Hello again, Alan - Wow! Thank you for all your efforts in tracking HP/Vista issues. That was above and beyond the call of duty here. Without sounding the least bit ungrateful, those options you provided have been tried and used during the time HP tech support was tossing emails back and forth. None of the basic fixes seemed to hone in on the real issue - which is perplexing in itself. Near the end of our "free" relationship, the HP techs were directing me to make minor changes to files and commands, often in DOS.
In the end, I am going to scrap both my 2006 printer and scanner and buy a new all-in-one product for under a $100 that comes ready for Vista. Not certain about the exact brand or model at this time but whatever it is will be purchased locally and it will probably be a Brother or a Canon or a Lexmark. HP may be great, but under the circumstances my love affair with HP will take time to renew. I will go with whichever printer/scanner the salesperson pitches the best <G>.
Any advice on this new purchase decision is MORE than welcome right now.
Again, thank you for your interest followed by your thoughtful responses.
Roger