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Windows Server 2012 R2: Cannot remove some printer driver ("are in use" error) - Stale (orphan) entries in registry

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Francesco

I'm trying to uninstall some printer drivers from a Windows 2012 R2 Remote Desktop Services Host. I want that, except for some particular printer, the Easy print driver has to be used. The policy in place is: "if there is a specific driver available use it, else use Remote Desktop Easy Print driver".

I have two issues here:

  1. I can successfully uninstall some of the drivers, but not some others, getting the error that the driver is in use by a printer.
  2. Uninstalled drivers are automatically reinstalled when my users connect back to the RDS Host.

Issue 1):

  • I've tried both "Delete" and "Remove driver package". Same result.
  • I tried to stop and restart the spooler service. Same result.
  • I rebooted the server. Same result.
  • I have done it through powershell (Remove-PrinterDriver). Same result.

So I digged a bit through the registry, with all my users disconnected and the sessions closed. I found some stale entries at the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\

For example:

Orphan driver entries pic

They are different from other "legitimate" entries that I see when users are connected, for example:

legit driver entries pic

So, my question is: is it safe to delete the stale ones directly from the registry and then retry the removal process? Is there anything else that I can try to remove printer drivers shown as "in use" by the OS?

Issue 2):

  • Why are the uninstalled drivers (through the "Remove driver package" menu entry) getting reinstalled once my users reconnect to the RDS host?

Thanks in advance. Francesco

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