I'm running Windows XP Pro and was having a problem with setting the default printer. Windows wasn't allowing me to set one and nothing would print. I followed the solution presented under this thread
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/unable-to-setup-default-printer-error-message/2e14443e-a829-4400-b155-5b87494b03ce
I went to the following location in the registry editor:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
There is no "Device" found at that location. I added a "String Value", named it "Device" and set the value to "HP Color LaserJet 3550,winspool,DOT4_001" (printername,winspool,printerport). This worked temporarily, my printer was now set to default and I was able to print. Upon restarting the computer I attempted to print and received the same error "no printer set to default" and again I wasn't able to set a default printer. I returned to the registry editor location and found that "Device" had again been removed. I repeated the process of adding "Device" and again it worked. I restarted the computer to test it out and upon restart, "Device" was again removed from registry editor.
Any thoughts?