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USB printer works but does not appear under 'Devices and Printers'

Anonymous
2010-12-13T04:21:42+00:00

I have a Brother 1440 printer connected to my computer via USB. In the past, I had to delete this printer from my system using Control Panel > Admin Tools > Print Management since Windows 7 installed multiple copies of this printer; under Printers I'd have Brother 1440, Brother 1440 Copy 1, Brother 1440 Copy 2, etc. This happens with USB printers in Windows 7 if you unplug the printer and plug it back into a different USB port, very annoying.

After deleting all the copies in Print Management, I reinstalled the printer. It works, however I don't see the printer under 'Devices and Printers'. I do see it under 'Print Management' though and I can select the printer in the drop down list of printers when I print in an application. One big problem is I'd like to set that printer as the default, however you can't set the default printer in 'Printer Management', you can only do so in 'Devices and Printers.' 

Some notes:

-I've already tried removing the printer and the driver too, rebooting, then plugging in the printer. Windows 7 detects it and loads the drivers, it works however it still doesn't show up in 'Devices and Printers'.

-I don't have a parallel port in this PC, I read previous replies about parallel ports and SPP, but this does not apply to my system.

-Under printer properties, I've given permissions to everyone to Print, Manage this printer, and Manage documents, that still did not fix this issue.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-21T18:50:31+00:00

    Thanks for your suggestion! You got me on the right track although my case is different than yours. There are 3 devices I see in Printers: Fax, Microsoft XPS Document Writer, and PDF995. None of them are the Brother 1440 Printer. However, above the Printer and Faxes list is the Devices list. In this list at the very top is a device with the same name as the name given to my computer.  Here's what it says:

    Name: COMPUTERNAME

    Category: Desktop computer

    Classification: Devices

    Device Category: Computers

    Manufacturer: <BLANK>

    Model: <BLANK>

    Status: 0 document(s) in queue

    Now if left double click on it, the Brother HL-1440 printer document queue window shows up! I can also right click on it to set it as the Default Printer. Nothing changed with the icon though. I'm not sure how the printer got misclassified in the Devices and Printers list, once again the Brother 1440 shows up fine in Print Management. So it looks like in my case, my printer is sharing the icon with system's icon in the device list. So, how do we fix that?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2013-01-07T13:46:08+00:00

    Seems like there are a thousand threads on this out there and none with the right answer. I finally found it after searching them all. My mom was having this exact problem where the printer doesn't show up and it can't be made the default. All you have to do is run printer troubleshooter and follow the prompts and it should fix it.

     

    Do this:

    Open the Printer troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Under Hardware and Sound, click Use a printer. And then just follow the wizard. Worked like a champ for us.

    this totally worked for my problem! thanks man!

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2010-12-18T17:49:48+00:00

    Hi macbaba,

    You might try disabling your anti-virus software temporarily to see if the issue resolves.

    They have been known to prevent printers from showing up in the Devices and Printers window.

    Chris

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-28T02:12:16+00:00

    Seems like there are a thousand threads on this out there and none with the right answer. I finally found it after searching them all. My mom was having this exact problem where the printer doesn't show up and it can't be made the default. All you have to do is run printer troubleshooter and follow the prompts and it should fix it.

    Do this:

    Open the Printer troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Under Hardware and Sound, click Use a printer. And then just follow the wizard. Worked like a champ for us.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2010-12-13T05:34:05+00:00

    Delete all the drivers from print management and Control Panel programs and reboot the machine then reinstall the driver.

    mohanad

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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