Devices and Printers Dialog Box Empty

Anonymous
2009-10-30T22:04:54+00:00

When I open my "Devices and Printers" dialog box, it is empty; nothing shows up and the item listing says "0 items". 

The devices and printers showed up in the Devices and Printers dialog box earlier, but now are gone from the dialog box.  However, they are still in the system as everything seems to work.  The problem comes with trying to set the preferences for any of the devices or printers since they can't be seen or accessed. 

Anyone got any ideas of how to get the devices and printers to show up again?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-03-07T06:22:04+00:00

Devices and printers will show one device when you have configured multiple printers for the same device.   There is a fly out menu to get to all the other printers on the device.    Use the spooler teams UI, printmanagement.msc to view all local printers on Pro and Ultimate.

The old printers folder can be launched if you are running Home versions.

Open a command prompt and paste this in.

start shell:::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}\0::{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

Alan Morris Windows Printing Team; Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here: http://support.microsoft.com/search/Default.aspx?adv=1

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Anonymous
2009-11-27T18:23:06+00:00

I am having the same problem. I did a clean install from Vista and the computer has worked fine for weeks.  Today, my devices and printer window is empty. I can still print from some applications, but Windows Live Mail gives me an error when I select print:

'an error has occurred in the script on this page'

line:291

char: 1

error: interface not registered

Code: 0

URL: res://ieframe.dll/preview.js

Do you want to continue running scripts on this page - Yes or No?

Barry

By the way, no new hardware has been installed recently.

I found another post that solved my problem.  I was about to give up and re-install Windows 7, but tried this and it worked.

Go to: http://iefaq.info/index.php?action=artikel&cat=42&id=133&artlang=en

for the CMD file and explanation.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-12-20T14:32:42+00:00

    This issue has bugged me for a long time. I spent a lot of time searching for solutions on the net, many are given (Bluetooth service, Print spooler, ...), none of them worked for me.

    The solution for me turned out to be:

    Boot ONE TIME in Safe Mode, then boot normally, problem solved!

    This action also solved my issue "Safely Remove Hardware icon does not show devices"

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-11-29T15:56:47+00:00

    I'm having a very similar problem.  For as long as I can remember, when I try to pull up the Devices and Printers view window, it acts as if it is loading.  The address bar has a color that s-l-o-w-l-y ticks across as if it is searching for printers (of which I have one on the network, that works fine and is accessible to view by its ip address).  This makes it difficult to "safely remove hardware"  by usb or card reader, because it never fully completes....it just hangs! 

    I don't have time to troubleshoot this all day long...but I would appreciate any advice here.  Thank you!

    When I open my "Devices and Printers" dialog box, it is empty; nothing shows up and the item listing says "0 items". 

    The devices and printers showed up in the Devices and Printers dialog box earlier, but now are gone from the dialog box.  However, they are still in the system as everything seems to work.  The problem comes with trying to set the preferences for any of the devices or printers since they can't be seen or accessed. 

    Anyone got any ideas of how to get the devices and printers to show up again?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-11-28T02:00:59+00:00

    Devices and printers will show one device when you have configured multiple printers for the same device.   There is a fly out menu to get to all the other printers on the device.    Use the spooler teams UI, printmanagement.msc to view all local printers on Pro and Ultimate.

    The old printers folder can be launched if you are running Home versions.

    Open a command prompt and paste this in.

    start shell:::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}\0::{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

    Alan Morris Windows Printing Team; Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here: http://support.microsoft.com/search/Default.aspx?adv=1

    So far none of the above have helped. Except going into Printer Management so that you can see the list of printers and print test pages etc.

    printmanagement.msc

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