Computers Using "HP Install Network Printer Wizard" Vanish from My Network Places after 20 minutes

[Bryan Perry_1]

I am running a peer-to-peer LAN of Win XP Pro SP2 boxes. Over 35 of them in a particular workgroup. All static IP addresses.

All machines have File and Print Sharing set up and Windows Firewall turned off.

I have used "HP Install Network Printer Wizard" to install a couple of HP 2300's and a HP 2200d printer, each of which have JetDirect 615N cards installed. But my problem isn't with the installation and use of the printers. In fact, this software works fine and everyone prints happily.

Here's the catch: all machines using HP Install Network Printer Wizard mysteriously disappear from My Network Places (no matter what machine I use to look at My Network Places) after 20 minutes. If I reboot one of them, it's back for about 20 minutes, then gone.

Now, they're pingable and in fact you can find them using the Search button. But they're not visible, and to my staff, this is a major obstacle.

I have 8 boxes without the HP wizard, and they're visible on My Network Places 24/7.

Using a couple different boxes as guinea pigs, I can affirm that deleting the printers, uninstalling HP Install Network Printer Wizard and eliminating references to it in the registry does not reverse the situation and fix the problem. Ugh.

I can also affirm that disabling our Kaspersky Anti-Virus does not solve the "vanishing" problem.

A call to HP Support and subsequent discussion with their reps yielded no help.

Any help much appreciated. Thanks.