HP 642c printer driver causing chaos

I have a client who purchased a new ibm with windows me installed. They also got a new hp 642c printer. They had an existing hp laser 4 printer at the shop. When I installed the new printer driver, i kept getting lockups and fatal errors when i tried to print. so I removed the laser driver, and the 642c printed fine. i reinstalled the laser driver and tried to print to that and it just said error writing to lpt1.(if i Uninstall the 642c the laser prints fine) both print fine in dos. The bottom line is when both drivers are installed, neither works. I thought maybe it was a ME issue (I'm running into lots of these lately) so I downloaded the newest drivers from hp and it still didnt work. On another note, I had to bring the computer back to the shop to do some other stuff on it, and I took the printer as well just to see if I could fix that issue while I was at it, so I installed the 642c on my computer to see what happened and it worked fine on mine. So i changed the default back to my epson 850 and try to print an invoice (hadn't removed the hp driver yet) and now i get a timeout error on mine. I uninstalled the hp and the epson, and reinstalled the epson and still the same thing. I'm irritated now. My only backup printer is out of ink!!ANy suggestions? My next step is to call HP

I take it you tried the drivers from HP's website below:

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindex...0188_swen.html


For WinME, there is one driver for HOME USERS and another for CORPORATE USERS. I think I would try the HOME USERS driver. Make sure that you follow the step-by-step instructions on downloading and installing. Make sure you have selected the correct printer as your Default Printer.

The following link talks about troubleshooting problems with Win9X & WinME:

http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/cposupport...Tfile=bpd05141


Other links there for Using Your Product, Solving a Problem, FAQ's, etc.

Good Luck!
DonJ

I did change the port settings but it didn't make a difference. I emailed HP and they gave me a few suggestions. I was impressed...they emailed me back within an hour. So I guess I will try the things they said Monday. The new HP does have a USB port as well, and the driver provided on the disk does not work (as per hp) ...you have to d/l a remove tool then a reinstall tool from web site. What I think I am going to do is hold off because they are planning on networking anyway...I can just hook the new printer to the other computer and share it.
As far as my piece of crap epson... It still doesnt work. I was so frustrated last night. I tried just about eveything..I removed all traces of the software everywhere, switched cables,I tried all port settings in BIOS... And now even in DOS it wont work.I get a (write fault? I think thats what it said) I thought maybe it was my printer port, but my other piece of crap canon works fine (only it doesn't print color)What are the chances of the port on the printer itself going bad? I just think its weird that all of a sudden this happened.I'm gonna try it on another computer later and see what happens.
Thanx guys
:D