Print drivers disappear

I get a message that "There are no printers ", when I try to print; when I go to Printers in the Control Panel, I see only the "Add Printers" icon. My HP1020 printer icon is not there. I am unable to download the HP 1020 print driver from the HP web site, as I get a message from the Hardware Wizard that "There was a problem installing this hardware ".

After re-booting, I get a message "Subsystem App has encoumtered a problem with the print spooler, and needs to close ".

I have been printing for years with no problems; now suddenly I cannot print. The HP1020 is the only printer connected to the PC with Windows XP Home edition operating System; Any ideas on what the problem is?

First time visitor to this site. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Is it with every program?

Have you changed anything prior to this? (i.e. added or removed anything?) or downloaded anything?

Is it usb?

Is the printer actually working?

This is what I would do:
1. Remove every trace of the printer. (control panel - add/remove) and remove the printer from the computer.

2. Download the drivers from HP (I am not sure when you are getting the error - is it during downloading?)

3. Turn off the printer and unplug it for a couple of minutes

4. Shut off the computer.

5. Plug the printer into a different port, turn it on, and then the computer.

6. It should say found new h/w... Then try the drivers that you have downloaded.

(I don't know what hp's instructions are but you may have to install the drivers first and then plug the printer in with the pc on.)