Need to remove printer drivers from LPT1, there is a long list of printer drivers listed

[Karen B/H]

It took me 7 days (hours each day) to get my Brother MFC 7820N Printer USB to print. I tried a number of printers first and each one of them left their name on the LPT1 port. Should I remove these drivers?

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Karen,


Welcome to the forum.

It will do no harm to keep the other drivers installed on your computer, however, if you have no intention of using the Printers associated with these drivers, and you are limited on disk space, it would be fine to uninstall those drivers you will not be using.

It may at a later date make it less confusing should you need to update or reinstall drivers for the printer you now have working too, not to have to scroll through all the options.

 

[Karen B/H]

How exactly do I do that?

 

[Trouble]

I don't know how robust or comprehensive this is, but....
Typically when I want to remove printer drivers, I just open Devices and Printers applet in the Control Panel, select (highlight) a printer and then from the menu bar across the to I select "Print server properties" then from the "Driver" tab along the top of the Print Server Properties dialog box I can see a list of the "Installed printer drivers:"
You should be able to select the driver you don't want and use the "Remove" button, from there.
Hope that helps.

 

[Karen B/H]

I have Windows 10 and as I selected the printer the properties dialog box only included drivers in the ADVANCED tab and the only option is to add drivers. Help, again, please

 

[Karen B/H]

I have found a box that will let me remove the driver but it also gives me the option of removing the driver package from the system. Removing the driver package from the system may prevent me from getting that specific driver if I need it in the future if I want to return to a printer that I previously used. Just remove the driver?

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Karen,

Are you certain you followed Troubles post correctly?

• In your Search box type Devices and Printers then press your Enter key
  
  This will open the Devices and Printers window which by default displays large icons of each device or printer is on your machine. You may have all ready selected to view a list as in my sample image below.
  
  Sample image
  
  
  

• In my case I do not currently have a printer installed, but I do have a PDF writer there that acts as a printer driver to convert documents to PDF format. Also there is the Fax and Microsoft's PDF converter etcetera.
  
  To illustrate Troubles post though let's select a printer. I'll select the Fax for now.
  
  Sample Image
  
  
  
  
  
  Left-clicking on Fax causes more options to appear in top toolbar.
  
  One of these extra option is the Printer server properties that I put a red box around in above image.

• Click the Printer server properties
  
  This will open the Print Server Properties window to its default Form tab being displayed.
  
  Click the Drivers tab now and you will see something like my sample image below.
  
  Sample Image
  
  
  

• In this display you will see all your printer drivers listed.
  
  Simply left-click once on a Printer driver you no longer want then click Remove button highlighted in above image with red box.
  
  Repeat this process until you only have the Printer Driver/Drivers you do want listed.

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Karen,

If you may be intending on using a former printer again leave its driver there and the package. There is no point removing it if there is a chance you may use the Printer that uses it at a later date.

 

[Karen B/H]

I have done exactly what you have told me to do and the print server properties box will not let me delete the drivers. The response is that the driver is in use. I am feeling as though there is a conspiracy here, and the red line under my typing seems to confirm that. What is happening?

 

[Regedit32]

The red line is probably just the spell checker. Don't let that bother you too much as its probably set to US English.

Presumably a Service associated with Print Spooler is running.

You may need to remove the driver from Safe Mode which you can do by typing msconfig in your Search box and hitting Enter key. In the System Configuration window that opens click the boot tab, then check the box next to Safe boot and click OK then restart computer.

From Safe mode remove the driver then repeat above steps but remove that check and click OK so your computer can restart and boot to the normal login screen / Desktop.

 

[Karen B/H]

I was in safe mode and could not get out. I had to go into control panel and figure out a way to escape. The procedure to get me out of safe mode did not work. That is the last time that I will use someone else to help with a complicated process.

 

[Trouble]

I was in safe mode and could not get out.

You should have been able to go back into msconfig and simply unchecked the box that you checked to get into safe mode, as Regedit32 stated above

From Safe mode remove the driver then repeat above steps but remove that check and click OK so your computer can restart and boot to the normal login screen / Desktop.

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Have you disabled the LPT port in your Bios? If it is disabled there, you shouldn't even see it in Device Manager and this issue becomes moot. Any drivers installed shouldn't show up anymore. Since all modern printers use USB or Wireless connectivity, you should see the Brother printer still connected where it was.