How to add PnP service. Win11, Surface Pro X

Hi ChristopherCol,

I think you need to re-monitor this blog as there are more and more people having the same problem with the Microsoft windows PnP with ARM - it just does not exist & most printers look for the PnP when trying to install the drivers.

How about Microsoft finds a fix so we can actually resolve the problem and get back to doing our work and not getting annoyed by spending hours trying to fix what Microsoft has decided we do not need.

Come on Please help us get this sorted.

You should be able to run your printers using the generic Microsoft printer driver. You won't get any fancy features, but you'll be able to print.

You just need to go into Settings and select the printer option, select Add device and let the computer discover the printer. Then you can add it and you should be good to go.

Hi Rodrigo,

I wish it were that simple and the generic Microsoft printer drivers functioned properly.

Unfortunately they don't work and the error message is "driver unavailable"

Even HP support tried the Microsoft drivers and got the same error message. And this is on a HP printer that they guaranteed would support Windows 11.

Perhaps this "driver unavailable" error is because the new Microsoft Surface copilot+ 7th edition with Snapdragon ARM 64 bit processor is factory shipped with Windows 11 Home ver 24H2. This 24H2 version seems to be in the "preview stage" as Microsoft calls it.

My Microsoft Surface can't be rolled back to a previous version of windows such as 23H2 because it was factory shipped with a later version. My understanding is that 24H2 is going to be rolled out for general availability very soon.

I am no computer expert, this is just what I have been able to work out so far.

Stu

I was able to add the Plug and Play service manually by copying all registry appearances of Plug and Play or its umunpnpmgr.dll file in the registry from another Windows 11 x64. I got excited for a moment when I saw the service finally appear on the list of services BUT.... it was short lived as I tried to start it and got an error message Windows could not start Plug and Play service on Local computer Error 193: 0xc1

The error means that it cannot find the path to the executable file, but the path is the same as in the x64 computer C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch -p

Anyway, adding the PnP service at least got rid of the initial error message that said it was missing, but now I get others about the INF file not being written for ARM64. I tried running the installation program using the emulation options and compatibility mode and it still does not work. I guess ARM64 is NOT fully compatible with x64 x86 programs so here is my WARNING: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy Windows 11 with ARM64 if you need to run special software or install special drivers as it won't work. If you must, get a computer with x64 Windows 11 system instead.

Hope this is useful

Hi Rodrigo,

Thanks for the really quick reply, I really appreciate it.

I have already tried this method with no success:

• I completely removed any HP printer software or drivers.
• Just to confirm this, I checked the print server properties to make sure they were removed, then allowed Windows to discover the printer again and install it's own drivers.
• Absolutely no change.

When I "print a test page" the job appears in the print queue, the printer initialises and warms up, then nothing prints and the job gets deleted in the print queue.

I've started a Help Case with HP and after 1 hour on the phone with full remote support it still remains unfixed.

I must say they were very helpful and the case is still ongoing.

Using remote support, they also completely removed all drivers and started the printer install from scratch.

Once again the HP driver failed with the same ""PlugPlay" error message.

It seems pretty obvious that all of these problems are related to the ARM64-bit processor and the latest version of Windows 11.

With my limited computer knowledge, it seems that:

• The HP Printer install program requires "PlugPlay service" to run which has now been removed in the latest version of Windows 11.
• Windows 11 running on the Microsoft Surface / Surface Pro ARM64-bit processor does not have the native drivers to support HP printers. And the key words here are ARM64-bit.

That screen shot provided by @Jupiter1220 is so handy.

I will keep updating with any new info.

Regards,

Stuart

I have the same issue with trying to install an HP printer that worked before the last update. I am using the new Surface Pro 11th edition running windows 11 ARM 64. as you can see, plugplay is not listed in services and none of the above instructions worked.