having the SAME problem.  Working on this for upwards of 3 hours.  I"m tired and frustrated.  I have set this same printer up on a previous computer and I know I faced the same issue but cannot find a resolution.  Have tried ALL of the things you listed above.  Using an Epson 4150.  Have runt he firmware countless times. In regular mode it does not recognize that there is a printer connected to the USB, therefore it won't run.  So I HAVE to run in in the other mode.  Looks fine, then I get the strange box in some foreign language that errors out and I never have a chance to enter my activation code.  This is CRAZY!  Please help! 
 
	Order Number 572726