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The new printer status is Offline after you delete a print queue and then restart a Windows-based computer

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This article provides a solution to an issue where the new printer status is Offline after you delete a print queue and then restart a Windows-based computer.

Original KB number:   2027593

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You delete a print queue while it is in an Offline status.
  • You add a new print queue that has the same name as the old print queue.
  • You restart the computer.

In this scenario, the status of the new print queue is displayed as Offline.

Cause

This problem occurs if the computer has the following registry value configured when you set the printer to the Offline status:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\<print queue name> Value: PrinterOnLine
Data: 0

However, this value isn't deleted by the Localspl.dll file when the print queue is deleted. So when you add a print queue that has the same name as the old print queue, the new printer queue inherits the Offline status of the deleted print queue.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, right-click the new print queue in the Printers and Faxes tool, and then clear the Use Printer Offline setting. This resets the registry key to the correct value. Instead, you can delete the registry key that is mentioned in the Cause section after you delete a print queue but before you add a new print queue of the same name.

Did this fix the problem

  • Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you're finished with this section. If the problem isn't fixed, you can contact support.
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Data collection

If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for User Experience issues.