samba - Mar 2025 - Troubleshooting Printer Driver Issue - Wrong Driver Persisting on User Login

Hello everyone,

In our environment, printers are deployed using *Group Policy* via:

User Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Deployed Printers

We?re currently facing an issue where a specific printer continues to use
the wrong driver (HP Universal Printing PS) even after we've attempted to
remove or replace it with the correct one (EPSON Universal Print Driver).
This only affects certain users, and the issue seems to persist even across
reboots and driver removals.

Here?s a summary of what we?ve tried so far:

   1.

   *Removed printer drivers:*
   -

      Via pnputil /delete-driver (with /uninstall and /force)
      -

      Via printmanagement.msc
      -

      Via printui.dll (command line with /dd and /dn)
      2.

   *Cleared spooler:*
   -

      Stopped spooler service
      -

      Deleted contents of C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
      -

      Deleted files under C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64
      -

      Restarted spooler service
      3.

   *Checked and disabled GPOs related to printer deployment*
   -

      Used gpresult /H to confirm applied policies
      -

      Temporarily disabled the GPO responsible for printer mapping
      -

      Re-enabled after reboot to test reapplication behavior
      4.

   *Searched for and removed leftover registry entries:*
   -

      Under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
      -

      And HKCU\Printers\Connections
      -

      And HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group
      Policy\History
      5.

   *Checked for deployment via login scripts or leftover PrintBRM backup*
   6.

   *Scanned all GroupPolicy\Users\S-1-* paths and deleted .pol files and
   profiles that might be stuck*
   7.

   *Verified driver behavior via Event Viewer:*
   -

      Noted several errors in PrintService\Admin, including Event ID 319
      referencing failure to apply the HP driver

Despite all of the above, the incorrect driver continued to apply for that
printer on user login.

We're hoping someone in the community has seen similar behavior or can
suggest further places to look?especially in cases involving persistent
domain-related GPOs or printer caching mechanisms.

Thank you in advance!

Best regards,
--
Elias Pereira

hello,

No one?

On Sun, Mar 23, 2025 at 3:53?PM Elias Pereira <empbilly at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> In our environment, printers are deployed using *Group Policy* via:
>
> User Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Deployed
Printers
>
> We?re currently facing an issue where a specific printer continues to use
> the wrong driver (HP Universal Printing PS) even after we've attempted
to
> remove or replace it with the correct one (EPSON Universal Print Driver).
> This only affects certain users, and the issue seems to persist even across
> reboots and driver removals.
>
> Here?s a summary of what we?ve tried so far:
>
>    1.
>
>    *Removed printer drivers:*
>    -
>
>       Via pnputil /delete-driver (with /uninstall and /force)
>       -
>
>       Via printmanagement.msc
>       -
>
>       Via printui.dll (command line with /dd and /dn)
>       2.
>
>    *Cleared spooler:*
>    -
>
>       Stopped spooler service
>       -
>
>       Deleted contents of C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
>       -
>
>       Deleted files under C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64
>       -
>
>       Restarted spooler service
>       3.
>
>    *Checked and disabled GPOs related to printer deployment*
>    -
>
>       Used gpresult /H to confirm applied policies
>       -
>
>       Temporarily disabled the GPO responsible for printer mapping
>       -
>
>       Re-enabled after reboot to test reapplication behavior
>       4.
>
>    *Searched for and removed leftover registry entries:*
>    -
>
>       Under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
>       -
>
>       And HKCU\Printers\Connections
>       -
>
>       And HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group
>       Policy\History
>       5.
>
>    *Checked for deployment via login scripts or leftover PrintBRM backup*
>    6.
>
>    *Scanned all GroupPolicy\Users\S-1-* paths and deleted .pol files and
>    profiles that might be stuck*
>    7.
>
>    *Verified driver behavior via Event Viewer:*
>    -
>
>       Noted several errors in PrintService\Admin, including Event ID 319
>       referencing failure to apply the HP driver
>
> Despite all of the above, the incorrect driver continued to apply for that
> printer on user login.
>
> We're hoping someone in the community has seen similar behavior or can
> suggest further places to look?especially in cases involving persistent
> domain-related GPOs or printer caching mechanisms.
>
> Thank you in advance!
>
> Best regards,
> --
> Elias Pereira
>

-- 
Elias Pereira