PDF's printed in gibberish

[CrankyBeach]

My brand-new Windows 10 laptop does not include Adobe PDF in its printer list under devices and printers. Is there some other place where I can tell it to include document fonts and not rely on system fonts only? If not... how do I get Adobe PDF included as a printer so I can check its settings? Thanks.

Edited to add: My printer is the OfficeJet Pro 8620, and I too get stuck in an endless loop on step 1 of the HP Print and Scan Doctor. I have checked for updates to the Acrobat Reader, and I am assured that the software is up to date. I do NOT have Adobe Acrobat itself; only the reader.

I should also add that I am attempting to print the PDFs in question from the Windows 10 laptop, over my network, and I get gibberish in place of one or more of the fonts in the PDFs. One specific example of gibberish printing is an eBay shipping label, generated by eBay and delivered to me as a PDF. When I try to print the exact same PDFs, from the exact same sources, by hooking up the old Windows 7 laptop to the same printer using a USB cable, they print perfectly well with no gibberish. I have not tried connecting the Windows 10 laptop directly to the printer via USB to see what happens.

[Riddle_Decipher · Accepted solution]

@CrankyBeach Since the printer works fine with the Windows 7 device and yet doesn't seem to work on Windows 10, this could be a driver issue and I suggest you perform a clean installation of the same to resolve the issue, here are the steps to get it done:

• Press "Windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window.
• Type "services.msc" to get Services - Go to "Print spooler" - Right-click and "Stop" the service.
• Now again open "Run" - Type "spool" and ok - Go to PRINTERS folder - delete everything in that folder.
• Go to services again - Start the print spooler.
• Now check for issue resolution.
  • If the issue persists, unplug the USB cable from the printer (if present). 
• Go to Control panel - Programs and feature - Select all the HP printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel - Devices and printer - Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" (There is a space between .exe & /) and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to the Run window, type - "c:/programdata" - Go to the Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.
• Restart your computer.

Then, use this link to access the HP website, find the drivers compatible with your windows and install it: Click here

If the issue persists, please try using the HP Smart App: Click here for instructions.

P.S: Welcome to HP Forums! 😉

Let me know how that pans out,

If you feel I was helpful, simply click on Accept as Solution to help the community grow,

That said, I will have someone follow-up on this to ensure you've been helped,

Just in case you don't get back to us within 24 - 48hrs, and have a good day, ahead.

[CrankyBeach]

I followed the instructions given as far as stopping and restarting the print spooler. I was not able to open the /spool/printers folder, so I right-clicked on it to see its properties, which included the fact that it contained 0 files and 0 bytes. Then I restarted the print spooler, crossed my fingers and attempted to print an eBay shipping label. It took several minutes for it to actually print, but it finally did, and it printed correctly.

I am saving a copy of this thread in case it happens again, but for now (crossing my fingers again) the issue seems to have resolved....

[Riddle_Decipher]

@CrankyBeach Thank you for the update,

I appreciate your time and efforts, 

I'm glad I could contribute to identifying and leading you towards the solution.

Thanks for honoring us by accepting our post as the solution, as it helps the community grow.

You can always click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos,

Take care and have an awesome week ahead.