HP Printer Assistant

[RTA3]

to:  Dragon-Fur  in your preparation section you say be sure devices and printers are clear of the printername.  Chat support helped me with software install issues, but did not check D & P.  I have 3 printer names listed on my machine.  How do i solve this on my  HP OfficeJet Pro 9018e.

[Dragon-Fur · Accepted solution]

@RTA3 

Welcome back to the HP Community Forum.

What is (or should be) removed from Devices and Printers depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

When things are working as expected, there might be more than one edition of the printer listed in Devices and Printers.

General Example - For each Printer >> One entry for "Fax" and One entry for "Printing Device"

Devices_and_Printers_List_4

Not shown in the example,

It is possible that a legacy version of the Print and Scan Doctor added a separate "Do not delete" Scan queue.

This is generally not a bad thing, though it might be considered odd if you do not recognize the reason for the additional device.

What else?

If a previous installation / uninstall / reinstall of the printer software left pieces of software in the File System, subsequent attempts to install the full driver printer software might fail, balk, stall.

Example of the "Check and Remove Section"

These checks are sometimes added after the initial Uninstall of the driver to make sure "all the bits" have been removed.

In some cases, a solution might consist of removing the main printer from Devices and Printers > (then using) Add a Printer to add back in a queue / previously installed driver.

Start Check and Remove Section

Reminders

• After all checks > If any changes are made > Restart the computer and log in
• Can't stand it?  Do the first one and ignore the others - see how it goes

Check / Remove - Printer Drivers – Lurking in Devices and Printers

Control Panel > icon view > Devices and Printers

Left-Click on any unwanted Printer found in the Printers list

(Top Ribbon) Click Print Server Properties > tab Drivers

Select each unwanted entry > Remove > OK to exit menu

Back in Devices and Printers > Right-Click on the printer > Remove Device

Check / Remove – Printer folder/files in C:\ ProgramData

Open File Explorer > Navigate to C:\ProgramData > Open folder Hewlett Packard

Delete any Printer related folders / files

Check / Remove - Printer Software – Lurking in the Device Manager

Control Panel > icon view > Device Manager

Expand category Printers

If any unwanted printer name or “Unknown Device” is listed,

Right-Click on the printer / device > Uninstall

Expand category Imaging Devices

If any unwanted printer name or “Unknown Device” is listed,

Right-Click on the printer / device > Uninstall

Check / Remove  - Printer Software – Lurking in the User Account

Clear HP / files in Temp folder

Windows key + X + R (Run command) > type %temp%

Delete the files in the Temp folder (Ignore files that cannot be removed)

Open File Explorer > Navigate to C:\Users\YourAccount\AppData\Local\HP

Remove / Delete any folder named for the printer you wish to remove

Manual Queue Reset

Optional – Add this procedure only if there are continuing issues…

Windows 10 / Windows 11

Windows Start > Search for “Services”

Optionally Right-Click and Pin to Start / Taskbar > Open Services App

Windows 10

Control Panel > icon view > Administrative Tools > Services

Next,

Scroll down, find, Right-Click, and Stop Print Spooler Service

Open File Explorer (formally Windows Explorer)

Navigate to the folder and Delete any files found in folder C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

Start Print Spooler Service

End Check and Remove Section

After all checks are completed > Restart the computer and log in

======================================================

HP Printer Home Page - References and Resources – Learn about your Printer  - Solve Problems

 “Things that are your printer”

When the website support page opens, Select (as available) a Category > Topic > Subtopic

NOTE:  Content depends on device type and Operating System

Categories:  Alerts, Access to the Print and Scan Doctor (Windows), Warranty Check, HP Drivers / Software / Firmware Updates, How-to Videos, Bulletins/Notices, Lots of How-to Documents, Troubleshooting, Manuals > User Guides, Product Information (Specifications), Supplies, and more

Open

Product Home

Enter the device type and model name of your HP device

Thank you for participating in the HP Community.

Our Community is comprised of volunteers - people who own and use HP devices.

Click Helpful = Yes to say Thank You

Question / Concern Answered, Click "Accept as Solution"

[RTA3]

@Dragon-Fur

Thank you for your rapid and very thorough reply.

I hope it is OK to ask some additional questions.

1.  One of your remarks fits me exactly:  'It is possible that a legacy version of the Print and Scan Doctor added a separate "Do not delete" Scan queue.'

What has me concerned about this scan queue is that when i click Start\HP OfficeJet Pro 9010 Series, the Launched Window Title reads "Scan Only –aHPNANNNN (HP OfficeJet Pro 9010 Series)-DO NOT DELETE : HP Printer Assistant".  Would this be considered normal/expected?

2.  Also, for the added scan queue, Device Manager\Imaging Devices\Properties\Driver shows Microsoft drivers dated 06/21/2006, driver version 10.0.19041.1806.  This seemed curious to me.

3.  I have a second Imaging Device, MyPrinterName (NET) that uses HP drivers dated year 2021.

4.  In addition, your Check / Remove steps led me to find a few old files from my previous OJ Pro 6970 series AIO which is removed from my system.

[Dragon-Fur]

@RTA3 

You are welcome.

The "Do not Delete" scan queue is normal in that the  (Doctor) software that added the queue did so to correct a some kind of fault or condition, possibly a connection error.  Yeah, that sounds vague.   

All else equal, that is, you can get the setup to work without the extra queue setup, then sure - the "Do not Delete" queue can, in fact, be deleted.  It is, however, benign (it won't normally interfere with other queues) and can be left in place in case you need to use it with HP Scan.

I am a fan of two things:

Neat and Clean

Whatever Works

The two are not always the same thing.

Thank you for participating in the HP Community.

Our Community is comprised of volunteers - people who own and use HP devices.

Click Helpful = Yes to say Thank You

Question / Concern Answered, Click "Accept as Solution"