How to completely remove printer from Windows 7

Solution 1:

Take a look at this tutorial which explains how to use the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), to remove unwanted printer driver packages.

If that does not work for you, try using the printui.exe tool.

In an admin elevated command prompt type printui /s /t2, be sure to remove the driver AND the package.

Here's how to do it, step-by-step:

1. Open a command line with administrative rights: Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command prompt; Right click -> Run As Administrator
2. Run the printui tool: printui /s /t2
3. Try deleting the printers. If that doesn't work... (i.e., if removing the printers listed in the printui is not successful.)
4. Click Start > Run > Services.msc
5. Locate the Print Spooler service, and right-click > Properties > stop service.
6. Open My Computer and browse to C:\Windows\System32\spool\Printers (you will need to click "OK" to get access to the folder).
7. DELETE the contents of the folder you opened in step 6.
8. Go back to services.msc and Restart the Print Spooler service.
9. Go back into the printui utility (you might need to restart it using same method as above) and try removing printers again. This time it should work. If necessary, check the "Ports" tab and remove any TCP/IP ports that are associated with the old printer.
10. Last but not least, check other computers on your home network to see if any of those map to the old printer, and remove these mappings

Solution 2:

The only consistent way that I've been able to delete both the driver AND package is to:

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Type "Command Prompt".
3. Under "Programs", right-click on "Command Prompt", click "Run as administrator", and accept the UAC prompt.
4. In the elevated Command Prompt, run printui /s /t2 to open Print Server Properties on the Driver tab in elevated mode. Do not close the Command Prompt.
5. Select the driver you wish to uninstall.
6. Select "Remove...".
7. Select "Remove driver and driver package" but leave the "Deleting this printer driver package will remove it from the system. Are you sure you want to delete %driverName%?" window open.
8. In the elevated Command Prompt, run net stop spooler.
9. In the elevated Command Prompt, type but don't run net start spooler.
10. Click on the Command Prompt window and hover your cursor over the "Yes" button of the delete driver package window.
11. Press enter to execute the net start spooler command and as soon as you see the The Print Spooler service is starting. output click the "Yes" button of the delete driver package window.

Timing is key success.