Updated for MS Windows 10 – How To ‘Really’ Remove Unused Print Drivers From Your Windows XP/7/8/10 PC or Tablet
Updated on August 18, 2015 for the Windows 10 Operating System
One of the perils of being an evaluator of office-imaging solutions is that, gradually, your PC becomes bogged down with the detritus of software that is left over from previous evaluations. The question is, at what point does this detritus downgrade the performance of your test PC enough so that it affects the performance of the product that you’re trying to review?
There are several ways around this. You can use virtual PCs, which is great if you have the time and resources. You can use a “mule” PC that is dedicated to evaluations and nothing else. You can set system restore points, and restore your system to the point that it was before you began the evaluation. Unfortunately, the aforementioned solutions require that you have spare time and spare PCs, something that I have found to be an absolute luxury throughout my career. Nine times out of 10, I’ve found that you’re resigned to the fact that you have to run tests and write reports as quickly as possible using the same PC. Under these conditions, you become quite good at maintaining the performance of said PC through persistent and diligent maintenance.
Sure, you can uninstall all of the software when you have finished evaluating it. Afterwards, you can edit your program menu to get rid of unnecessary Startup items. You can delete orphan folders from your “Program Files” folder. You can scan/edit/clean the Microsoft Windows registry. Nevertheless, that’s not quite good enough and there eventually comes a time when you have to go the extra mile to really remove unneeded software from your system so that it doesn’t degrade your PC’s performance when used as a test unit (or as a word processor for that matter).
One of the biggest offenders is print drivers, which most cleanup programs are loathe to touch. You may be thinking “Print drivers—how can they affect my PC’s performance” Let me count the ways. I have seen PCs with so many print drivers installed on them that evaluators (not me of course) make mistakes during the evaluation process and waste time and prints sending jobs to wrong or non-existent printers. I’ve seen PCs with print jobs lined up in print queues for non-existent or non-connected printers. I’ve spent many hours (days?) cleaning up bosses’ and/or road warrior PCs that have so many print drivers installed on them that they cannot print once they return to the office. I’ve had instances where the existence of an older PostScript print driver has compromised exhaustive testing by corrupting the performance of a newer PostScript printer.
So what’s the big deal? Can’t I simply go into the Printer Folder and delete the offending printer? The answer is “Yes you can.” However, this method only removes the printer icon from your Printer Folder (XP)/Devices and Printers (Windows 7 and 8)–it doesn’t actually remove the print driver software from your system, which eventually leads to PC performance issues.
First Things First
If you have just bought a new printer/AiO/MFP and are ready to install it, you should make sure that unistall any printers/AiOs/MFPs that you no longer wish to use. Locate the software installed during the initial printer/AiO/MFP installation program and look for and select the uninstall icon. If you cannot locate an uninstall icon, you must go into the Control Panel and use Add or Remove Programs (XP) or Programs/Uninstall a program (Windows 7 and 8) in order to uninstall the software suite. Following these steps usually does the trick and removes all of the software, including the print drivers. You will also find that uninstalling any unused software suites can provide a noticeable boost to performance. This is especially true with AiOs and MFPs.
Now, double check whether the printer is removed from the Printer/Devices and Printers folder. If it is not, follow the steps below. We also recommend that even if the icon has been removed, you should double check to see if the actual printer software has truly been removed using the “Print Server Properties” methodologies described below.
Is it the same process with Windows Vista?
Yes. In this regards, Windows 7 is almost identical to Vista.
1) check for printer uninstall in the program menu.
2) check for printer software in add/remove programs.
3) delete the printer in “devices and printers.”
4) in spite of your success in steps 1-3, always check “print server properties” in “devices and printers” and remove any leftover drivers if necessary.
Hope this helps.
I did all that but it won’t let me delete the drivers (there are 5 copies) saying the are in use. I have 8.1 and get to the point of hitting remove and it won’t let me.
Sometimes printers share driver components. I have encountered several Epson and HP printers where the drivers cannot be removed because they are “in use.” You also cannot remove drivers that may have jobs left in the print queue. If the printers still show up in devices and printers, right click them and select “see what’s printing.” The queue will open up and then you can delete the print jobs. If you have already uninstalled the printers and they do not show up in devices and printer, use method two in this tutorial https://www.maketecheasier.com/clear-the-printer-queue-windows-8/. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Thank you for this very detailed and helpful article. At least I got rid of two out of three before running into one I couldn’t remove.
We are gratified that you found it useful.
Sometimes when you can’t remove a print driver it is still connected a port that is no longer in use. Go to the ports tab in printer properties and scroll down the list. If you see the printer listed, uncheck the box next to it. Restart the PC and then try removing the print driver as described.
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Thank you Sir for your great help
I have installed old printer drivers like hp1320 in windows 7 using driver injection by pnputil.exe and put them as oem
for example when i plug hp 2055 , windows 7 add it automatically using the built in driver pcl 5 which really makes problems
now microsoft has released pcl 6 for hp 2055 and i do not have the chance to replace the old built in driver with the new one
even if i tried to assign the new deriver windows 7 will choose the old one
Did our tips make any difference and “really” remove the old print driver(s)?
I would stick with the older HP 2055 driver instead of the MS one if it works properly.
If you are still having problems, I read that the “Kyocera Deleter” works for HP printer.
http://www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.eu/index/service/dlc.html?initial=false&search=any&searchTerm=deleter&categ
I do not know if this is proper, but I would like to pose a different -but relative- question. My system once in a while tries to install additional drivers for printers I do not use. And it always fails. But it leaves question marks on the Device Manager list (other devices). At the same time on the Devices section of the Devices and Printers window, my pc is marked with a question mark and needs “Trobleshooting”. When I start the process it attempts again to install addition drivers. Why does this happen? What can I do to stop that? Thanks in advance.
Johnnie,
Do these printers that try to install themselves physically exist on your network? Do they show up on the bottom of devices and printers windows as “WSD” devices? If so, simply right-click them and select “remove.”
If they do not show up as WSD devices, you can try uninstalling them from device manager in the control panel. If the offending device shows up on the list, right click it, select the “drivers” tab, then click “uninstall.”
If neither of these are the case, have you “really” removed your print drivers per this post?