(USB to LPT) HP 4050 shows as different printer on different USB port

[livebriand]

My printer is an HP 4050. No USB port, so my options are ethernet or USB. However, my router is an old, finicky 802.11g unit (bottlenecks the internet noticeably), and since I live in a dorm, I don't actually need a router at all. The upside to using a router is that I can set a static IP for it, and tell the printer to print to that. We're always using 192.168.1.4, HP 4050 PCL5. End of story. Nothing for Windows to screw up by trying to be smart and automatically detecting things wrong.

However, since I don't like that internet slowdown with my old router (and Windows 8.1 doesn't seem to understand connecting to the uni network on one interface and my router on the other and using the resources of both when only one has internet), I also have a USB/LPT adapter. However, if I don't use the same USB port every time, it sees the printer as a different device (yeah, I know Windows always does that), and it installs the printer as another unit. As in, I end up with "HP 4050 PCL5" and "HP 4050 PCL5 (Copy 1)" and "HP 4050 PCL5 (Copy 2)", with only one online at a time depending on the port used. And if I plug it in before the printer is turned on, it detects the USB adapter itself as some generic thing, and tends to install another printer object that I then have to delete and clear up. Any thoughts? I'd like to use that USB/LPT adapter and not have Windows play stupid, but I'm not sure that it's possible.

 

[Alabalcho]

Same happens with serial ports, some WEB cameras - That's the way USB enumeration works. Nothing will stop you of having two USB adapters with two printers. So make a habit of plugging your printer in same port every time you plug it, and delete extra printers.

You should be able to connect to Internet over one network adapter (probably, WiFi), and have your wired Ethernet (with printer) on another config, and both of them to work. Just make sure your printer connection' network is on separate IP network from your Internet.

 

[livebriand]

But is there a way to at least have Windows not try to auto-detect the adapter as a generic USB/LPT adapter and mess up the printers in the list if the printer hasn't fully booted up yet?

That said, I'm not sure why using 2 network adapters was being problematic earlier, but right now I'm on ethernet (uni) and my personal 802.11g router via wifi (note: that is on uni ethernet as well - I have multiple ports at the wall). I did a speedtest and the speeds I got aren't possible on that router (by a long shot), yet I was pinging my printer via IP (-t) at the same time with no issues. I guess I'll have to play around with that. And yes, the uni uses some 10.something IP, while I'm using a typical 192.168.1.x range on mine (my own DHCP server behind NAT).

Edit: nope, glitching again with 2 interfaces, with internet only on ethernet, and the printer on the wifi one.