Win10 says printer driver missing, but it isn't.

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
I have an older HP Photosmart C7280 printer connected via Ethernet to my router. Windows insists that the driver is missing, and the Win trouble shooter fails to install one.

Yet... the printer shows up as the default printer in Control Panel/Devices and Printers. The printer works just fine, and I indeed have a driver installed; the official Win7/10 HP driver for this printer.
Why does Win insist there's a problem? How can I make it realize there is no issue?
 
Solution
what date is on the driver? maybe windows driver protection is ignoring driver because it isn't digitally signed. If the current PC was fresh installed since Anniversary edition, it might refuse driver whereas if the other PC hasn't been clean installed since then, it will use it fine until you try to reinstall it.


Yes I did. The latest driver for Win10/7 as I stated above. I have another Win10 machine, and it isn't experiencing this issue using the same printer.
 
what date is on the driver? maybe windows driver protection is ignoring driver because it isn't digitally signed. If the current PC was fresh installed since Anniversary edition, it might refuse driver whereas if the other PC hasn't been clean installed since then, it will use it fine until you try to reinstall it.
 
Solution


The driver has a release date of Jul 29, 2015. It is listed as being for Windows 10 (64-bit): https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-photosmart-c7200-all-in-one-printer-series/3204782/model/3204784

This is what Device Manager shows. http://imgur.com/a/2kqHo
My working HP printer is an unknown device, and Win defaulted to my Dymo label printer instead. Yet when I go to Devices and Printers, the HP is the default.
Come to think of it, I don't remember this issue before Win gave me the Creators Update. I'm using Win 10 Pro.
 
I accidentally managed to fix the problem. I let Win search out its own driver for the printer. It said there was a driver already installed and suggested using it. ( no sh_t!) I agreed, and it set up a 2nd HP C7280 printer as default. I then uninstalled to 1st HP C7200 series printer, and now Win is happy. The error is gone. Sheesh!

Thanks for the suggestions. They got me thinking...