"Incompatible files" No install disk. Now what?

Question

I have an old iMac -350 MHz G3 running OS 9.1- that I only use with my workhorse of a scanner. I've tried to network via Ethernet and a router with my newer iMac -1.8 GHz G5 running OS 10.3.9- with intermittent success. Sometimes an icon comes up on either computer usually after restarting one or the other, usually not.
*My problem is this:* My old iMac hangs up at the restart. Everything loaded, I could see the desktop but all was frozen for a few minutes while the system did something with "HP LaserJet Engine" (an old printer which I no longer have).
Having forgotten the ol' extensions-manager-magic, I went into the system folder and trashed the file, any file with HP. Now it hangss even longer at startup, at least 5 minutes. I tried to rectify it with the extensions manager, no dice.
Disk First Aid says it appears to be ok. I ran Conflict Catcher and IT says the following files are incompatible: Apple Enet, AppleShare, Open Transport Networking Group, and Shared Manager Library... in other words, the extensions I need for networking.
*My question is this:* I don't have the original OS 9 install disks anymore, although I did find one for OS 8.5. Can I retro-install 8.5? I don't need anything on the computer except for the scanner and Photoshop 5.5 and both apparently work with 8.5.
To summarize, I really am trying to eliminate the freeze at startup without losing my networking capability.

Answer 1

Hi, gillian -
OS 9 is preset to reconnect to all hardware present the last time it was shut down. This includes a printer - it is difficult to get an OS 9 install to ignore all printers, that is, to accept a no-printer status.
However, try this -
• Go into the Printing Prefs folder (System Folder >> Preferences >> Printing Prefs), locate and throw away the file named LaserWriter 8 Prefs, and any similar preferences file which may be there, especially one carrying the HP or the printer designation.
If you had set up desktop printing in the past, also go into the Parsed PPD Folder (which is in the Printing Prefs folder) and toss out the ppd file bearing your old pronter designation.
Then restart. Zap the PRAM on this startup (this will clear any preset printer config which may be lurking in PRAM). If you're not familair with doing this - immediately upon hearing the startup chime press the Command-Option-P-R keys (it's not an accident that it usually takes two hands to press all four at the same time), keep them held down until you've heard three additional sets of startup chimes. Then let startup resume.
• If that does not clear the issue, then you may need to set up a virtual printer. You can do that using the Desktop Printer Utility which was installed as part of a standard OS 9 install (you may need to use Sherlock to search for it). Select the "Printer (no printer connnection)" item and follow the prompts.
Another item which can cause a long delay at startup is the machine trying to connect to a no-longer-available server. To fix that, open the Servers folder (in System Folder) and trash the aliases to all servers you do not want to have the machine auto-connect to at startup. If the machine is stand-alone, you probably need nothing in that folder.