How to make Vista "forget" that a printer was ever installed?

[jyates]

Hi all,

I'm new to Vista and trying to figure something out.

We have a computer with Vista Business installed and I chose a printer on the network and Vista loaded the Vista generated drivers for the printer. The printer prints gobbley ***** and I found out that there is a newer printer driver available.

I went and uninstalled the printer and then added the printer and it didn't ask me for drivers again but rather just used the default Vista drivers. The area about drivers in the printer properties is grayed out so it won't let me "update" the drivers.

I'm assuming that I'm going to have to do something to make the computer "forget" that this particular printer has ever been installed on it so it will allow me to choose what drivers I want instead of using the preloaded vista drivers automatically.

Is there a feature where I can manage drivers so I can uninstall the wrong drivers for once and for all?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[nerp]

What printer is this?

Many printers have 'installer' programs that you run which will force whatever driver you're trying to install. My latest consumer HP LaserJet, for example, has me turn on the printer after I've started the install process. So I'm curious as to what driver package you're downloading.

 

[jyates]

It's a Brother HL-1850 and they have newer drivers on their website for download than the ones that Vista used built in. There isn't an EXE for installation but rather just a file that unzips and you point to the folder you unzip them in order to update the drivers.....thing is that the field is grayed out and it won't let me update the drivers since Vista used the built in one's on the 1st install.....I need to make Vista forget this printer totally and reinstall it and point it to the proper drivers.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: jyates
It's a Brother HL-1850 and they have newer drivers on their website for download than the ones that Vista used built in. There isn't an EXE for installation but rather just a file that unzips and you point to the folder you unzip them in order to update the drivers.....thing is that the field is grayed out and it won't let me update the drivers since Vista used the built in one's on the 1st install.....I need to make Vista forget this printer totally and reinstall it and point it to the proper drivers.

Can't you delete it from Control Panel?( open printer icon then right click on it)...That's what I did with my Canon i865(as well as making sure I uninstalled the drivers via Programs and Features icon.

Make sure you reboot PC after.

 

[jyates]

There is no listing for the printer in the programs and features......since I didn't install any software I didn't think it would be but I looked anyway just now.

You can delete the printer (it's connected to another computer in the network) all day long and reboot all day long but when you go back in printers and install the printer it automatically used the drivers that it first was installed with.....no user control or nothing......it just does it.....the only time it ever asked if you wanted to use your own driver was the first time the printer was installed and at that time I used the drivers embedded with Vista not knowing that Brother had newer drivers that were released a few months ago.

Thanks for the ideals anyway!

 

[Mem]

What about Device Manager?...if you can find it listed in there you should be able to select update driver,might need to change view option to view device by connection.

 

[MrChad]

The full driver and software package has a setup file. Have you tried that?

 

[jyates]

The printer is connected to a computer/server running windows 2000 and I was trying to update the drivers on a Vista Business computer that uses the printer via the network......by running an exe file am I actually going to update the drivers on the machine with vista business on it?

The printer prints the test page fine but when you try to print any thing else it puts out trash.

 

[Quizzer]

Hi all,

I'm new to Vista and trying to figure something out.

We have a computer with Vista Business installed and I chose a printer on the network and Vista loaded the Vista generated drivers for the printer. The printer prints gobbley ***** and I found out that there is a newer printer driver available.

I went and uninstalled the printer and then added the printer and it didn't ask me for drivers again but rather just used the default Vista drivers. The area about drivers in the printer properties is grayed out so it won't let me "update" the drivers.

I'm assuming that I'm going to have to do something to make the computer "forget" that this particular printer has ever been installed on it so it will allow me to choose what drivers I want instead of using the preloaded vista drivers automatically.

Is there a feature where I can manage drivers so I can uninstall the wrong drivers for once and for all?

Thanks,
Jim

Yes: To remove the existed printer driver, and reinstall it. Remove printer ================ 1. Click the "Start" button, type PRINTER in the search box and press Enter. 2. Find the icons which are related to Deskjet 842C, and delete them. 3. Right-click on the blank part of the window, and choose "Run as administrator"->"Server Properties". 4. On the Drivers tab, select the listed printer and click the Remove button. Please then select Remove driver and driver package.(May need to stop the print spooler service , then start the print spooler service before deleting the print driver and package to avoid being told "Failed to remove package xxxxxxx.inf. Access is denied.".) 5. Open Start menu, input APPWIZ.CPL in the Search box and press ENTER to launch "Programs and Features". 6. Try to remove all related printer software. Reinstall the driver. ================== 1. Click the "Start" button, type PRINTER in the search box and press Enter. 2. Right-click on the blank part of the window, and choose "Run as administrator"->"Add a printer". 3. Choose "Add a local printer". 4. Choose "Using an existing port"->"LPT1: (Printer port)". Click "Next". 5. Clickc Windows Update, and wait until the process finishes. 6.In the "Manufacture" list, select "HP", and in the "Printers" list, select "HP Deskjet 840C/841C/842C/843C". Click "Next". 7. Define the printer name, and then continue the installation. 8. Select to whether the printer will be shared or not. 9. Printer a test page.