Control Panel and Printer Problems

How to restore on the control panel the icon for my external hard drive which has inexplicably vanished?



I have tried dragging the icon from the desktop to the control panel without success.


When I accessed a window which is headed with the wording "Add A Device", I tried to type on it the name of the external hard drive, but the page remained blank. How, then, can one add a device?


My hp printers are well connected at the power mains and when I open them I get the word "ready" for each of the two printers, but when I try to print I get the message "Error: the printer cannot print".


Am at my wits' end trying very hard to find a solution. GRATEFUL IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.


Joe Busuttil