print and scan doctor

[Frank0252]

When I run the Print & Scan Doctor, it shows a printer that I no longer have.  The printer was uninstalled 2 years ago, and there is no remaining software that I'm aware of.  It has an IP address, but I can not find this anywhere in Control Panel to remove the listing in Print & Scan Doctor.  How can this old printer and IP address be removed?

[Drakster]

Hi @Frank0252,

Thank you for reaching out to the HP Support Forums! 

I see that you no longer have the HP Officejet 8500 Printer installed, however, it still shows up on your computer. I would be happy to help you and please remember to return to this thread and mark 'Accept as Solution', if I have successfully helped you resolve the issue. If you wish to say 'thanks' for my effort to help, click the 'thumbs up' to give me a Kudos.

It sounds like the printer is still listed in Print Server Properties or is listed in Devices and Printers, etc.

I'm assuming by Control Panel you meant, Devices and Printers, correct? 

Please use these steps as a guideline to check to see if the printer is listed in Print Server Properties and the Spool directory.

For Windows® 10

Turn off the printer (in your case ignore this).

Click [Start Menu] - [All Apps] - [Windows System] - [Control Panel] - [Hardware and Sound] - [Devices and Printers].

Choose "HP XX-XXXX", right-click on the icon and then click [Remove device].

If a User Account Control message appears, type in the password, and then click [Yes].

Choose [Fax] or [Microsoft XPS Document Writer] in the [Devices and Printers] window, and then click [Print server properties], which appeared in the menu bar.

Click the [Drivers] tab, and then click [Change Driver Settings].

If a User Account Control message appears, type in the password, and then click [Yes].

Choose "HP XX-XXXX", and then click [Remove...].

Choose [Remove driver and driver package], and then click [OK].

Follow the on-screen instructions.

Close the [Print Server Properties] window. The printer driver has been uninstalled.

Source:  http://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.aspx?c=nz&lang=en&prod=mw260eas&faqid=faqp00001509_000

In addition, if the printer is still listed, try this: 

Check the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32 x 86" folder. ("C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\64" folder in the 64 system), and if there is a folder of the corresponding model, remove it. 

Please respond to this post with the result of your troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck! 🙂

[Frank0252]

I have tried what you indicated without success.  There is no listing for the old printer in the Drivers tab, nor is there any folder in the area you indicated that refers to the old printer.  I checked files in every folder in this section, given some of the folder names don't even have a printer name shown, but there was nothing there.  This old printer only appears in the HP Print and Scan program and I don't see it anywhere else.

[Drakster]

Hi @Frank0252,

Thanks for the reply.

You could uninstall the PSDR, clear the temp folder and reboot the computer.

Use: Disk cleanup in Windows 10: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/disk-cleanup-in-windows-10

Download and install a fresh copy of the PSDR.

Otherwise, I would just ignore that the old printer shows up in the PSDR. If the printer is nowhere to be found on the computer where I asked you to check, there should not be any driver conflicts.

I hope this helps. Please respond if you have any concerns. I hope you have a great day! 🙂

[Frank0252 · Accepted solution]

FYI - as Print and Scan Doctor is not software listed in Control Panel, it can not be uninstalled.  Because of that I did a bit more searching and found the answer.  The culprit is ProgramData/HP/Temp/NetworkDevices/[Personal Information Removed]

This is a configuration setting (text) file that shows the no longer existent printer.  

In my opinion this points out 2 flaws.  First, when the HP 8500 printer was uninstalled, this file should have been removed as well.  As a text file it certainly does no direct harm, except when it comes to Print and Scan Doctor.  This leads to the 2nd issue - HP Print and Scan Doctor is incorrectly looking for this configuration file, rather than an actual device driver, so it reports the HP 8500 printer as existing when it does not exist.  It would seem to me that Print and Scan Doctor should know the difference between a configuration (text) file and a device driver.  Clearly if all that I have is a text file, then there is no such printer.

I've deleted the file and then the printer immediately goes away in Print and Scan Doctor.

[xp576]

I changed printers. The old printer is still showing up in the "HP Print & Scan Doctor" I figured out how to remove it on my laptop (with Windows 10) but can't find the answer on my desktop(with Windowes 8.1)

[xp576]

that works on my laptop with Winows 10. Can't find the right combination to delte this printer on the Print and Scan Doctor on my deskto with Windows 8.1