Is it safe to remove all MS Type 4-User Mode Printer Driver Packages?

Question

Is it safe to remove all MS Type 4-User Mode Printer Driver Packages?

Anonymous

Hi Folks,

(FYI: I have the Windows 10 Pro 64 bit O/S)

I have two printers, (both Epson brands) of which one is a Large Format Photo Stylus, (USB connected), and the other is an All in One Office printer (wireless).

I have two desktops and one Samsung Tablet (no cell phones). At this moment, (as shown in the screenshots) I only have the Large Format Printer connected via USB to one of my desktops.

I'm about to reinstall my Office printer and drivers using a "Temporary USB connection" method. I'll spare you the long story, but after inexplicably losing my office printer's wireless control last week, I made several failed removal & reinstallation attempts. However, I used the typical methods and I believe that they failed because I missed some and/or left remnants of some drivers related to the printer.

So I've made a far more focused removal of the printer this time and even brought it back to its default state through the printer user panel. Now, before I try reinstalling this printer, I want to be sure I don't have any unnecessary and superfluous drivers hanging around. That brings me to all these "TYPE 4" printer drivers.

I don't use, nor do I foresee any reason to use, any of the MS Drivers that you see in the Printer Management screenshot (below). I have no idea how I would affect my Epson, Type 3, printer drivers if I were to remove them with the "Remove Driver Package" option for each of the MS printers.

However, I know that the Epson printers worked fine (wired and wirelessly), when I had Windows 7, and up until about 10 days ago, they worked fine in Windows 10. I've had Windows 10 Pro running for about a year and had no wireless printer trouble until recently.

After I use a special, "Temporary USB connection" installation method to install the office printer, it will ultimately become a wireless printer. I haven't tried this method yet but I have every reason to believe that it'll be successful.

Even if the MS Type 4 Printer drivers had nothing to do with my difficulties in regaining a wireless connection to my office printer, I still don't like having these Type 4 drivers installed if I have no use for them. Look at it like finding 5 or 6 sheets of plywood stacked vertically against a wall in your garage. It's all out of the way, but there's no need for it, so why not get rid of it?

I figured that if I can remove these drivers, I can always get them back if I ever needed them for some reason. I don't use cloud printing and none of my printers are set up to share. If I can remove them without affecting my Epson drivers and/or printing control interface, then I'd like to do that BEFORE I make the attempt to reinstall my office printer.

Therefore, I ask: "Is it safe to remove all MS Type 4-User Mode Printer Driver Packages?"

The first Epson driver in the list is a Type 4 but because it has an Epson label, I thought I should leave it alone. The second Epson in the list, as well as the "Microsoft Shared Fax Driver", are both Type 3 drivers. I plan to leave the Type 3 drivers alone, but the rest are all Type 4.

Thank you,

Rich

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4 additional answers

Answer 1

Hi Rich. I'm Greg, an Independent Advisor, Volunteer Moderator and 10 year Windows MVP here to help you.

Yes you can and should uninstall the printer drivers to reinstall the printer properly. I'll give you the steps to do this, which I have helped thousands of others do for over a decade.

I would Clean Install the printer which always works, lasts longer and actually saves time. Windows still needs the full feature software to properly run all the features of a printer/scanner, the new apps are not mature enough to be fully reliable. Follow these steps:

Power up the printer, if wired unplug it's USB cable from PC.
Go to Settings>Apps>Apps and Features to find and Uninstall any printer software.
Use one of these methods to remove all of the old printer drivers:

https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&...

Now type Control Panel in Start Search, open CP, choose Icon View. In Control Panel open Devices and Printers, right click printer to delete Printer and any scanner or fax of the same name. Restart PC.
Go to the printer model’s Support Downloads webpage to download and install the latest full software package. Now is also the time to check for any newer printer firmware to install which matters a lot.
Extract Printer software, right click Setup file to Run as Administrator. Follow the setup screens closely as you install the software. For USB it should prompt when to plug in the printer.

Older software may need to be installed in Compatibility Mode to run correctly:

https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&...

If you have further problems reply back with results of each step.

Once it's installed and you've run a test print, then scanned it to see that it opens on the desktop, open the Printer software and go into its Settings to set the scan-to file location you prefer, also the email app you want opened for Scan to Email, if applicable.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. If you will wait to rate my post until we are done, I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

______________________________________________

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Answer 2

Thank you Greg! In fact, you outlined exactly everything that I did when I removed the office printer from my system this last time. I followed each step, which I found in a search that I made yesterday.

I was ready to follow the steps to reinstall the printer when I asked myself if I should remove these MS printer driver packages.

That's when I decided to post the question here and I see that in the beginning of your reply, you said I could.

I was reasonably sure I could but sometimes things can appear to make common sense, but turn out to be more complex than they seem.

Anyway, thanks again. I think I should have success installing the printer this time.

Rich.

PS Please consider the mater solved.

Answer 3

Anonymous

go ahead and remove them then but every time you have to do a fresh install you would have uninstall them again they come with windows

I thought you were talking about your second printer

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Answer 4

I don't think you understand... That's what has happened and these MS drivers were installed at the time, (as they are now). In addition, I pointed out that I don't use the cloud and I don't have any shared printers.

In fact, I wouldn't know what to do with these printers that the MS Type 4 drivers are for, (...I guess).

The printers I'm speaking about are these, which are listed in the device manager (except for the Epson, of course):

I disabled "MS One note" long ago and MS Print to PDF isn't needed because I can do the same with the Epson drivers. That leaves "Root Print Queue", which I have no idea what that refers to, (and frankly, I don't care). It's all useless stuff just banging around in there.

Answer 5

Anonymous

I would just leave them alone just in case your wireless printer stops working for some unknown reason

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Is it safe to remove all MS Type 4-User Mode Printer Driver Packages?

4 additional answers