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Devices and Printers empty

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by PeteC, 2011/04/11.

  1. 2011/04/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    I am trying to resolve an issue with a friend's computer running Home Premium SP1 .....

    Devices and Printers is not populated, i.e. it is blank

    This was first noticed when clicking on the Safely Remove Hardware icon to remove an external HD. the drive was listed with a series of dashes, no name. He then clicked on Devices and Printers in the Safely Remove Hardware dialogue and discovered it was empty. The drive is recognised in Device Manager and functions correctly.

    The only 2 possible solutions I have found on the web ....

    Ensure that the Bluetooth Services is set to Auto and running, and

    sfc /scannow

    have not resolved the issue which remains when all USB devices are unplugged with the exception of the mouse and keyboard. It would not appear to be a USB problem.

    In Colour Management for the monitor - a profile issue - the Devices dropdown is fully populated.

    Any ideas apart from reinstalling the system ? - only a Recovery disk is available.
     
    PeteC,
    #1
  2. 2011/04/11
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Did he by any chance, run some registry cleaner ?
     
    rsinfo,
    #2


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  4. 2011/04/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    Not that I am aware of - I doubt he knows what they are, but I will ask the question :)
     
    PeteC,
    #3
  5. 2011/04/11
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Did you try System Restore ?
     
    rsinfo,
    #4
  6. 2011/04/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    System restore points do not go back far enough - apparently this has been an ongoing problem for some time and prior to the oldest available restore point.
     
    PeteC,
    #5
  7. 2011/04/11
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Whoops.

    Then its format/reinstall I think.
     
    rsinfo,
    #6
  8. 2011/04/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    I've already warned him of that - fortunately he knows the meaning of 'backup' :)
     
    PeteC,
    #7
  9. 2011/04/12
    Lazaruslong

    Lazaruslong Inactive

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    It seems that "Devices and Printers" stuff bug is related with SP1. I have similar problem and here is some tips:

    1.Try to run Bluetooth service via services.msc and try again (no mater if there is no BT device connected)
    2. Empty/Delete (backup first) C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Device Metadata <---folder also delete Device Stage folder
    3. Rebuild icon cache with this "command" as .bat file

    @echo off
    cls
    echo The Explorer process must be killed to delete the Icon DB.
    echo Please SAVE ALL OPEN WORK before continuing
    pause
    taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
    echo Attempting to delete Icon DB...
    If exist %userprofile%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db goto delID
    echo Previous Icon DB not found...trying to build a new one
    goto :main

    :delID
    cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
    del IconCache.db /a
    pause
    echo Icon DB has been successfully deleted
    goto main

    :main
    echo Windows 7 must be restarted to rebuild the Icon DB.
    echo Restart now? (Y/N):
    set /p choice=
    If %choice% == y goto end
    echo Restart aborted...please close this window
    explorer.exe

    :end
    shutdown /r /t 0
    exit

    Restart and check. Alos purge DNS cache ipconfig /flushdns and check this service for runing Function Discovery Resource Publication look for DeviceDisplayObjectProvider.exe in task scheduler and finaly check firewall for blocking this service and .exe file (DeviceObject...)
     
    Lazaruslong,
    #8
  10. 2011/04/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the input - I am not clear whether or not this issue arose before or after the installation of SP1 - owner is not that computer savvy :) I won't have access to the computer for a couple of weeks at least.

    I would be interested to know if the steps you posted resolved your issue with Printers and Devices being empty.

    I am also curious to know your reasonong behind the implied interaction between the DNS cache and this issue.
     
    PeteC,
    #9
  11. 2011/04/14
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Steve R Jones,
    #10
  12. 2011/04/30
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

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    Apologies for the delay in responding - Bluetooth has been tried without success.

    As for the other options they are on hold until I get access to the computer - could be a couple of weeks.
     
    PeteC,
    #11
  13. 2011/06/09
    saturn711

    saturn711 Inactive

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    Here's a solution that works for me when my printers are gone:
    Go into "services ", click on "print spooler ", then "start ".
     
    saturn711,
    #12
  14. 2011/06/30
    MicMan65

    MicMan65 Inactive

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    Thanks for posting Saturn711. I was getting ready to post the same thing. If that doesn't work for you PeteC, then you probably will have to reinstall it. Hopefully you get it fixed though.
     
    MicMan65,
    #13

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