Windows Problems

Remove Printer Drivers

Source: http://superuser.com/questions/525155/how-to-completely-remove-printer-from-windows-7

    1. Open a command line with administrative rights: Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command prompt; Right click -> Run As Administrator

    2. Run the printui tool: printui /s /t2

    3. Try deleting the printers. If that doesn't work... (i.e., if removing the printers listed in the printui is not successful.)

    4. Click Start > Run > Services.msc

    5. Locate the Print Spooler service, and right-click > Properties > stop service.

    6. Open My Computer and browse to C:\Windows\System32\spool\Printers (you will need to click "OK" to get access to the folder).

    7. DELETE the contents of the folder you opened in step 7.

    8. Go back to services.msc and Restart the Print Spooler service.

    9. Go back into the printui utility (you might need to restart it using same method as above) and try removing printers again. This time it should work. If necessary, check the "Ports" tab and remove any TCP/IP ports that are associated with the old printer.

    10. Last but not least, check other computers on your home network to see if any of those map to the old printer, and remove these mappings

Remove HP Universal Printing Driver

Source: https://www.mysysadmintips.com/windows/clients/170-cant-remove-printer-drivers-in-windows-7-the-specified-printer-driver-is-currently-in-use

What DID work for me was killing all current jobs (there were like 26 lined up on a non-existant printer from another pc on the AD previously)

    1. Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\

    2. Open Print Management

    3. Click on All printers()

    4. Right click on selected printer and click Cancel all jobs

    5. After that your printer should disappear or you can select printer and try

I found another, quicker way to achieve the same result. The trick is to delete the driver immediately after restarting print spooler service.

    • Open Devices and Printers and remove device(s) which is using drivers in question.

    • Open Print Management and Services management consoles side by side.

    • In Print Management right click on the driver you want to remove and click Remove Driver Package

    • A confirmation dialog will pop up "Driver package information collected"

    • In Services right click on Print Spooler and click Restart

    • Print Spooler restarting

    • While Print Spooler is restarting, move your mouse cursor to Print Management dialog Delete button and immediately after Print Spooler restarts click Delete

HP UPD - Install and uninstall the HP UPD

Source: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-universal-print-driver-series-for-windows/503548/document/c01839749

HP recommends the following procedure to remove the HP UPD. Note: If Windows displays an error message that the driver is in use, stop and restart the Print Spooler using one of the following methods.

    • Delete all printers that use the HP UPD.

    • In the Printers folder, open the File menu and select Server Properties.

    • From the Server Properties dialog box, select the Drivers tab.

    • Select the HP UPD driver(s) to be uninstalled and click Remove.

Using a script to remove UPD

Source: https://www.richud.com/wiki/Windows_7_Remove_HP_Universal_Print_Driver

Remove the HP Universal Print Driver without (hopefully) breaking other printers on the machine. In this example the print server will re-push the drivers out when the spooler restarts. (hence rem'd out driver install at the end)

HP Universal Print Driver Series for Windows - Resource Kit

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/576122-0-0-225-121.html

Removing print jobs via Command Prompt

Source: https://superuser.com/questions/529354/windows-8-not-pro-printer-removal

    • Open a command window (winkey+r) and execute net stop spooler

    • Execute del /F /Q C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*

    • Execute net start spooler

Save Yourself with Print Management

Source: http://10rem.net/blog/2011/09/16/deleting-a-printer-and-its-driver

    • Start -> Run -> printmanagement.msc

    • First, with my printer disconnected, I removed all printers. You can't remove a driver if the printer is using it.

    • Oooooh. The old "file in use" problem. Too bad that never works with cybermen, they don't care if you're actually still using your brain. You will be upgraded or deleted.

    • I checked under "All Printers", and nothing showed up. I checked under "Print Servers" and it was there, but just mirroring my local info. Something was still using it. Aha! The print spooler!

    • Right-click the computer on the start menu, and select "Manage"

    • Inside management console, expand "Services and Applications" and select "Services". Once in there, find the "Print Spooler" service, right-click it and select "Restart". That will release all the gunk it was holding on to, allowing you to finally remove the driver package.

Script to remove all printer connections

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/3qr3t4/hp_universal_print_driver_removal_migration/

    • I wrote a PowerShell script for helpdesk that addresses this problem by deleting the registry entries for those printer connection from the user profiles. Once that is taken care of, Windows will allow you to delete the drivers.

