Tag: printer

  • Manually Uninstall a Printer Driver

    How to manually remove a printer driver in the Windows operating system.

    Standard method for removing printer driver

    • Look in Programs and Features and uninstall any program that correlates to the printer driver to be removed.
    • Open Devices and Printers and if still present, remove the printer driver by right-clicking it and choosing “Remove device.”

    To completely remove printer driver

    • Open the Print Server Properties dialog window by doing one of the following:
      • Click the Start menu and in the search field type printui /s /t2 and then press Enter or click it in the search list.
      • Press WINDOWS-R on the keyboard to bring up the Run window, type in printui /s /t2 and then press Enter or click OK.
      • Press the WINDOWS key on the keyboard to display the Start screen, type in printui /s /t2 and then click it in the search list.
      • From the Start menu or the Start screen:
        • Open Devices and Printers.
        • Select any printer and then click “Print server properties” at the top of the window.
        • Click on the Drivers tab.
    • Select the printer driver to uninstall.
    • Click the Remove button.
    • Select “Remove driver and driver package” and click OK.

    Removing the driver package will clear all driver installation files for that device, leaving no reference to the printer that Windows could possibly use to auto-reinstall again.

  • Clear and Reset the Windows Print Spooler

    The print spooler is a file that manages the printing process. To clear and reset the print spooler:

    • In the search box on the taskbar, type services, and then select Services in the list of results.
    • Select the Standards tab, and then double-click Print Spooler in the list of services.
    • Select Stop, and then select OK.
    • In the search box on the taskbar, enter %WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers, select %WINDIR%\system32\spool\PRINTERS in the list of results, and then delete all files in the folder.
    • In the search box on the taskbar, search for services, and then select Services in the list of results.
    • Select the Standards tab, and the double-click Print Spooler in the list of services.
    • Select Start, select Automatic in the Startup Type box, and then select OK.