2010.12 reinstall; network printer can't be found. (SOLVED, thanks)

[BJF]

Good Evening,

I had not updated the 2010.12 on my laptop by choice since having grief with the disappearing taskbar  (subject of a previous Forum enquiry) and paid the price. A new Synaptic app download curdled the install to the point where nothing would open, so I reformatted / and reinstalled the latest 2010.12 .iso and updated it (400Mb) and added the app's the previous install had.
Now that I come to the network printer install, PCC>Hardware>Install Printer is behaving differently now than it used to. It drops to an empty screen with no discovery of the network printer. The previous version would, in a matter of seconds, find no local and one network printer, and proceed with the install. I have checked and task-printing is installed by default. The HP Print Manager can't see the printer, an F2180, either. But historically that's not unusual. What, please, am I missing?

Thanks.  

[bitzbox]

Try installing it with the CUPS Web Interface (http://localhost:631)

Regards .....

[BJF]

Thanks, but I'm getting the "browser can't find" message even with the firewall turned off. Something is still missing.

[and then..]

Does this help?
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,85987.0.html

[rubentje1991]

Do you have updated the computer where the printer is connected to (or is it a standalone network printer?)?
If that computer is updated, check if the printer is still shared....

[bitzbox]

Thanks, but I'm getting the "browser can't find" message even with the firewall turned off. Something is still missing.

Check that CUPS is actually running because I'm almost certain that, on a fresh install, it isn't running.

Regards .....

[BJF]

Gentlepeople: Bitzbox has nailed it. CUPS wasn't running. That fixed, localhost:631 became visible in the browser and has been Bookmarked ready for when I get home from work tonight. Thank you for your help.

[BJF]

Update: I paused on my way to the browser to look in PCC>Hardware> and there was my printer already discovered and added. I verified its details via localhost, but all the work had been done. As someone else said in the Forum recently, "The longer I work with Linux the more I find I don't know" or words to that effect. Thank you for your help.