Below shows the number I found once when I checked to see how many of each of these processes was running. I've seen even more instances of the processes running at other times. They consume memory and, when a significant number of them accumulate, they can slow a system significantly.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpboid.exe"

Image Name                   PID Session Name     Session#    Mem Usage
========================= ====== ================ ======== ============
HPBOID.EXE                  4044 Console                 0        532 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3152 Console                 0        572 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3748 Console                 0        580 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1340 Console                 0        560 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3712 Console                 0        576 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1984 Console                 0        576 K
HPBOID.EXE                   760 Console                 0        780 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3412 Console                 0        772 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3772 Console                 0        776 K
HPBOID.EXE                  2756 Console                 0        776 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1372 Console                 0        740 K
HPBOID.EXE                  5636 Console                 0        796 K
HPBOID.EXE                  4200 Console                 0      2,308 K
HPBOID.EXE                  5472 Console                 0      2,324 K
HPBOID.EXE                   960 Console                 0      2,316 K
HPBOID.EXE                   836 Console                 0      2,312 K

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpbpro.exe"

Image Name                   PID Session Name     Session#    Mem Usage
========================= ====== ================ ======== ============
HPBPRO.EXE                  2460 Console                 0        552 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  1476 Console                 0        568 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  4028 Console                 0        584 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  2708 Console                 0        776 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  5056 Console                 0      2,384 K

I created a batch file, kill_hp_processes.bat to deal with the problem.

@echo off

REM Name: kill_hp_processes.bat

REM Created by: Jim Cameron
REM Created on: July 9, 2010
REM Last updated: July 16, 2010
REM Version: 1.2

REM Description:
REM Check for errant HP processes: hpboid and hpbpro.exe.
REM These processes can start and never end until the system
REM is rebooted. When they accumulate they can consume 
REM significant amounts of memory and potentially CPU cycles
REM reaching the point where the system's performance is
REM considerably degraded.

REM Specify log file
set log="c:\kill_hp_processes.log"

REM Put the date and time in the log file
echo %date% %time% >> %log%

REM List the hpboid.exe processes running.
tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpboid.exe" >> %log%
REM Count the number of hpboid.exe processes running.
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpboid.exe" ^| find /c /i "hpboid.exe"') do set numprocesses=%%a 
echo.
echo Number of hpboid.exe processes running: %numprocesses%  >> %log%
if %numprocesses$ NEQ 0 taskkill /f /fi "imagename eq hpboid.exe"


REM List the hpbpro.exe processes running.
tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpbpro.exe" >> %log%
REM Count the number of hpbpro.exe processes running.
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('tasklist /fi "imagename eq hpbpro.exe" ^| find /c /i "hpbpro.exe"') do set numprocesses=%%a
echo. 
echo Number of hpbpro.exe processes running: %numprocesses%  >> %log%
if %numprocesses$ NEQ 0 taskkill /f /fi "imagename eq hpbpro.exe"

REM put a blank line in the file to separate the entries added at this time
REM from those that will be added at a later time.
echo.

I log the killing of the errant HP processes to see how many are killed every time the batch job runs. Log file entries for a particular instance of the batch file running are shown below:

Fri 07/16/2010 15:00:00.71

Image Name                   PID Session Name     Session#    Mem Usage
========================= ====== ================ ======== ============
HPBOID.EXE                  4044 Console                 0        532 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3152 Console                 0        572 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3748 Console                 0        580 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1340 Console                 0        560 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3712 Console                 0        576 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1984 Console                 0        576 K
HPBOID.EXE                   760 Console                 0        780 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3412 Console                 0        772 K
HPBOID.EXE                  3772 Console                 0        776 K
HPBOID.EXE                  2756 Console                 0        776 K
HPBOID.EXE                  1372 Console                 0        740 K
HPBOID.EXE                  5636 Console                 0        796 K
HPBOID.EXE                  4200 Console                 0      2,308 K
HPBOID.EXE                  5472 Console                 0      2,324 K
HPBOID.EXE                   960 Console                 0      2,316 K
HPBOID.EXE                   836 Console                 0      2,312 K
Number of hpboid.exe processes running: 16

Image Name                   PID Session Name     Session#    Mem Usage
========================= ====== ================ ======== ============
HPBPRO.EXE                  2460 Console                 0        552 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  1476 Console                 0        568 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  4028 Console                 0        584 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  2708 Console                 0        776 K
HPBPRO.EXE                  5056 Console                 0      2,384 K
Number of hpbpro.exe processes running: 5

I used the Windows at command to schedule the process to run at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM on weekdays to kill any instances of the two processes. I used the at command twice since when I first had it running only at 3:00 PM, too many of the processes were accumulating during the day before the batch job ran. I use progra~1 for the "program files" directory, when submitting the batch job to run with the at command, because that is a "shorthand" version that Windows understands for that directory, which allows me not to worry about spaces in the directory name.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents>at 11:00 /every:M,T,W,Th,F 
c:\progra~1\utility\kill_hp_processes.bat
Added a new job with job ID = 5

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents>at
Status ID   Day                     Time          Command Line
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        4   Each M T W Th F         3:00 PM       c:\progra~1\utility\kill_hp_processes.bat
        5   Each M T W Th F         11:00 AM      c:\progra~1\utility\kill_hp_processes.bat

References:

1. Multiple Hbpoid.exe and Hpbpro.exe Processes Running
   Date: October 23, 2008
   MoonPoint Support
2. HPBPRO.EXE & HPBOID.EXE
   Date: February 12, 2007
   Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link

According to the Uniblue Process Library:

hpqste08.exe is a process installed alongside HP Imaging devices and provides additional configuration options for these devices. This program is a non-essential process, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.

hpqste08.exe is a process installed alongside HP Imaging devices and provides additional configuration options for these devices. This program is a non-essential process, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.

hpqnrs08.exe hpqnrs08.exe is a Network Monitor from Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. belonging to HP Digital Imaging. This is a network device rediscovery service.

