The latest Windows update has caused problems for some printer owners, according to a report from Windows Latest (through Gizmodo). Users are reporting that they are receiving a blue screen when they try to open the print dialog in Notepad, Office or other programs. (Do you know that annoyingly ambiguous error message like “Your PC has a problem and needs to restart”? That’s it.)
Microsoft is aware that trying to print in certain circumstances can make your PC screen blue and has listed the bug on the Windows 10 support page. The company does not appear to have issued a fix at this time. “We are currently investigating and will provide an update when more information is available,” says the site today.
It is not clear how widespread the problem is, but Windows Latest claims to have “seen countless reports of errors appearing here and there”. The bug appears to affect several brands of printers, including Kyocera, Ricoh and Zebra. “I have had at least 20 confirmed cases from 4 different clients and only one hour has passed in the day,” said a reader to the publication.
Windows users are also complaining on Reddit. “This problem has been confirmed on four computers,” said a Reddit user. “We just received three calls from customers, all with the same problem,” said another commentator.
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If you are experiencing this problem, the easiest solution is to roll back to the latest Windows update. To do this, open Settings> Update and security> Windows Update> View update history> Uninstall updates> Uninstall or remove the patch manually at the command prompt. Some Reddit users have confirmed that this fixed the problem.
A user who claims to be a Microsoft employee has also posted two temporary solutions on Reddit, which commentators have confirmed to work. You can enable direct printing in the Command Prompt, or you can use the Compatibility Administrator tool to apply a patch, depending on the application you are running. Both processes are complicated, so your best bet is to read Reddit’s comment carefully if you want to try them out.