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How to Kill Zombie Printer? - Infecting Others!
My beloved old Dell 1710n Laser printer died last week. Can't complain, it was 14 years old, and it has served me well. I replaced it with a new Brother Color Laser printer. I also have an Epson Inkjet printer. All are connected via wired ethernet. There is nothing wrong with the printers or their connection, as I can print to them from my laptop, just not my main desktop machine.
Problem is, I can't get rid of the Dell printer from Windows. And even worse, it is "infecting" the other 2 printers and keeping them from installing properly.
I have:
Removed it from Devices and Printers, both old Control Panel application and new Settings app.
Removed it from Print Management (Administrative tools).
Removed its drivers from the driver store using "Driver Explorer" utility.
Set Device Manager to show hidden devices and looked there (already removed).
Scoured the registry and removed any traces I could find of it there.
Searched C:\Windows, Windows\System32,. ProgramData, and AppData looking for "Dell" or "1710n" (nothing found).
Run the Troubleshooter (in Settings) for Printers.
Removed all printers, Did an 'in-place reinstall' of Windows 10 Pro 1909 (18363.720).
Run sfc /scannow.
And yet, when I install the Epson drivers:
It uses the icon for the old Dell in Control Panel/Devices & Printers. Also uses the Dell icon for Microsoft Print to PDF, Foxit PDF, and XPS writer. (Where the he11 is it getting this icon from? Should be deleted!)
Won't print! Gives me a non-specific error message with no details.
Right-Click -> Properties shows Mfr as Dell and Model as 1710n.
Has a very limited set of paper sizes.
FAX and scanner drivers don't actually install.
When I install the Brother Drivers the driver installer program completes without displaying any errors, but it doesn't show up in Devices & Printers.
However, when I install it using the 'Add Printer' in Control Panel:
It shows up as a Unspecified device in Control Panel/Devices & Printers.
It shows up under 'Other' in Settings/Devices.
Can't print to it 'cuz Windows doesn't think it's a printer.
At this point, I suspect (only thing I can think of) is it is being stored in some hidden metadata in the file system.
Is there a way to completely clear and reset the printers and printing functionality in Windows? Can someone suggest what else I might need to check, where I might want to look, what I might want to do to get my printers working?