[Samba] Troubleshooting Printer Driver Issue - Wrong Driver Persisting on User Login

[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