why are there two drivers for my printer in the device manager?

[tmckeon5115]

Product: HP Photosmart Premium C410 printer All-In-One

I've had several instances where I've had to reinstall the printer software. Several times in the past few months, for no reason I can attribute it to when I attempt to print  I get an error message that the printer software is not installed.  I followed the instructions carefully for reinstalling the printer and use the printer installation wizard I downloaded from HP. After deleting the printer from the Devices and Printers menu and installing the printer again I end up with 2 copies of the Photosmart Prem C410 series driver.  Although the printer seems to work ok, the Lenovo Thinkvantage Toolbox keeps giving an error that the printer driver is disabled and asks if I want to enable it.  When I check the drivers in the Device Manager. Both copies say they are working normally and all the information is the same i.e: Driver date, version, details, etc...

I would disable or delete one driver but have no idea which one.

[Simple1234]

Did one of them ending with "Fax"? They do different things. One let you do normal print, the other let you "print" a document as a fax.

[tmckeon5115]

The Driver names are identical. "Photosmart Prem C410 Series". I'm unable to find printer or fax anywhere in the description. Both drivers are enabled. I've looked at every property value in the details tab and have found 3 properties that differ. First Install Date, (Driver 1): 5/26/2013 10:12:27 AM First Install Date, (Driver 2): 7/9/2013 6:49:25 AM Driver Key, (Driver 1): {6bdd1fc6-810f-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}\0001 Driver Key, (Driver 2) {6bdd1fc6-810f-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}\0002 Physical Device Object Name (Driver 1): \Device\0000000a Physical Device Object Name (Driver 2) \Device\00000009 If they are both required and enabled why would the error [Disabled device: "Photosmart Prem C410 series" Enable device] keep recurring?

[Simple1234 · Accepted solution]

That's windows device manager, that means some how windows think you had two different instances of the same printer, this might be due to the multiple installation tries, or have you had the unit replaced/repaired? or possibly you changed the connection method (LAN/wifi/usb)? I would just remove these instances, and then uninstall the drivers (if they still show up in uninstall) and then download and install the hp full driver.

[tmckeon5115]

I've deleted the driver with the oldest installation date and its associated files.  After restart I tried to print, fax and scan with the HP application and so far everything seems to be working as it should.  Hopefully there won't be any need to install the software again.

[K-a-S]

I have more than 50 instances for my printer in Device Manger and I can't uninstall any of them as Acess Denied. Any advice gratefully received.