Hi All: I sincerely apologize if my specific problem has been solved already. As the title indicates, when I open Orb -> Devices and printers it always shows up empty. I have tried every bluetooth related post including upgrading drivers, verifying the BT services (both) are running, the suggestion to use the IE8 registry cmd script etc. Virtually all the posts were point at BT, so I disabled, uninstalled all drivers, re-enabled it, re-installed, etc. At each step I tried the Devices and Printers with the same results. Adding some details: My printers installed works prefectly My scanner installed and works perfectly 2 Phones with BT installed work perfectly including :make a call, transfer files (both ways), listen to/control music player, internet browsing via BT modem As with Devices and Printers, the Devices and Printers -> Bluetooth Devices is also empty (even while using BT successfully) This is my 4th W7HP install but my first with BT. The others have no issues in this area at all This is a brand new Asus 1201N, BT built-in, all drivers were pre-installed, Broadcom BT model, 2GB, 25GB HD, Atom 330. Drivers and Printers was empty from the first point at which the OS was configured after first power up. All of my machines have a C: for the OS and a separate D: partition labeled USERDATA. Never had a problem with this under Vista or W7. Very convenient for restoring (see below). I AM PULLING MY HAIR OUT looking for a solution to no avail. I use Paragon Disk Backup so I don't mind hacking my registry or other configs and am brave enough (fool hardy?) to try just about any suggestions since I can always do a full restore of the OS Partition. Truly appreciate any feedback. Please, no "check your BT services". Been there, done that. Regards, Jeff

You may have a corrupted user profile. If you have another user account on the PC, log into that and see if it works. If not, create another user account, log in to it and check. I had tried all the "standard fixes", none worked. Created a new "me" and it all works fine. Then had to go through all the pain to move my documents over, etc. Google "fix corrupted user profile" and microsoft has a step by step (but its easier said than done). Paul

brilliant.....same problem couldnt access printers, tho they worked fine....well done that man

I think its terribly funny that less than 24 hours after i made the above post, (see the last line above) "magically" 7 people have clicked on "I have this problem too" and ALSO 7 people have just now clicked on the "Yes" this was helpful. Obviously someone is stacking the deck here. Just for the record, I tried both of the reputed solutions and neither one directly solved my problem. My problem was mostly solved by enabling my hardware WiFi connection (using fn+F2 on my Dell laptop). Then after stopping the "print spooler" service (it usually doesn't stop but gives a timeout message saying it couldn't stop it) and then starting it again I was able to see the list of printers. The problem sometimes still occurs when I restart Windows, and I have to follow the stop and start 'print spooler' to get it working. I agree with Eric P's comments. I 've had same problem for about a month on my newer Win 7 Ult 64 sp1 workstation, but can not associate it with any event like no new hardware or drivers - except routine manufacturer and MS updates. I first noticed the blank devices and printers page when I needed to change one of my printer's settings, and while they still funcioned, I cannot easily access them now to modify settings or see installation results. I was surprised to see that this is a LONG time MS issue with no solid fix yet, as summarized in this forum and others. I unsuccessfully tried all (~dozen) published online fixes to get my printers and devices to display again; i.e., 1) BTHserv is automatic & started (no BT on my PC, except for non-selected wireless function of HP printer), 2) print spooler is running, and restarted, 3) confirmed spooler is running with admin cmd prompt "net start spooler" command, 4) ran sfc /scannow, 5) replaced Bthserv reg key settings with MS Technet recommended defaults, 6) removed metadata from my Users account: AppData\Local\Microsoft\Device Metadata\dmrccache/En/ folder, 7) tried to reinstall device, but still reported as present but does not display, 8) checked under Administrative Tools for Printers and Devices, and all 9 are listed there, 9) obtained and installed the latest MS hotfix, as Eric reported earlier in this post, 10) tried to ensure my IE9 settings were not the cause, as sometimes was in past for IE8, including registering IE9 proxy, 11) tried rebooting in diagnostic and safe modes to minimize possible conflicting drivers and programs, 12) I use N360v6premier, which I disabled then uninstalled to verify it was not the cause, and 13) performed a reinstall of my Win 7 sp1 OS. Next step, 14) is to reinstall my entire OS ( have Acronis image, but it fails to restore OS - see http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/printers-and-devices/8d873bb6-4fd3-49ae-9ee2-1509d87ed9ab ), which I do not wish to lose the time doing unless I have no choice. One would think that MS would have (probably do know, if we could find right persons) found the cause or causes and provided a solid fix by now for this pervasive long-term problem that has plagued thousands or more users of Windows 7 since at least 2009 per website searches. I hoped that one of the many online remedies would bring back my suddenly lost printers and devices window, but none of the fixes works on my newer Win 7 Ult 64 sp1 workstation. I am a long-time MS PC user with intermediate-advanced knowledge and experience, who has had to rely on MS for running my varioius scientific applications, but after this and many other MS fiascos, my next PC purchase will be a fruity one (even though they are not without their own issues) too! I would appreciate any further ideas to fix this annoying problem, if any other options exist, since I am soon going to have to reinstall my entire system again to resolve this issue; plus, I would greatly appreciate learning how to figure out the cause for my PC, so I can avoid it in the future (but other than variable likely causes from bluetooth service, print spooler function, and IE settings, there does not seem to be a single solid source or fix).

