How to remove an offline printer

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TJ - 24 Nov 2007 02:58 GMT

I had a printer that quit working that I had to replace. I can't remove the
printer from my printers folder. I am logged on as administrator but I get
an error message 0x00000057. I am at a loss as to how to get rid of it. Any
suggestions are welcomed.

TJH

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Tony - 24 Nov 2007 03:54 GMT

>I had a printer that quit working that I had to replace. I can't remove the
>printer from my printers folder. I am logged on as administrator but I get
>an error message 0x00000057. I am at a loss as to how to get rid of it. Any
>suggestions are welcomed.
>
>TJH

TJ
If you open the print queue for that printer are there any jobs waiting to
print? If there are you will need to cancel them before you will be able to
remove the printer.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

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TJ - 24 Nov 2007 06:07 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion but there are no print jobs in the queue. I had no
problems removing on the networked Windows XP SP2 but can't remove them
Vista.

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TJH

> >I had a printer that quit working that I had to replace. I can't remove the
> >printer from my printers folder. I am logged on as administrator but I get
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Tony
> MS MVP Printing/Imaging

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Cal Bear '66 - 24 Nov 2007 15:43 GMT

Try this:

Control Panel (Classic view) > Printers > Menu > File > Run as Administrator >
Server Properties > Drivers tab, highlight the printer and press the Remove
button.

I Bleed Blue and Gold
GO BEARS!

> Thanks for the suggestion but there are no print jobs in the queue. I had no
> problems removing on the networked Windows XP SP2 but can't remove them
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>> Tony
>> MS MVP Printing/Imaging

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yay for MS - 15 Dec 2007 21:06 GMT

i am having the same problem, however i show documents waiting to print, but
i can't remove them. can't get rid of the drivers as they are in use.
totally unreponsive, also can't reinstall the printer. LOVE THAT VISTA
help plz.

> Try this:
>
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> >> Tony
> >> MS MVP Printing/Imaging

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KevinW - 29 Dec 2007 22:33 GMT

TJH, I recently experienced exactly the same problem. It was
frustrating enough to have the 'phantom printer' keep showing up that I
kept working at it until I found a solution.

The printer that I could not delete had a unique name (i.e., Laserjet
5P Den), so I decided to use 'regedit' and search for that exact name.
Each time there was an associated registry entry (about 6 or 7 time), I
deleted it. I then restarted the computer and voila! - the 'phantom
printer' was deleted, and there did not seem to be any side effects.

I would note that there are a lot of warnings about editing the
registry as it can lead to serious problems. I am not all that
experienced at modifying the registry, but in this case it seemed
straight forward enought that I decided to 'go for it'. Just in case,
however, I did backup the registry first using System Mechanic 7.

Kevin

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KevinW

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