delete printer history on HP print doctor

[docjohnoscar]

When I run HP Print & Scan Doctor on my Vista computer, it shows up multiple instances of my present HP printer as well as instances of a previous HP printer I used. However my Control Panel>>Printers correctly shows only my present printer. How do I delete the surplus  enties from Print & Scan Doctor?

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @docjohnoscar,

Thanks for the post. 

I understand that you are looking to know how to delete the printer history from HP Print and Scan Doctor. 

Not to worry, I will be glad to help. 

Kudos to you for checking the Control panel for the printers listed. 

Are you facing any print quality issues?

To resolve the issue, I request you to uninstall HP Print and Scan Doctor and reinstall it from this link. 

Reinstalling the HP Print and Scan doctor will erase its history and it will not affect the performance or settings of your printer. 

This should resolve the concern you have. 

Let me know if this helped. 

[docjohnoscar]

The reinstall of HPPSdr made no difference. I still get the following entries:

HP psc1200 #2

HP psc1200

HP ENVY 120 series (USB) #2

HP ENVY 120 series

HP ENVY 120 series (NET)

The first two are the defunct printer from last year. The Envy is my present printer. All entries are USB connected except the last one which is "network (192.168.1.6)"

This all came about because my Envy suddenly stopped printing wirelessly, so I hooked it up to a USB cable, which works except that I have to ignore the "unable to communicate" message in Word. So I looked at HPPSdr to try to resolve that issue and discovered the multiple entries above!!

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and trying the procedure suggested. If you are unable to print from Word and as Print and Scan doctor is pulling up older details as well. 

Recommend you follow the procedure mentioned below to uninstall the printer software and settings completely and then install the printer back on your computer. 

Also, uninstall the print and scan doctor before installing the printer back on the printer. 

Uninstall the printer from "programs and features" which can be accessed by doing a right-click on the Windows button (Please have the printer Off and disconnected during uninstallation.)

Check in device manager, if the printer is listed there, please delete it. (Right click on the Windows button to access device manager)

Go to devices and printers, select any printer listed there and you will get some options on the top. 

Click on print server properties. 

You will get a popup, click on the drivers tab and delete all the HP printer drivers listed there, if any.

Delete all the instances of your printer listed in devices and printers.

Restart the PC.

Once the PC is on the desktop, press Win + R, it would bring a Run dialog box, 

Type %temp% in the run box and click Ok or hit the Enter button.

It would bring up the temporary files folder. Delete the files in the folder (You might not be able to delete all the files, ignore them).

If possible, delete the printer from the registries using Regedit or using any other 3rd party application.

Restart the PC again. 

Download the latest full feature driver from www.hp.com/drivers and install it on the computer.

Connect the printer to your computer only when the setup prompts for the printer. 

Let me know if this helped. 

[docjohnoscar]

Thanks for your instructions. I have Vista so it's just "printers" rather than "devices and printers" in my control panel. If I click on the Envy printer, the options do not include "printer server properties". All I get are organise, views, add a printer, delete a printer, set printer properties, see what's printing. The "set printer properties" just does paper layout. Right-clicking on the Envy icon gives me a menu but not print server properties!!

[MKazi]

@docjohnoscar

Hi,

as @Chimney_83 is out of the office today, I'm replying to you. 

Try these steps to remove/uninstall the drivers from the root level. There are chances that the present printer may also get uninstalled. If it does then you can reinstall it.

Whats your existing printer model no?

• In Windows, search for and open Programs and Features.
• Select your HP printer.
• Select Uninstall.
• In Windows, search for and open Devices and Printers.
• In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP Printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose "Delete" or "Remove Device.”
• Open up the run command with the "Windows Key + R" key combo.
• Type printui.exe /s and click OK.
• Click on Drivers tab.
• Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it click on it and click Remove at the bottom.
• Select OK.
• Select Apply and OK on the Print Server Properties windows.
• Close Devices and Printers.

If you existing printer also gets deleted then please download and install the drivers from this link: www.123.hp.com

Hope this helps. Keep me posted. Good luck! 🙂

[docjohnoscar]

With the printer switched off, I got to the printui.exe /s step. Under "drivers", I clicked the HP envy>>remove and got the following message:

Unable to remove HP Envy 120 series X86 Type 3-user mode driver. The specified printer driver is currently in use.

I've already removed the HP Envy entries from Programs & Features, and that removed the printer from Printers. So what next? By the way, where would I find the Printer Server properties?

[docjohnoscar]

Silly me, I hadn't removed the HPPSdr package from the desktop!! I've now removed the driver OK and will reinstall the printer tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks.

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply, please do try to install the printer software and let me know how it goes. Print server properties is available in devices and printers from the control panel. (select any printer in devices and printers and you will see the option for print server properties in devices and printers saying print server properties. 

Keep me posted. 

[docjohnoscar]

I downloaded the software and connected my USB. But still in Word, for instance, when I click on the print icon, I get a message box "Unable to Communicate with Printe, the print job could not be completed because the printer is unavailable or not connected". Then a couple of seconds later, the page prints!