their expertise and industry experience.