'Devices and Printers' is blank, hangs, empty

Anonymous

Hi All:

I sincerely apologize if my specific problem has been solved already. As the title indicates, when I open Orb -> Devices and printers it always shows up empty. I have tried every bluetooth related post including upgrading drivers, verifying the BT services (both) are running, the suggestion to use the IE8 registry cmd script etc. Virtually all the posts were point at BT, so I disabled, uninstalled all drivers, re-enabled it, re-installed, etc. At each step I tried the Devices and Printers with the same results.

Adding some details:

My printers installed works prefectly
My scanner installed and works perfectly
2 Phones with BT installed work perfectly including :make a call, transfer files (both ways), listen to/control music player, internet browsing via BT modem
As with Devices and Printers, the Devices and Printers -> Bluetooth Devices is also empty (even while using BT successfully)
This is my 4th W7HP install but my first with BT. The others have no issues in this area at all
This is a brand new Asus 1201N, BT built-in, all drivers were pre-installed, Broadcom BT model, 2GB, 25GB HD, Atom 330.
Drivers and Printers was empty from the first point at which the OS was configured after first power up.
All of my machines have a C: for the OS and a separate D: partition labeled USERDATA. Never had a problem with this under Vista or W7. Very convenient for restoring (see below).

I AM PULLING MY HAIR OUT looking for a solution to no avail. I use Paragon Disk Backup so I don't mind hacking my registry or other configs and am brave enough (fool hardy?) to try just about any suggestions since I can always do a full restore of the OS Partition.

Truly appreciate any feedback. Please, no "check your BT services". Been there, done that.

Regards,

Jeff

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

***** FIXED ********

I finally stumbled upon this thread:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7hardware/thread/8d873bb6-4fd3-49ae-9ee2-1509d87ed9ab/

and ran the System File Checke r. It found and fixed problems. I have no idea what the log means, but...

My Devices and Printers is now fully populated.

Regards,

Jeff

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

I just tried this and this FIX works ..

Click Start button, type "services" into the search program and files box. This brings up a list in the menu, select Services. This should open a list of local services on your system.., Find 'Bluetooth Service" and make sure it has started, right click and set to 'automatic' (mine was already set), Select "Bluetooth Support Service" and start, set to automatic (mine was set on manual) --

Really wierd. Debleena, can you please explain.

Regards,

Rakesh

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43 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-04-12T19:07:05+00:00

You may have a corrupted user profile. If you have another user account on the PC, log into that and see if it works. If not, create another user account, log in to it and check.

