HeidelbergBarbi

The install for my HP Photosmart D5160 fails every time. I turn off Spyware, firewall and virus (all supplied by AOL 9.0 SE). Firewall is not activated in Windows either. I connect the USB cable at the appropriate requested time. At the time the software is communicating with the printer through the USB cable I get a message from Found New Hardware Wizard that the driver cannot be installed for this 5100 series printer.

I have been in touch with HP's tech support and so far the 'fixes' they have suggested have not cured the problem which have included downloading a different set of drivers and software directly to my desktop and installing from there. This new installation was done without connecting the printer till all the software was loaded then connecting the printer. This is when the "Found New Hardware Wizard" pops up with the message (again) that the drivers for the 5100 series cannot be installed even after a 'Add a printer' scenario was carefully completed using HP's instructions.

I then installed the printer on another computer, one that does not have as much Microsoft updates (such as SP 2) and as much firewall and spyware checking software as does mine (Toshiba Laptop). The install went perfectly and without problem on the XP pro O/S. My laptop is running XP Home with most of the MS updates. (problems with that .. it's another story which I will be posting on the Windows tech support forum .. but! could it be related to this problem?)
Is there is something interfering within my computer with this installation?
I have hooked the USB cable directly to a port (no hub) and the install goes fine till I connect the printer to the computer. (the USB port was checked using instructions from HP. This port works fine with other hardware)
No new communication with HP for the past few days so I have turned to this forum.
My computer is:
Toshiba Satellite A15 S129
512mb SDRAM
40gig HDD - 20gig free
O/S XP HE
SP2 (installed last year without problems)

ps I have been getting more and more error messages reading "such-and-such program has encountered a problem and needs to close." and then a request to send an error report to MS is presented. (also a failure for an update from Windows to upgrade to IE7 which I already have) The programs will run OK when launched. Are these related to my problem?
I am puzzled.