Anonymous root level folder

[VicF47]

A few months ago I reinstalled my Office Jet 4650 AIO on my Asus Windows 7 laptop.  All seems to work OK, but I have just noticed that I am running out of space on my hard drive. (It is partitioned with OS on drive C: and data on Drive D:)  On investigation I notice a new root level folder on the system drive simply named "a" created on the same date that I installed the printer drivers.  The folder contains 715 files in 530 folders and occupies nearly 45MB of disk space. Some of the sub folders are named "BrowserMetrics" (this folder contains a *.pma file); CertificateRevocation"; "Crashpad", etc. Many of the folders are empty, but one is named "SafeBrowsing" and includes files with the ".Store" filename extension. There is also a "Last Version" file which in Notepad reports "79.0.3945.79".  I am suspicious that this was created as a tempory folder during installation of HP product (based on creation date).  Can anyone identify the origins of this folder and advise me on whether to remove it.

[TEJ1602 · Accepted solution]

@VicF47, Welcome to HP Support Community!

I recommend you delete the driver and root level and retry, follow the steps below: 

1) In Windows, search for and open Programs and features 

2) Select your HP Printer 

3) Select Uninstall 

4) In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers 

5) In the Devices and Printers windows look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose ‘Delete’ or ‘Remove Device’ 

6) Open up the run command with the “Windows key + R” key combo. 

7) Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe”

😎 Click on the “Drivers” tab 

9) Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom 

10) Select Ok 

11) Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows 

12) Close Devices and Printers.

This will remove all the HP related folders from the computer.

Use this link to download and install the new driver. Configure the printer and try printing.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!