Printer vanished and won't reinstall

[Paul H]

I am currently running Vista Home Premium x64. I have a HP PSC 1610 and a
Samsung ML-4600 printer, both of which were working ok with vista until
recently. When switching either of the printers on, vista prompted that it
was installing new devices, even through they had been previously installed
and working ok. Each time vista says that it cannot find the drivers and
prompts me to use the drivers that were supplied. I have downloaded the
latest vista compatible drivers from the manufacturers website, but it still
does not recognise the printer and says installation failed. Both printers
have now disappeared from the printers control panel.

Any help would be appreciated

Paul

 

[Alan Morris [MSFT]]

it sounds like the print spooler service is not running.

--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Paul H]

Checked and was working ok. Tried stopping and restarting but printer still
not recognised.

Paul

 

[Alan Morris [MSFT]]

Is the list of printers empty on the manufacture model page? If that's the
case you need to get the system setup files that address this issue.


Call Microsoft for the QFE. There is not a charge for this bug fix.

This will fix the issue when the printer manufacturer model page only
contains a few models. I think another symptom is the USB device will not
automatically install inbox drivers.



Error message when you try to install a new hardware device in Windows
Vista: "Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for
your device"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937187







--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Paul H]

Yeah, the list of printers is empty. I shall give Microsoft a call in the
morning to get the bug fix.

Many Thanks for your help

Paul