Windows 10: Duplicate Bluetooth Port

I am running Windows 10 Pro x64 on an HP laptop. I recently had to re-install windows.

I've re-installed my HP printer via USB cable and this is working. However I normally use a bluetooth connection and at present I can't get that to work.

I added bluetooth for the printer (it worked perfectly well before re-installing Windows) but its set up keeps going wrong in various ways depending on which "add printer" route I use.

At present I have two duplicate entries, but different types, in the printer property's list of ports;

BTH001 virtual........ Printer X

BTH001 local Printer X

As I remember the virtual one is correct, but I can't delete the local port - even having stopped printer spooling, it just keeps saying it's in use (no idea for what, I'm not using it).

How can I get rid of this BTH001 type=local port because I think it is causing problems resulting in installation of the bluetooth printer function not working properly?

:)

 

Bluetooth coms fail with duplicate com3 port

I have an electrical instrument that sends its data via Bluetooth to my laptop via an app supplied by the instrument manufacturer. The connection is flaky at best at the moment (ie a connection followed by a successful data download is rare). And I don't
know how to interrogate the system to confirm which part has failed. I'm not sure if its Windows, the app or the instrument BT adapter, and worst, I haven't been able to duplicate the procedure when it works.

I have no systems knowledge of Bluetooth but I want to see if someone can explain its behaviour when the communications fail.

The pc initiates the connection.

I noticed the app showing duplicate com3 ports that I don’t think should exist.





And there may only be one com3 port in Bluetooth Settings (as shown here)...





Many of the extra ports will show this message if I select them and ask the app to connect.





The com ports displayed by the app, including the duplicates, are listed in the registry here-

(1) Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM

There are no duplicates in

(2) Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Ports

If I delete a port here it reappears after a restart.

Is it normal to have duplicate com3 ports ?

What creates the duplicate ports?

How are there duplicate ports in the registry but only one in Bluetooth Settings?

Does any of the above indicate a failure of some sort in either Windows, the app, or the instrument BT adapter?

 

Bluetooth coms fail with duplicate com3 port

After further testing it would appear that if I create an incoming At Serial port manually then the instrument will connect and transfer data, which is a significant improvement.

However the process is not straight forward -:

Start app & Check ports => 1x com3

Open settings => bluetooth and other devices.

Pair instrument

check "Bluetooth settings" > com ports (Com3 & Com4)

Check ports in app: 2xcom3 and 1x com4

Try to connect from app=> none of ports will connect

go to "Bluetooth settings" & delete all com ports (1xcom3 and 1x com4)

Create incoming port => creates 1x com3 incoming serial.

Goto app => displays 2xcom3

App connects using first com3

I will try to streamline this.

The pairing process clearly does not create com ports that work. But why should a manually-created port work?

 

Well honestly I wouldn't continue in that direction if I were you . Lately though Microsoft had been pushing on us all sorts of faulty drivers via windows update , I had similar problem sending out files via Bluetooth to a phone only to find windows updated my Bluetooth driver , this was only fixed by re-installing manufacturer's Wifi driver followed by Bluetooth one as recommended by manufacturer. I suggest you just do the same .

 

I am using correct HP drivers.

EDIT

I shut everything down even applications that don't ever use printers. Then went back to printer properties -> ports and was able to delete the duplicate port.

Completely re-installed the printer.

Thanks for the help.

I still can't get bluetooth connection to print to printer, gives print error on laptop, but none on actual printer. It's possible the bluetooth isn't connected so investigating.