HP_Smart | Win10 (| both) deleted Printer Icons in Devices & Printers

DiracDeBroglie said:

- - - Updated - - -
See following link:
Windows Update accidentally renames all printers to HP M101-M106 on Windows 11, Windows 10

Thanks. Yes, that matches my findings. All the (wrong) printer icons/names were coming from metadata in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceMetadataCache\dmrccache\tr\d3a162c7-a388-4099-b63d-265639514cc0

I could find no way in the registry to undo the damage. Thankfully the corrupted metadata has not returned since restoring to my earlier system image.

DiracDeBroglie said:

My systems are now up and running OK. Just in case ... to cover may back ... I've taken a backup of the entire ...\DeviceMetadatatCache\... folder containing all data of my EPSON printer.

While my system was broken, before I restored it's healthy image, all my Epson metadata was still there and intact - it just wasn't being used any more.
The rogue metadata was taking priority and I couldn't find any way to stop it doing so.

That's right. Also in may case the EPSON metadata was still there alongside that of HP, but HP's metadata took prevalence over other printers' metadata, like a virus taking over the whole population.

This is clearly a Microsoft problem: (meta)data destined for one particular printer should not overrule (meta)data of other printers. MS still has a long way to go when it comes to security.

Millions and millions of user worldwide got through the eye of the needle..... Needless to say that this could've turned out into a whole different international argument/debate with serious consequences if this was about real bad malware being pushed through a flawed Store security on an equally flawed OS.

Microsoft acknowledged this as a Known Issue on 4th December.

Microsoft said:

Printer names and icons might be changed and HP Smart app automatically installs

Status	Originating update	History
Investigating	N/A	Last updated: 2023-12-04, 20:46 PT Opened: 2023-12-04, 18:46 PT

....Affected platforms:

Client: Windows 11, version 23H2; Windows 11, version 22H2; Windows 11, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 1809; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016; Windows 10, version 1607; Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB
Server: Windows Server 2022; Windows Server, version 1809; Windows Server 2019; Windows Server 2016; Windows Server 2012 R2; Windows Server 2012

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...h2#3218msgdesc