I have recently had several faults on my recently purchased computer which resulted in having a new hdd and motherboard fitted.
When I have come to reinstall my Epsom c42 plus printer I have encountered a couple of problems.
Firstly,when I am loading in the software for the printer it appears not to automatically configure a port because I have to bypass that particular moment whilst loading.At the end of the loading process it does however tell me it configures the printer port to LPT1.
The computer having loaded the printer driver and relavant software appears to show things are ok,because it appears on the icon bar with the correct recognition of make and model.However,when I attempt to print or inspect my settings using the printer monitor having searched for a long period ,the computer tells me there is a connection error.It also fails to highlight the printer cartridges as having any ink in them.Before my computer developed any faults the printer cartridges were approx half full and the printer was working without any problems.I have tried all my usb ports and have uninstalled and re-loaded the printer software several times and the same problems are occuring.All the other items such as my digital camera and scanner are working without any problems.Please help because I am getting desperate!!!

My guess is the port configuration. are you using LPT1 or USB? Specs from Epson say it's USB.

Why did you bypass the port config?

One other thing, download a fresh copy of the installation software from Epson. sometimes products are packaged and stored for a long time. During that time, OS and platform changes may not be compatible with the drivers.

check usb cable connect to your printer, might be defective if you tried everything else.

Thanks Ryan,I have purchased a new usb lead today but this has not solved the problem.
Rayman in answer to your suggestion I can tell you that I bypassed the port-config because it does not seem to respond if I let it search for itself.That is why it tells me at the end of the set up that it has configured the port to LPTI.Are you telling me it should be USB?if so how do I get it to be configured to USB?
Also when I log on, the printer monitor screen asks if I want it to check the printer cable/connection.I usually press cancel!
If it is due to OS and platform changes how do I resolve such an issue?
Thanks for your assistance so far I hope you can continue with your assistance in this matter.

I'm confused. Does your printer have a parallel and/or USB port?

If it's strictly a parallel device (centronics connector), you have to use your parallel port (LPT1).

If you have a USB port on the(the docs say yes) you have to load a different printer driver (or at least make that selection during it's installation)

You don't set up the USB port on your computer, it does it for you. But you do have to direct the printer output to the USB port via the printer driver.

The USB port is scanned regularly and will detect a new device connected. I don't recommend plugging it in while the computer is on, this sometimes fries the peripheral and sometimes the motherboard. many times you can get away with it but it's still better to connect everything before powering up.

From what you said, the computer thinks the printer is on LPT1 since it asks you to test the parallel port (probably for lack of any printer communications)