    • $user_profiles = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users -Name -Exclude 'Administrator','Public','Temp', $env:username New-PSDrive -PSProvider Registry -Name HKU -Root HKEY_USERS Remove-Item HKCU:\Printers\Connections\* -Recurse Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Print Processors\*" -Include "*hp*" ForEach($user in $user_profiles){ REG LOAD HKU\$user C:\Users\$user\ntuser.dat Remove-Item -Path HKU:\$user\Printers\Connections\* -Recurse } Restart-Service Spooler -Force

    • Run this with administrative privileges and make sure there are no logged in users in disconnected state. Once this runs, you should be able to delete those HP printer drivers.

HP m277dw gone offline and SNMP

Source: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/LaserJet-Printing/m277dw-will-not-print-test-page-but-prints-from-notepad/td-p/5038117

I see that with the full software you are getting the Port Match error from the PSDR, but you can print fine using Universal drivers. Thanks for providing that detailed information.

There were issues with Windows 8 it was putting the port in as WSD, which there was a Hot Fix for it, but nothing yet for Windows 10. So we can check it manually. Check the port assigned to the printer.

    1. From Devices and Printers, right click the printer and left click Printer Properties.

    2. Click on the Ports tab and let me know which one is selected for the printer. It should be the TCP/IP port.

    3. Click on Configure Port and uncheck the SNMP Status Enabled, and click OK.

    4. Try printing again.

Related:

        • UDP PORT 161: The SNMP agent receives requests through this port.

        • UDP PORT 162: The SNMP agent receives notifications (Traps) through this port.

      1. Disable PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator service

      2. The PnP-X bus enumerator service manages the virtual network bus. It discovers network connected devices using the SSDP/WS discovery protocols and gives them presence in PnP. If this service is stopped or disabled, presence of NCD devices will not be maintained in PnP. All pnpx based scenarios will stop functioning.

      3. Or

      4. Use the drop down when initially creating ports and select Standard TCP/IP Port. The query first performs WSD, if this fails, goes to SNMP, if this fail, user is prompted to manual port configuration.

      5. You can find the IP in device mananger in the properties of the WSD Print device (Location Information).

      6. You can't delete these port unless you are deleting a printer at the same time so once you switch the existing printer to IP, you will need to create a fake printer to clean up the port.

    • Network Printers Offline (but not really)

    • http://serverfault.com/questions/24052/network-printers-offline-but-not-really

        1. Try restarting the local print spooler service on the workstation in question. (ex: net stop "Print Spooler" && net start "Print Spooler"). See if that has any effect.

        2. Navigate to the driver properties of the printer, on the workstation, select "Advanced", select "Print Processor", try setting "WinPrint" to RAW, or changing to MS_XPS and select RAW.

        3. Check the port on the local workstations that the printer is configured to use, is it valid or did it mysteriously dissapear? (We've seen THAT one before. Man, what a pain!)

        4. It's a long-shot, but see if a local firewall is blocking it. Disable any local firewall/ip filtering and test to see if it works. We've seen this before, but specifically in this situation: We're running Symantec EndPoint on all workstations and in some instances, the local Windows default firewall was showing as enabled and running and doing some funky, funky blocking.

    • How to delete unwanted TCP/IP Printer Ports

    • https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/52f21d72-a039-4f37-92f4-b1c7bf3dfa7f/how-to-delete-unwanted-tcpip-printer-ports?forum=w7itprogeneral

      1. Start regedit.exe and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Currentcontrolset\Control\Print\Monitors\Standard TCP/IP Ports and remove the entire key (folder) with the name of the port you are deleting. You might have to restart the Print Spooler service after deleting that key to see the change go through. As always when working with the registry be careful and to be on the safe side create a System Restore Point before doing the edit.

      1. HP printer ports:

        1. 137 NetBIOS network Basic Input/Output System - (basic communication) UDP: Printing, Photo Card Upload

        2. 138 NetBIOS network Basic Input/Output System - (basic communication) UDP: Photo Card Upload

        3. 139 NetBIOS network Basic Input/Output System - (basic communication) TCP: PhotoCard Upload

        4. 161 SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol - Monitering network attached devices UDP: Printing

        5. 427 SLP Service Location Protocol (finding out what things can do on the network) UDP: Printing, Photo Card Upload, Scanning, Faxing, Installation

        6. 9100 PDL page description language - printer control language (how does the page you want printed look) TCP: Printing

        7. 9220 TCP: Scanning, Faxing

        8. 9500 TCP: Scanning

Win 7: Update Stalled

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-update/windows-7-update-solution/f39a65fa-9d10-42e7-9bc0-7f5096b36d0c?auth=1

    1. Start Windows Update and change the Setting to Never check for updates. Close the Windows Update window. Some members recommend you return the setting to what ever you used before this operation, after you complete Windows Update. IF you do leave the setting at NEVER, Windows Update will no longer be automatic. From this point onwards, you are responsible for starting and installing updates. We recommend you do that a few days following the 2nd Tuesday each month.

