(Vista Ultimate 64 with all current patches on an HP laptop with an HP
do-it-all printer and HP's latest driver.)

From time to time (usually when I want to print the confirmation for a order
I just placed at some internet store), I get an alert that says "Before you
can print, you need to select a printer. If you need to install a printer,
either double-click the Add Printer icon or click the Find Printer... button
located on the General tab of this dialog." When I click OK, I'm faced with
the print dialog but it has these interesting properties:

1) when I select my default printer, its status shows Ready but the
Print button is gray
2) when I double-click the Add Printer icon, nothing happens (no
hourglass, no wizard, no dialog, no nothing)
3) when I click the Find Printer... button, nothing happens (no
hourglass, no wizard, no dialog, no nothing)



If, when I encounter this problem, I switch to another application (Word,
Excel, Powerpoint, ...), its printing behavior is normal, i.e., the Print
command doesn't give the "Before you can print, ..." alert, it brings up the
Print dialog with the default printer selected and gives me an enabled Print
button.

This happens even when running as an Administrator (Protected Mode: Off).

Solutions? Suggestions? Sympathy?