Lost icons in Printer and Faxes folder

I own a Sony Vaio desktop computer which has USB 2.0
ports and use Windows XP Professional .

I ran out of USB 2.0 ports on the back of the computer
and bought a 4 port USB 2.0 hub and a Parallel to USB
cable for my HP 2000C inkjet printer. The cable adapter
is USB 1.1 compliant.

When I connected everything up Windows XP correctly
identified the printer and appeared to access Microsoft's
web site and tried to install a DLL. After the install a
printer wizard had finished, I got an error message
telling me that the printer could not be installed as the
hardware was defective. (I also have a Canon i950 printer
connected to a USB port.)

Afterwards I opened the Printer and Faxes folder and the
folder was empty. Even the Add a Printer icon had
disappeared. When I clicked on the Add a Printer text it
did not work.

After removing the USB hub and the USB adapter cable and
refitting the parallel cable to the printer I then used
GoBack and Windows system recovery but the Printer and
Faxes folder remains empty. Otherwise Windows works
normally and does not report any problems plus I can
print from Word but not from Internet Explorer.

What do you think is the problem and how do I get the
icons back in the Printer folder without reinstalling XP
from scratch?