Printer driver was not installed Element not found. After installing windows 11 25H2 with a HP V4 driver

Question

Printer driver was not installed Element not found. After installing windows 11 25H2 with a HP V4 driver

Dominic Gravano 0

Hello i am looking for help with error Element not found for a HP V4 driver issue. I have seen this pre 25H2, within recent upgrades to a few systems who have an HP V4 driver after updating to 25H2 has rendered the driver useless and the only way to get rid of Element not found is to wipe the machine out and start over. Can i get some help?

4 answers

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Answer 1

Jason Nguyen Tran 8,300 Independent Advisor

Hi Dominic Gravano,

The “Element not found” error with HP V4 drivers after upgrading to Windows 11 25H2 is a known compatibility problem that can occur when legacy V4 print drivers are not fully aligned with the updated print spooler and driver framework. Wiping the machine should not be necessary. Instead, the recommended remediation is to remove the affected V4 driver package using Print Management or pnputil /delete-driver, and then reinstall the latest HP Universal Print Driver (UPD) or HP V3 driver, which has broader compatibility with 25H2.

If you must continue using the V4 driver, you can attempt to re-add the printer using the Add Printer wizard with “Have Disk” and point it to the updated driver files from HP’s support site. In some cases, disabling “Print driver isolation” in Print Management has also helped restore functionality. Ensure that all cumulative updates for 25H2 are applied, as Microsoft has released fixes addressing certain print driver regressions.

If this guidance helps resolve the issue, please hit “Accept Answer” so I know your issue is resolved 😊.

Jason.

Dominic Gravano 0 Reputation points

2026-01-02T18:45:15.11+00:00

thank you for replying jason, i have been working with the specific division of HP that only work on designjet plotters XL3800, i was using the latest driver that they offer and according to them are only V4 drivers. so, i am unable to get a V3 for that plotter and they don't make a universal print for this particular plotter. after i get an element not found i am unable to load any V4 drivers going forward. i have tried reverting back to 24H2, running sfc /scannnow, all the dism commands to repair, printer troubleshoot, manually installing via tcp/ip, even boot with disable driver signature enforcement. they always crash with element not found error. I can't load a V3 driver for a different model no problem.
Jason Nguyen Tran 8,300 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-03T06:59:58.3866667+00:00
Hi Dominic Gravano,

Based on your testing and HP’s confirmation that only V4 drivers are available for the XL3800, this appears to be a driver compatibility regression introduced in Windows 11 25H2. Once the “Element not found” error occurs, the print subsystem may cache or corrupt the driver state, preventing any further V4 installations, even after reverting to 24H2 or running DISM/SFC.

One workaround that has helped in similar cases is to fully purge the print driver store before reinstalling. You can do this by booting into Safe Mode and running:

powershell

pnputil /enum-drivers pnputil /delete-driver oemXX.inf /uninstall /force

(Replace oemXX.inf with the actual INF name for the HP V4 driver.) Then, clear the spooler cache:

powershell

net stop spooler del /Q /F %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* net start spooler

After rebooting, try installing the V4 driver manually via “Have Disk” using the latest CAB from HP’s official driver page. If the issue persists, you may need to escalate through HP’s enterprise support channel to request a V3 fallback or compatibility patch, as this is a vendor-specific limitation.

You can try and let me know the result. I'm happy to help further.

Jason.

Answer 2

Jason Nguyen Tran 8,300 Independent Advisor

Hi Dominic Gravano,

Has this solution fixed your problem, or would you like me to keep assisting? If it’s solved, kindly click “Accept Answer” to helps others in the community as well 😊

Dominic Gravano 0 Reputation points

2026-01-05T13:36:55.8433333+00:00

Let me get back to you tomorrow on this one. thank you for your help.
Dominic Gravano 0 Reputation points

2026-01-05T14:56:36.8133333+00:00

hello jason, i was able to do the steps provided where i did find my driver in that list. unfortunately after rebooting and manually adding that driver again i did recieve the printer driver was not installed. element not found error again. As an added note i got word of another co-working having this issue with a Xerox personal printer using a V4 driver. So this leads me to believe its not just an HP issue but a Microsoft and V4 driver issue. thank you for your help
Dominic Gravano 0 Reputation points

2026-01-05T14:58:08.9733333+00:00

here is what i found on the driver after running that command.

Published Name: oem14.inf

Original Name: hpi2146.inf

Provider Name: HP

Class Name: Printer

Class GUID: {4d36e979-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

Class Version: 4.0

Driver Version: 09/11/2025 61.2509.0.200

Signer Name: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

Attributes: Legacy
Dominic Gravano 0 Reputation points

2026-01-05T15:20:57.05+00:00

Hi jason,

I did the process all over again this time confirming that the driver package was definitely remove from the enum print out. I rebooted and tried to reinstall still get the same error. Even though it doesn't work it will still place the driver file in the enum-drivers display page. i will stand by and wait for further instructions. thank you

Answer 3

Dominic Gravano 0

hello jason,

I have gotten word that we are having the issue with another HP personal printer using a V4 driver and a xerox MFP using a V4 driver. It doesn't seem to be a specific driver problem but a microsoft relationship with V4 drivers as a whole.

FYI i added more comments above to your last comment on information that i found.

thank you

Answer 4

Dominic Gravano 0

I was able to find a fix for this problem. I removed feature update KB5054156 which lowered the windows 11 down to 24H2. Then i manually updated to 25H2 via window site below and then i was able to load a V4 driver back on as it should. I had one machine that wouldn't uninstall that KB so we had to wipe the machine and start over.

Dom

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows11?msockid=1e54db3553c16efe379ccde652236f3e

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Printer driver was not installed Element not found. After installing windows 11 25H2 with a HP V4 driver

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