I have a HP Deskjet 6980 and it has been working fine for the past year, but recently every time i start up my computer i am getting a message that windows needs to find device driver software for an "unknown device" which i know is my printer. I know this beacuse when i look at the details of the device the file is located in the folder where the printer is installed. Anyway, when i go to add a new printer in the control panel, I get a message that they can't add a new one because the printer spooling service is turned off. When i go inot the services menu under administrative tools in the control panel, i can't turn the service on. but when i go into my admin's user and turn it on from there, it works. all of a sudden my printer shows up in the printers folder and now i can print again... but then, I shut off the computer, turn it back on, and go back to find the same thing has happened again - windows is looking for drivers for an "unknown device" and the printer spooler is turned off, meaning i can't print. so in order to print i have to go through the whole process again. does anybody have any idea how i can fix this?

Also, whenever I try to install the printer again from the software i got with it, it now tells me that this printer isn't supported by Vista - which i know isn't true because I've been using it since august 2007 with no issues.

1. I'm no authority on this, but if I was experiencing this here's what I'd try:

(a) Give your normal user account Administrative status. [Mine is so configured]

(b) Change the "Print Spooler" service to "Automatic". [That's how mine is set]
I'm assuming all works well within an Admin account, but not in an ordinary account.

(c) If the above fixes the problem, even in your normal account once given admin status, then...
You could decide to either keep the admin status, or else...
Configure it back to ordinary status and see if the change of Print Spooler service to Auto remains in force, and the fix remains.

2. "getting a message that windows needs to find device driver software for an "unknown device""
How do things look in Device Manager?
Display "By Connection", and expand the tree [highlight the top device, then Numlock + *, then Numlock again].

i did what you said in step number 2 and i think i might have found what the devices were... there are two items called "6T04 Adapter", i have no sweet idea what these are though... have you heard of them before?

Never heard of it, but see this:
On a Windows Vista-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer, the Microsoft ISATAP adapter appears with a yellow exclamation mark next to it in Device Manager, and you also receive an error message (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932520).
The advice out there on the web is to disable this network adapter in Device Manager and ignore it.
See 6T04 Network Adapter (http://forums.techarena.in/vista-help/808498.htm).