Windows 7 Local Lost Printer Driver

Question

I have a real Odd ball here that I've been fighting with since December of 2015.  

Windows 7 (32bit and 64bit) will lose, or more specifically, state, that there is "NO Printer Driver installed for the Dymo Printer that is connected to the computer" and will NOT print locally, when the Dymo Printer is shared to the network.  Yet ALL PCs using the shared Printer continue to print to the Dymo share just fine.  Don't share the Dymo Printer and local Dymo printing works perfectly after restarting the system.  Yes, I know, it's goofy.

Since this issue materialized, much effort has gone into resolving this.  The Dymo development team has just tossed in the towel, and directed the cause as something with the OS.  We have narrowed down the specific elements to create this behavior, but can not determine the cause let alone the real fix.  This behavior was first noted with Dymo Label Writer software v.8.1 and I've routinely used v.8.5.1 which we'll use for this example.  v8.6 is the latest release from Dymo, and also does not correct the issue.

What works.  

Environment and Devices:

1.  A generic PC
2.  Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit)  
3.  Dymo LabelWriter 400 or 450 series USB label printer  
4.  Dymo LabelWriter software v.8.5.1

• With Windows 7 installed on the PC, Install the Dymo LabelWriter v.8.5.1.   Be sure NOT to connect the USB cable from the printer to the PC until After Dymo software installation has completed.
• Next connect the Dymo Printer to power, and then connect the Dymo USB cable to a USB printer port on the PC.
• The Dymo Driver will then be installed.
• Printing will work perfectly as long as this Dymo printer is not shared.

What Doesn't work.

1.  Share the Dymo Printer for the network to use.
2.  Install the Dymo Printer software on the PCs that will be using the Shared Dymo Printer
3.  Add the network shared Dymo Printer to the PCs by Adding the printer from Devices and Printers dialog
4.  Printing will work initially from both the Local Dymo and Network Dymo printer

• At some point, Local printing of the Dymo printer ceases.  Usually within the first hour, sometimes immediately.
• From Devices and Printers, locate the Dymo Printer object
• Right click and select 'Printer Properties'.
• A warning message appears stating that there is No Printer Driver installed for this printer.  Would you like to install one now?

The Dymo Printer driver is missing according to Windows.  At least at the Local level.  However, ALL the other PCs in the network that have this 'Shared' printer installed on their respective systems will still print labels to this printer without error or troubles.

To fix the problem locally, all that needs to be done, is to Stop sharing the Dymo printer on the Local machine and reboot.  Once the system comes back up, the Dymo printer will print normally and there are no warning messages when selecting Printer Properties for this Dymo printer in the Devices and Printers area.

To re-create the problem again, just share the Dymo Printer and within a short time, once again printing will cease on the local machine.

A summarized list of things done to correct this:

Windows 7 clean install

Windows 7 sp1 basic

Windows 7 sp1 with all updates applied as of January of 2016

Windows 7 sp1 and roll up updates applies as March 2017

Installing the printer driver again when Windows 7 reports No Driver Found when the Printer is shared

Removing the complete Dymo Product from the local machine and perform a clean install.  (This works briefly, but then fails)

We've used ALL versions of the Dymo LabelWriter software from v.8.1 thru and including v.8.6

Dymo developers have exhausted their resources looking for a problem on their end, and can find none.

In ALL cases, the problem exists.

I have 12 different physical locations I support in Florida, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio.  ALL of these have experienced this issue.  

The problem does not exist on Windows XP local network shared printer.  If I have a Dymo printer installed locally on an XP machine and share it to the network, printing works normally both locally and across the network.

To work around this, we've either had to dedicate on PC to run Windows XP and share the Dymo Printer for others to use,  or Print Dymo labels from only one PC, or purchase Label Printers for Each PC to print locally.

It is hopeful that someone may have not only the detailed reason for this behavior, but also a FINAL solution to correct this.

Kind Regards,

Daniel

Answer 1

As often as this happens for me, in various locations, I'm surprised that someone else has not seen this behavior.  I sure would like to get to the bottom of this, or at least understand what is going on here.

Answer 2

This is still occurring.  Primarily with Dymo Label Writer series printers.  

Dymo has no solutions, nor explanations for this behavior.   The only work around solution is to uninstall and completely remove the Dymo driver with their utility, then remove the Dymo software, and registry entries from the affected system.  Reboot the machine and re-install the Dymo software.  This DOES correct the driver issue, but only temporarily.  Within days the whole thing starts all over again with the "Driver not Found" message.

I have noticed that in the C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository directory, there a number of Dymo staged driver folders that continue to exist even though the Dymo software is removed from the system.  I'm wondering if these are corrupted, and causing the trouble.  All attempts to remove these entries have failed.

It might be possible to 'Take Ownership' of the folders and then force a deletion of these files, but I don't want to make matters worse.  

Is there a proper way to remove these Dymo collections from the FileRepository so that Windows will install a fresh copy of these driver files??

I hope Someone has an answer for this "Driver Not Found" recurring issue.

Answer 3

Here are the screen shots of the Printer Ports Tab for the Dymo Printer from both the Server Computer (David-PC) and a Client Computer (XR1).

Server (David-PC)

Below is the Printer Port Properties from a Client PC (XR1) using this printer share from the Server (David-PC).

'Enable bidirectional support' unchecked on both systems.  This setting has no bearing on the lost driver, but unchecking this setting removes a printing delay that has been experienced on other occasions.

Here is the screen shot of the 'Driver Missing' error that is displayed when right clicking the Printer Object and selecting Properties.

 

As mentioned earlier, to make this go away and restore Label Printing on the Server PC, all that needs to be done is to Stop Sharing the Printer, and Reboot the Server PC.  

Once the Server-PC has been restarted, Label Printing is restored, and there are no 'Missing Printer Driver' messages when right clicking the Printer Object and selecting Properties.  

Thank you for your time.

Answer 4

Hello Felix,

This kind of issue can occur because of conflicting printer properties settings. What type of printer port are you using for the printer? Follow the steps below to find this information.

1. Click Start, type Devices and Printers then press Enter.
2. Right-click the printer then select Properties.
3. Go to Ports tab.

Please provide us a screenshot of the printer port properties for further troubleshooting. Check this thread for the steps on how to include a screenshot in your post.

We'll be waiting for your response.