Grrr! Printer Problem Today. Happy Result

After being unable to print from my four year old HP 6980 printer connected to my home network, I have spent most of today with Windows 7 error messages that said the driver would not install after multiple attempts to re-install the printer and the software, (which is supposed to be baked into Windows 7) many PC and printer reboots, and lots of web research.

I tried connecting to my PC via USB and could not. Same error messages. I knew the printer was OK because I could print test pages using its front button. I removed the registry printer folder for this printer after seeing some related advice on MS tech support forum. [I thought to myself...I'm way in over my head now! maybe I should go out and buy a new printer.]

I then went to the HP support site to try and download a new driver. I decided to try a Cat5 wired network installation again using the instructions in the HP support document. Lo and behold ...SUCCESS. I'm a happy camper! I wonder, did I have a corrupted driver in Windows 7? In any event, everything else on the PC seems to be working OK. Whew!