'Devices and Printers' is blank, hangs, empty

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).

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.

With my laptop, I have to have the Wifi turned on to avoid this problem.   For some reason, the Bluetooth service will not run if the wifi radio is turned off.    So to have the bluetooth service on, I have to have the wifi on, which sometimes presents other problems when you are on a wired network.

I tried to get Microsoft to give me the Bluetooth quickfix they describe in the tech bulletin (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2486635,) but after Eleven (11) calls to support, and explaining the problem Eleven (11) times to different agents who all said "I will have to get you to a different group" and then either getting transferred to the same group or getting cut off or left on hold for 20 minutes or more, I gave up trying. 

To answer the previous question:

that's all well and good, but what if we don't want the Bluetooth service to be running?

There's always the company named after the fruit.  This is a perfect example of why fruit might be a better, simpler and more elegant choice.   How much time do I waste daily/weekly/monthly trying to get around Microsoft problems and issues vs how much more I would pay for the hardware and software?   In the long run, how much more productive work I would have done?

It's also quite telling that the post above marked "answer" has not been marked "helpful" by anyone.