# [SOLVED] Printer driver will not uninstall



## BwwG

I have an Epson R800 printer connected via an IEEE-1394 interface on a system running Windows XP SP2. All was well until I installed the latest Epson R800 printer driver, v6.52. It drove the printer successfully, but my manually-loaded printer profiles were no longer associated with the R800. Therefore, I uninstalled the new driver, and re-installed the original Epson R800 driver, v5.4 (from the CD-ROM). It installed OK, except that the Epson IEEE-1394 port would not install at all. I thus tried to re-install the newer v6.52 driver, but it failed to correctly de-install the older driver, and did not install.

The status now is: The "Printers and Faxes" window still lists the EPSON Stylus Photo R800, but it does nothing when selected, e.g. no Printer Properties window appears. The Control Panel's "Add or Remove Programs" window includes an EPSON Printer Software item, complete with a Change/Remove button, but when clicked, it goes through the motions up to the point of the little pop-up window that says "Checking currently installed printer drivers. . . " Then it hangs up, i.e. Windows Task Manager shows EPSON Printer Utility Uninstall is Not Responding.

The printer profiles that I had manually installed will not Uninstall. They go into a Not Responding state when I try that. (They had been associated with the R800 printer. Other profiles not associated with the R800 will uninstall successfully.)

Also, applications get into trouble now when they have anything to do with the EPSON printer. For example, if WordPerfect tries to open a document file that had been created when the R800 was the default printer, then WordPerfect hangs, in the Not Responding state.

Other printers are working correctly, e.g. my Lexmark T640 laser printer.

I would appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to clear out the remains of the EPSON driver, so that it can be properly reinstalled. I realize this may mean deleting things within the system or even the registry. But it would be nice to have some guidance, especially from someone who understands the Windows system better than I do.

Regards
Graham


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## BMR777

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

You can try the directions *here* to remove the printer and then completely remove its driver.

BMR777


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## BwwG

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

Thanks for your response, Brandon. I followed that route, and received the message: "Unable to remove EPSON Stylus Photo R800 . . . . The specified printer driver is currently in use."

The question then is: Is there a way to find out what process has the driver in use? If I can disable that process or service, then maybe I can delete the driver.

Alternatively, I could manually delete the driver files and the registry entries, as described at: http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/CleanPrinterDrivers.htm

Is that a reasonable way to go? My one reluctance is that the driver is "currently in use", and the possibility that it links to something else that needs care. Or should I not worry about that? Any further thoughts?

Thanks again for a very helpful response.

Regards
Graham


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## BMR777

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

The registry option is also a way to go. You could try this first though. Go to Start > Run and type "services.msc" w/o quotes. Find the Print Spooler service. Then double click it and click on STOP. Then try removing the driver again. Then start the Print Spooler service again. This may work.

BMR777


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## BwwG

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

I presume you mean to stop the spooler, and then try de-installing the printer software via the Add/Remove Programs feature of the Control Panel. It's just that, with the spooler stopped, the Printer & Faxes window is blank, and the Server Properties cannot be accessed.

Anyhow, I'll certainly try your suggestion when I get home this evening.

Thanks again.
Graham


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## BwwG

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

Brandon, I tried your most recent suggestion, i.e. to stop the print spooler and then attempt to delete the Epson driver (using the Epson uninstall program.) It waited a few seconds and then displayed the following message:

"EPSON Printer Utility Uninstall: No printer or utility can be deleted."

I tried it twice, and each time it behaved the same.

That presumably suggests the only way out is to delete the driver files and adjust the registry manually, - not my first choice, but seems to be what is needed.

Thanks for another good idea in approaching this problem.
Graham


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## BwwG

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*

Finally some success in getting my EPSON R800 printer to work again! It was quite an exercise! I had to de-install the driver the "hard" way, by deleting registry entries and system files. To do this, I followed the instructions in FAQ No. 2 at http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/FAQPrinting.htm although I found there were additional EPSON-related deletions in the registry that appeared to be necessary in my case. (There were plenty EPSON registry entries that I didn't delete where I wasn't certain, or where there clearly was no issue, - I'm no registry expert. I did make a backup of the registry before starting.)

The result of all this is that the original EPSON R800 driver (v5.4) was subsequently installed successfully. (I'm not going to try the later version, v6.52, in case it upsets things again.)

However, I remain unable to install the IEEE 1394 interface for this printer. I was satisfied to install the driver using the USB interface. I'll resolve the IEEE 1394 problem at some time in the future. It probably has to do with remaining registry entries from the attempted installation of the later EPSON printer driver, which I wasn't confident enough to clean out.

A related issue was a printer color profile that I had added for the EPSON printer in my original configuration. After my problems started, this profile would not uninstall. Eventually, I found the registry location where printer profiles are kept, and deleted the relevant key.

It's gratifying to be back in action again. I appreciate the help and inspiration that I've received from this forum.

Graham


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## dynomike12

*Re: Printer driver will not uninstall*



BwwG said:


> Thanks for your response, Brandon. I followed that route, and received the message: "Unable to remove EPSON Stylus Photo R800 . . . . The specified printer driver is currently in use."


I changed the Driver Isolation option to "none" in the MMC. Then I was able to delete withou the 'in use' message


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