I had tried all the "standard fixes", none worked. Created a new "me" and it all works fine. Then had to go through all the pain to move my documents over, etc. Google "fix corrupted user profile" and microsoft has a step by step (but its easier said than done).

Paul
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Anonymous

2012-03-09T16:23:08+00:00

brilliant.....same problem couldnt access printers, tho they worked fine....well done that man
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Anonymous

2012-02-20T18:27:55+00:00
I think its terribly funny that less than 24 hours after i made the above post, (see the last line above) "magically" 7 people have clicked on "I have this problem too" and ALSO 7 people have just now clicked on the "Yes" this was helpful. Obviously someone is stacking the deck here.

Just for the record, I tried both of the reputed solutions and neither one directly solved my problem.

My problem was mostly solved by enabling my hardware WiFi connection (using fn+F2 on my Dell laptop). Then after stopping the "print spooler" service (it usually doesn't stop but gives a timeout message saying it couldn't stop it) and then starting it again I was able to see the list of printers.

The problem sometimes still occurs when I restart Windows, and I have to follow the stop and start 'print spooler' to get it working.

I agree with Eric P's comments. I 've had same problem for about a month on my newer Win 7 Ult 64 sp1 workstation, but can not associate it with any event like no new hardware or drivers - except routine manufacturer and MS updates. I first noticed the blank devices and printers page when I needed to change one of my printer's settings, and while they still funcioned, I cannot easily access them now to modify settings or see installation results. I was surprised to see that this is a LONG time MS issue with no solid fix yet, as summarized in this forum and others.

I unsuccessfully tried all (~dozen) published online fixes to get my printers and devices to display again; i.e., 1) BTHserv is automatic & started (no BT on my PC, except for non-selected wireless function of HP printer), 2) print spooler is running, and restarted, 3) confirmed spooler is running with admin cmd prompt "net start spooler" command, 4) ran sfc /scannow, 5) replaced Bthserv reg key settings with MS Technet recommended defaults, 6) removed metadata from my Users account: AppData\Local\Microsoft\Device Metadata\dmrccache/En/ folder, 7) tried to reinstall device, but still reported as present but does not display, 8) checked under Administrative Tools for Printers and Devices, and all 9 are listed there, 9) obtained and installed the latest MS hotfix, as Eric reported earlier in this post, 10) tried to ensure my IE9 settings were not the cause, as sometimes was in past for IE8, including registering IE9 proxy, 11) tried rebooting in diagnostic and safe modes to minimize possible conflicting drivers and programs, 12) I use N360v6premier, which I disabled then uninstalled to verify it was not the cause, and 13) performed a reinstall of my Win 7 sp1 OS. Next step, 14) is to reinstall my entire OS ( have Acronis image, but it fails to restore OS - see http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/printers-and-devices/8d873bb6-4fd3-49ae-9ee2-1509d87ed9ab), which I do not wish to lose the time doing unless I have no choice.

One would think that MS would have (probably do know, if we could find right persons) found the cause or causes and provided a solid fix by now for this pervasive long-term problem that has plagued thousands or more users of Windows 7 since at least 2009
- per website searches. I hoped that one of the many online remedies would bring back my suddenly lost printers and devices window, but none of the fixes works on my newer Win 7 Ult 64 sp1 workstation. I am a long-time MS PC user with intermediate-advanced knowledge and experience, who has had to rely on MS for running my varioius scientific applications, but after this and many other MS fiascos, my next PC purchase will be a fruity one (even though they are not without their own issues) too!
I would appreciate any further ideas to fix this annoying problem, if any other options exist, since I am soon going to have to reinstall my entire system again to resolve this issue; plus, I would greatly appreciate learning how to figure out the cause for my PC, so I can avoid it in the future (but other than variable likely causes from bluetooth service, print spooler function, and IE settings, there does not seem to be a single solid source or fix).
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