[Solved] Networked printer not available to some PCs

[joddle]

I have a small network at home with three desktop pcs and also four laptops all sharing the same system.
On one of the PCs I have a LaserJet printer connected to the USB and in the past I was able to connect any my family's devices to the shared printer but recently some things do not work as they should.

The printer hangs off a Dell PC running W10 64 bit and is connected to my network via a lan cable.
I have also connected to the same printer from another W10 PC and from my laptop via wifi without issues.

Recently three family members bought new laptops but these all refuse to connect to the same printer despite being able to "see" it.
Each machine is correctly connected to the network and each can see and read files from the other network machines where sharing is allowed so its is not a simple connectivity issue.

When attempting install the networked printer on one of the other machines, everything appears to work fine to to start with - Add printer - select network address etc, the printer then shows up just as expected and I get the pop up saying that the driver is being sought from the host machine - but at that stage it stalls with an error message saying it cannot connect to the printer!!! - yet the same machine can see the printer on the network. Even trying to connect to it using the printer icon results in the same error message!

The only things different with the new machines is they all run W10 Home in Spanish whereas the host machine and the other desktop runs W10 PRO with an English OS - BUT in the past the older laptops connected just fine even though also running W10 Home in Spanish!

I have checked that the network settings for all the machines are the same to allow file and printer sharing and everything else runs fine - just not the add printer option.!!!

Can anyone point me to the cause of this issue? It seems utterly bizarre...

 

[joddle]

 

[joddle]

The images above show what I am getting and its only at the last stage it fails

 

[KenB]

I am not into "networks" I am afraid.
I hope somebody who is comes along and gives you the pointers you need.

 

[joddle]

I think I have ruled out the possibility of and language issue in the OS as I have now done a clean install of a UK version of W10 home on one of the laptops yet it still won't connect to the printer. I can "see" the printer from the laptop and all the shared items from other PCs on my network - but every time I try and install the printer it fails at exactly the same point every time although now the messages are in English not Spanish - and this is where is it looking for the controller on the host PC - it never stop looking. (middle pic above where it is looking with the green progress line but that never finishes!) Its really odd as in the same room connected to the same network with the same router is another PC which instantly connected just fine!

 

[AWS]

Have you made sure that you have printer sharing enabled? It could have been shutoff with an update. The printer will be seen on the network, but, won't be accessible if sharing isn't enabled.

Also check to make sure, in the printer settings, that wireless is enabled. I am sure it is since the computers can see it. Doesn't hurt to check.

 

[AWS]

What version of Windows 10 are you using? Turns out this problem was caused by a bug in an update to Windows. Microsoft says the fix will be in the next major update in December.

From what I can gather you need to uninstall the printer. Re-install it using the drivers downloaded to the computer instead of trying to download them off the printer.

You can also uninstall the Windows update that caused the problem. The problem update is KB5006670.

 

[joddle]

Have you made sure that you have printer sharing enabled? It could have been shutoff with an update. The printer will be seen on the network, but, won't be accessible if sharing isn't enabled.

Also check to make sure, in the printer settings, that wireless is enabled. I am sure it is since the computers can see it. Doesn't hurt to check.

Thanks for your reply - The printer is accessible by other PCs and works fine when accessed from those machines - but they all run W10 Pro! whereas the problem PCs all run W10 Home. so wondered if that was the issue! Wireless does not seem to be an issue either as all the pcs have been connected by ethernet to do the printer installs yet it still fails.

 

[joddle]

What version of Windows 10 are you using? Turns out this problem was caused by a bug in an update to Windows. Microsoft says the fix will be in the next major update in December.

From what I can gather you need to uninstall the printer. Re-install it using the drivers downloaded to the computer instead of trying to download them off the printer.

You can also uninstall the Windows update that caused the problem. The problem update is KB5006670.

Thanks again for the info. The printer does not seem to have any drivers installed as it is an older model and the drivers came from an HP disk. Alas I cannot see an update KB5006670 the affected machines as the one I am testing on is a brand new install of the OS and yet still fails! Maybe I will have to wait for the update... I have tried reinstalling the printer on the host machine and also from the satellite machines but the same issue happens - but now of course in English not Spanish!

 

[AWS]

If you tell me the version number of Windows 10 your using I can see if there is a fix.

 

[joddle]

Hi and thanks for your offer to help

The machine with the printer hanging off it on a usb port is running W10 pro. (see first pic), and the problematic laptop running w10 Home (see second pic)

 

[joddle]

Have tried to uninstall update KB5006670 but although it appears to have been installed OK



is does not appear on the uninstall list!

 

[AWS]

This registry edit should fix the problem. Apply it on both computers. This is specific to the version of Windows you're running.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides]
"713073804"=dword:00000000

Copy the above, paste it into notepad and save it to desktop as printer-fix.reg. Right click the file and select merge.

 

[joddle]

Thanks for the suggestion but I get this when I try to merge.
Also when I look at the registry there are no subs sections to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies

 

[AWS]

This will set the policy. You probably saved the file as text instead of using all files option.

Use the file I attached.

 

[joddle]

This will set the policy. You probably saved the file as text instead of using all files option.

Use the file I attached.

That worked perfectly - the printer connected no problem at all now. That's so great so many many thanks. There is no way I could have done that without your help and nothing else on the web seemed to fit the bill either. Is this something MS will fix sometime soon?

 

[AWS]

Glad I could help. Microsoft will roll out the fix in the December update. Why they wait so long to fix issues like this is beyond me.