    2. Restart your computer.

    3. The process starts by ensuring that there is nothing running that will prevent the update from working properly. Click on the Start globe and type services into the text box. Click on Services in the list that pops up. In the window that then pops up (its alphabetic), find Windows Update. Right-click on it (left-click if your mouse is set for left-handers) and choose Stop.

    4. You are now going to download and install either one or two updates manually. In most cases only the first (KB3172605) of these is needed. If that produces a result that says the update is not appropriate for you computer, you need to first install the 2nd of these (KB3020369), then install the first (KB3172605). Choose the one that is for your machine -- 32 bit (X86) or 64 bit (X64).

Office 2007 Printer Reported "The Active Directory Domain Services Is Currently Unavailable"

The problem: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.periphs.printers/Ve2ndp08s_w

http://www.kapilarya.com/the-active-directory-domain-services-is-currently-unavailable

Solution #1:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

3. Moving on, in the left pane of above shown window, look for the three subkeys to CurrentVersion key; namely Devices, PrinterPorts and Windows. Right click each of them individually and select Permissions to get this window:

4. Now in the above shown window, firstly select the user account under Group or user names label, with which you’re facing the problem. Then provide a Full Control under Permissions label by putting a check mark against Allow. You can do this for all entry listed under Group or user names section. Click Apply followed by OK.

Solution #2:

Close Office components and open Notepad, click File -> Print or press Ctrl+P key combination.

In the following Print window, you have to click Find Printer.

Now follow the on-screen instructions and in this way printer is added to the system. Most probably it should now be visible to Office components as well.

Win 8: Metro apps crash on startup, driver or permissions issue?

http://superuser.com/questions/432859/metro-apps-crash-on-startup-driver-or-permissions-issue

The only permissions that 'ALL_APPLICATION_PACKAGES' needs in order for all Metro/Modern apps to work are:

    1. File - %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat - Read & Execute, Read - (You'll need to uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files' in Folder Options to see the Temporary Internet Files folder)

(if you cannot find in the above location try %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\counters.dat)

    1. Folder - %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\WER - Special: List folder/read data, Create folders/append data

(if you cannot find in the above location try %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER)

Add the All_Application_Packages userID to this folder:

d:\Users\Brent\AppData\Local\Packages

My ultimate resolution was to delete the SRUDB.DAT file and let windows recreate it.

My problems went away entirely after this was performed.

Win 8: App: Modern: Apps fail to start if default registry or file permissions modified

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2798317/en-us

Fixing file system permissions that have been changed manually

    1. Open File Explorer

    2. Browse to "c:\Program Files "

    3. Right click and select properties

    4. Select the "Security" tab

    5. Click the "Advanced" button

    6. Click the "Change permissions" button

    7. Click the Add button

    8. Click "Select a principal" link

    9. Click the locations button and select the local computer

    10. Add the All Applications Packages group name and click ok

    11. Make sure that Type = allow and Applies to = This folder, subfolder and files.

    12. Check Read & Execute, List folder contents and Read.

    13. Check the box Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permission entries from this object

    14. Click Apply and OK.

    15. Repeat for c:\Windows

    16. Repeat for c:\Users but grant the "All Application Packages" group Full Control.

    17. Click Apply and Ok.

Metro apps crashed on startup ...

Source: http://superuser.com/questions/432859/metro-apps-crash-on-startup-driver-or-permissions-issue

    • Add the All_Application_Packages userID to this folder:

    • d:\Users\Brent\AppData\Local\Packages

    • And give it ALL but FULL control, which is read, list, create, write, etc. This is the trick that made all my Apps come back.

    • Do not add this userID to your C:\ or Windowy folders, as you are just asking for trouble from giving any app you download unrestricted access to your PC's contents.

Change Metro Apps Default Installation Location in Win 8

Source: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-change-metro-apps-default-installation-location-in-windows-8/

Reset Cache for Windows 8 App Store

Source: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/reset-windows-store-cache