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link

At hpboid.exe Windows process - What is it?, I found the hpboid process described as follows:

The process HP Status Server Module belongs to the software HP Status Server or HP Deskjet or HP Status Server Module by Hewlett-Packard Company (www.hp.com).

Description: File hpboid.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows\System32 or sometimes in the folder C:\Windows\System32. Known file sizes on Windows XP are 73728 bytes (96% of all occurrence), 61440 bytes.
The program has no visible window. File hpboid.exe is not a Windows system file.

At have multiple hpboid.exe & hpbpro.exe processes, WHY?, I found others reporting the same problem. Someone posted the following script as a solution for eliminating the processes.

net stop spooler
sleep 5
taskkill /F /IM HPBOID.exe
taskkill /F /IM HPBPRO.exe
sleep 5
net start spooler

The poster suggested the script be saved as kill_hpprocess.cmd and run through the Windows task scheduler. The poster stated he found the script at HPBOID.EXE remove it permanently. The author of the blog article there states the following:

Some HP Printer drivers install a service called HP Status Server based on an executable called hpboid.exe, on terminal service machine it start itself many times and it doesn't remove it whenever user disconnect itself consuming too much resources.

He offers some steps to solve the problem on that webpage. Someone else posted the script there as a way to solve the problem. Another poster suggests the problem can be solved instead following advice from Hewlett-Packard (HP), which is the company responsible for hpboid.exe and hpbpro.exe. He references HP Deskjet 6980 Series Printer - Computer Crashes when Printing Over a Network and Network Task Manager Shows Multiple Instances of hpboid.exe Running

The HP webpage lists the following as solutions to the problem:

Issue

Task Manager shows multiple instances of hpboid.exe running. This consumes all the resources and the computer ultimately crashes. This happens when the printer is printing over a network.

Solution

Choose one of the solutions below.

Solution one

Follow the steps below to resolve this issue.

1. Click Start , and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type services.msc and click OK.
3. Search for HP status server and right-click it. Click Properties, and then click Stop
4. Click Apply and then click OK.
5. Check whether the issue persists. If the issue persists, repeat the same steps for HP port resolver and stop this service.

Solution two

Search for hpboid.exe and delete the file. Deleting the file will not affect the printing functionality.

I followed the steps HP listed in solution one. I stoped the HP Status Server service. That reduced the number of hpboid.exe processes by only one, however, from 63 to 62. It did not reduce the number of hpbpro.exe processes. I stopped the HP Port Resolver service. That reduced the number of hpbpro.exe processes by one from 49 to 48. Since there were still many instances of each process running, I killed all of the others with the following commands:

taskkill /f /fi "imagename eq hpboid.exe"
taskkill /f /fi "imagename eq hpbpro.exe"


I saw a substantial reduction in the amount of memory being used when I killed all instances of those two processes.

References:

1. hpboid.exe Windows process - What is it?
   file.net - Windows XP file forum
2. have multiple hpboid.exe & hpbpro.exe processes, WHY?
   September 21, 2007
   Experts Exchange
3. HPBOID.EXE remove it permanently
   October 2007
   Vittorio Pavesi
4. HP Deskjet 6980 Series Printer - Computer Crashes when Printing Over a Network and Network Task Manager Shows Multiple Instances of hpboid.exe Running
   Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link

1. Click on Start.
2. Select Printers and Faxes.
3. Right-click on the printer, in this case SAVIN C3535 PCL 6, and select Properties
4. Click on the Accessories tab.
5. Check Tray 3 (LCT) and Finisher SR3020

   

6. Click on the Paper Size Settings tab.
7. Select Tray 1 under Input Tray.
8. For Paper Size, select Letter (8.5" x 11") then click on Update
9. For Tray 2, select 11" x 17" as the paper size and click on Update.
10. For Tray 3 (LCT), select 8.5" x 11" as the paper size then click on Update.

    

11. Click on OK.

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link

Fortunately, I was able to find information on how to easily resolve my problem at Command Line Printer Control in Windows 2000 / XP. All I had to do to add a printer from the administrator account while still remaining logged into my user account was the following:

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32.
2. Right-click on cmd.exe while holding down a shift key, then select Run as.
3. Select "The following user", put in the userid for the administrator account for the system, e.g. SystemName\administrator, for user name and its password, then click on OK.
4. At the command prompt window that opens, enter the following command:
   
   RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /il

That will run the Add Printer Wizard from the administrator account, allowing you to add a printer port.

Note: The capitalization of PrintUIEntry is important. If you don't use PrintUIEntry, but, instead used printUIEntry, you would get the error message below:

Error in printui.dll
Missing entry:printUIEntry

The /il parameter is also case sensitive.

References:

1. Command Line Printer Control in Windows 2000 / XP
   Rob van der Woude's Scripting Pages

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link

Sometimes it is desirable to change the order in which pages are printed by a printer. Some printers, such as the HP Business Inkjet 2800, allow the order in which pages are modified to be selected, e.g. print first page first or last page first.

[ More Info ]

[/os/windows/printers] permanent link