Lost all printers after automatic update to Windows 10 version 1803 on HP Pavilion DV7-6187CL

[Ronald_B_Krisko]

I have had a Dell laptop, Alienware laptop, Dell, desktop, and HP Pavilion laptop automatically upgraded to Windows 10 version 1803 from version 1709 recently.  All worked fine other than the HP Pavilion DV7-6187CL laptop running Windows 10 Home, while all of the others are running Windows 10 Pro.  The actual Windows 10 version 1803 upgrade installed correctly on the HP Pavilion laptop, however after the install, literally all previously listed printers disappeared from the available installed list.  I have used Norton Ghost to roll back to the Windows 10 version 1709 several times where all of the printers are listed and working, ran the upgrade to version 1803 again, and all printers disappear after the upgrade only on this laptop.  Some of the printers are built-in printer drivers like Microsoft XPS Document Writer, Microsoft Print to PDF, Send to OneNote 2010, etc., while the others are various different Hewlett Packard networked printers on three different networks while the laptop travels around from place to place.  There are no printers that are physically plugged in to this laptop via USB or any other manner nor have any ever been physically plugged in directly.  After upgrading to Windows 10 version 1803 on this laptop, and all printers disappeared, I tried to use the Add Printer button to add a networked printer again, to only get a Copy 1 version created, because somehow the systems seems to know that it is there even though it cannot be seen or printed to.  I was able to create a Copy 1 of two of the HP network printers, but I was unable to successfully send print test pages to either one so I deleted the Copy 1 of each of them, which again left me with no printers listed at all again and no way to physically print anything from this laptop.

I tried to run the Windows Printers Troubleshooter, and it correctly lists all missing printers to choose from to try to troubleshoot so I selected one of the HP networked printers, and the troubleshooter said that everything was working fine.  I did the same thing for two more printers with the same result from the troubleshooter.  I have checked on the HP site for updated drivers for all of these various HP printers, and each one of them say that Windows 10 has the correct built-in printer drivers so there is nothing available to download and install, since Windows 10 is supposed to have the correct drivers for all of these printers.

Again, all of these printers worked just fine before the upgrade from version 1709 to 1803 when they then simply disappeared from being listed as available to print to.  Any assistance in resolving this issue would be appreciated, because I cannot seem to stop the upgrade to version 1803 and having all of the printers disappear.  I hope that I was able to describe in detail what happened, what steps that I took to resolve it, and what issues still persist.  Maybe somebody else has run into this same issue and was able to determine a resolution to this issue.

Here is a screen shot of all of the printers listed on this laptop in version 1709 before the automatic upgrade to version 1803, when they all disappear.

[greenturtle]

Hi

Thanks for using the HP Forums.

Can you try this:

* *Note that if there are other printers installed, these will need to be reinstalled after this.

Step 1. Uninstall the HP Software from your PC.

Please follow the steps provided to uninstall the printer software in the link: Uninstalling the Printer Software (Windows)
https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c02259020

Also, please follow the steps provided below to completely remove the printer software from printer properties.
Steps to remove printer driver files from Print Server Properties:

Step 2. 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' (without the quotes), 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' (without the quotes), and then press Enter or click OK. Remove or delete all HP references.
• 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. Delete the HP drivers
•
Step 3. Backup your registry before making any registry changes, the following resource will show you how:
https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c03485724

Step 4. Update the registry using the Reg file below
Note: this will change some printer related policies for your PC):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/avbv56zdgwv7600/kernel.reg?dl=1

Step 5. Right click the Start menu and select Run.
Type Services.msc and press OK.
Locate and stop the Print Spooler service

Step 6. Browse to c:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers.
Rename W32X86 to W32x86.old
Rename x64 to x64.old
Note: if any of these folders fail to rename reboot your PC and then Continue following the steps starting from Step 4.

Step 7. Restart PC.

Step 8. Finally, reinstall the HP Software.

Hope that helps!

[Hoser88]

GreenTurtle:

thank you for posting the very complete instructions for "clean" uninstall of an HP printer.

I have needed that info in the past and not been able to find it.

With regards to the original question, the same thing just happened to me after installing 1903 win10 update,

but I only lost SOME of my HP printers not all of them....

I realize this issue is likely Microsoft's fault, but do you have any insight into what the heck is going on?

thanks,

Jim

[greenturtle]

Hi @Hoser88 

Thanks for using the HP Support Community.

It's anybody's guess when an update is done.

HP doesn't change the drivers (unless there a new updated one), so we have seen (unfortunately) cases where things break.

Hope your issue is resolved now.

Thanks.

[Hoser88]

Alas ... no my problem is still unresolved....

I am just trying to print a few documents from a friends house where I'll be staying for a week or so...

Last time I was here it all worked as expected, now nut'n but a lot of wasted time   😞

I appended here:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Software-and-Drivers/HP-8630-not-working-after-Windows-10-Upda...

[greenturtle]

Hi @Hoser88 

Have you tried using HP Smart?  This can be downloaded from the Windows store.

Thanks.

[Hoser88]

Well....

I got a very interesting result.

I have HP Smart installed but ... for whatever reason I don't use it often.

I downloaded the updated version from the MS store

and I can print a report from within HP Smart ....

BUT...

I can not print from any other application...

I tried Firefox, Edge, MS Word, Outlook, Notepad ...

I ran HP Diagnose & Fix and the printer failed ALL of the tests

When I click the "Test Print" button that fails as well.

but then I went back to the reports page... and they still print....

Sigh........

I honestly think this is Microsoft's fault ... something in the 1903 update (which I just installed the other day)

has screwed things up. I was hopeful that KB 4522355 would fix it but no luck there....

and I have NO theory whatever on why the printer objects are gone.

My HP476 office printer is gone and when I get back from traveling ... that will truly suck ....

I cleared the failed print job every time before trying to print from a different application.

[Hoser88]

Well....................

I have figured out a work-around.

I have no idea why/how Microsoft hosed us but I defined a  "STANDARD TCP/IP port" with the IP address of the printer,

then assigned that port to the printer instead of the driver-created WSD-style port.

After that ... life was fine.

Note: I first tried to create an "HP STANDARD TCP/IP port" figuring that would be better,

but the dialog box closed/aborted when I attempted to create it that way.

Giving credit where credit is due I did not create this fix, I found it on Reddit posted by a user named:  /blcfla