Many a time, you might have experienced hardware malfunction issues. Sometimes the monitor malfunctions and sometimes the printer. Have you noticed that the hardware peripherals that malfunction are the ones you use on a daily basis?
Old and outdated printer drivers can cause the peripheral to shut down and this may raise other system issues as well. ‘Windows failed to detect the new hardware’ is not at all a new issue. Sometimes the old and corrupted drivers create an obstruction between the system and the device.
In many cases Windows will not recognize the hardware if the drivers are old, outdated or corrupted. On the good side, the driver issues are easy to fix.
If you have an old printer that does not work or if your Windows is failing to detect the printer, then this article will help you fix all the driver issues.
Let us discuss some reasons as to why these problems occur on the first hand and how you can fix the printer driver issue on Windows 10.
Reasons For Faulty Printer Drivers:
There are several reasons why a printer cannot be detected by Windows. Following are some problems related to the faulty drivers:
- It might be one of the reasons that the printer driver is not configured properly.
- The driver might not be compatible with the printer installed on your Windows.
- Incorrect registry of the printer driver on your Windows 10 PC.
- Certain malware has infected your driver files.
- You ignored the printer driver update many times when the system prompted.
What can You Do to Fix the Printer Driver Issues:
Printer drivers can be fixed by different methods. Let us check some of these methods one by one:
#1. Install the latest driver from the printers folder
Installing and updating the printer driver manually is a tedious task and also consumes a lot of time. You can follow the steps to download and update the printer driver:
If you want to manually update the printer driver, you can do it. However, the entire process will be tedious and time-consuming. The following are some steps that will help you install the latest drivers from the printer folder.
You need to check if the latest driver is installed on your Windows 10. If yes then proceed with the following steps:
- Click on the windows button
- Click on the settings options
- Open control panel
- Click on the ‘hardware and sound’ option
- Select ‘printers’
- Select the printer driver you want to install
- Right-click on that driver
- Select ‘Run as administrator’
- Click on the ‘properties’ option
- Select the ‘advanced’
- Click on the ‘new driver’ tab
Just follow some on-screen instructions and install that particular printer driver.
#2. Download the printer driver from the OEM website
You can easily download the relevant printer driver from the original equipment manufacturer’s website. Most of the device manufacturers have dedicated driver download pages where you can download printer drivers from. The process is pretty easy and you just need to follow some simple on-screen instructions to download the update.
However, the main thing you must keep in mind is the compatibility and the version number of the printer driver. There are times when a manufacturer’s websites do not have proper device drivers.
You should check the file before downloading it.
#3. Fix the faulty driver using the Windows Update
You can easily update the Windows driver using the Windows update. This is the basic yet safest way to fix a faulty printer driver. Once the procedure scans your system for drivers, you just need to download the update.
Here are the steps that will help you:
- Click on the start button and type in the ‘windows update’ in the search bar.
- Click on the Windows Update button.
- Select ‘check for updates’
Windows will automatically start looking for updates if there are any. You must provide a password for confirmation when promoted.
#4. Fix the printer driver using a driver updater utility
If you want to save your time and want to fix the printer driver quickly then you will need to install a driver updater tool. This tool checks for the status of the system and device drivers and automatically downloads and updates the required ones.
Select one of the best free driver updater software and fix your printer driver without any hassle.
Final Verdict
So this is all about how you can fix the printer driver issue on Windows 10. We hope this quick guide has helped you fix your printer driver issues. It is very important to keep the drivers updated if you want to prevent hardware malfunction.
The printer is a hardware peripheral that is used in the offices and at homes as well. A small driver issue may turn into hardware malfunction and may stop multiple tasks at once.
