Windows 10: Windows keeps changing and disabling my printer

I have Windows 10 Pro. I use the more classic form of the interface. For the past couple of weeks I have had issues with printing on my HP 8720.

First, I found that a Laserjet had been installed and the job had been being directed to that. There is no Laserjet and I had not visited any device settings. I cleared the print queue. I marked the 8720 as the default printer and again the job did not print, although it had been directed to the 8720. I cleared the print queue again and ran the HP Print and Scan Doctor. My document printed. The default printer remained as the 8720 and I deleted the Laserjet.

However, whenever I restart Word, and sometimes when I just want to print again, at least half of the time it does not print and again I find the document in the print queue, clear it, run the print and scan doctor, and get one or two more jobs printed and the issue recurs. (Print and scan doctor reports each time that it found and fixed issues.) This is getting old. What should I do?

One more question. Due to my constant need to clear the print queue, I looked for a way to put a print queue icon on the desktop, as I have done in Vista and Windows 7. The closest I could find was to put an icon for Devices and Printers. I think I can also put an icon for the printer, but I don't want to have all of the printer options, just the queue. (I am used to not having the risk of deleting the printer instead of just a print job!) Can I just put an icon for the print queue and save some clicks?

Thank you!

:)

 

Default Printer keeps changing in Windows 10

Hi John,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that the default Printer keeps changing after you restart the computer.

1. Did this issue started recently? If yes, then what are the recent changes that you have made to the computer prior to this issue?
   

Method 1:

I suggest you to try turning off “let Windows manage your default printer” and check if you are still facing the issue. To do so follow the steps below:

Open Start and select Settings
> Devices > Printers & scanners. Turn off
Let Windows manage my default printer.





If you still have issues, please follow the suggestion in method 2.

Method 2:


Registry disclaimer: Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the
registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Please take a backup of the registry. Follow the steps given in the link below:

How to back up and restore
the registry in Windows

• Open the
  Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key and the R key together.
  
• Type
  Regedit and hit the Enter key.
  
• When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following location:
  

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows

• In the right pane, right click on
  “LegacyDefaultPrinterMode” and click modify to change the value of
  LegacyDefaultPrinterMode from the default 0 to 1.
  
• Restart your computer.
  
• Try setting you default printer again.
  

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Zaki

 

Print to PDF missing in Printer List

Hi William,

We suggest that you disable and re-enable the Print to PDF feature. Here are the steps:

• Click on the Start menu and type in Windows Features.
• Choose Turn Windows features on or off.
• On the next window, find Microsoft Print to PDF and disable it. Click
  OK to save changes.
• Restart your PC.
• Repeat the same steps to re-enable Microsoft Print to PDF.

If the issue persists, we suggest that you perform the troubleshooting steps suggested on the link below under
Advanced:

Fix printer problems

Regards.

 

Can't change printer preferences in Windows 10

Hi Chris,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft community.

I apologize for the inconvenience caused. We are glad to help you.

• 
  What exactly happens when you try to go into printer driver settings from Control Panel?
  

I suggest you to try the steps given below and check if it helps:

Step 1:

• 
  Type change default printer and hit
  enter.
  
• 
  Check whether you are able to change the preferences and properties from here.
  

Step 2:

• 
  Type printers and scanners and hit
  enter.
  
• 
  Check whether you are able to change the preferences and properties from here.
  

Hope this information helps. Do contact us for further queries. We will be happy to assist you.

Regards,

Jenith