Printer woes and Windows 10

Although this post is mainly digital it also involves the use of film and then scanning to film to form part of a catalogue of negatives so they can be easily found to print in my darkroom or via a digital printer.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible for Windows 10 updates can affect physical and electronic properties of a printer? What has happened is with my Canon Pro-300 printer which is less than a year old, simply refused to work recently when asked to print thumbnails of several sheets of negatives.

There was a message sent to the screen about a USB Cable failure. So I changed this with another and the same message cam about the USB cable fail, and this happened with a 3rd cable. All had been working perfectly well when previously connected to other devices. My work involves using film and then scanning them using an ancient but 100% operational Nikon Scanner. These other USB cables had previously been connected to:-
1.My Nikon film Scanner. 2. My flatbed for med Format film scanning and also to my external Hard drive where I store the copies of the thumbnail sheets I was trying to print.

I spoke to Canon 2 weeks ago when the problem first occurred and after much discussion it was suggested I un-install my antivirus then un-install the printer drivers. This I did then reinstalled the drivers directly from the Canon website.This was OK and the printer was working again. I reinstalled the anti-virus . Last night I went to print a document, but it failed and I got the same message about the USB Cable. So thinking I knew what the problem was I went through the same procedures as 2 weeks ago but it would not reinstall the driver for the printer. It started to load, but when it came to the point where you have to switch on the printer I got that error message again

I remember now before the 1st failure there had been a Windows update and again 2 days ago yet another update (I had not used the printer for around 4 days) which makes me wonder if the the updates are causing the problem.

Not only that when I went to check my E mail (Hotmail) on that computer I found that it would not accept my password and I had to change it. Then I found another site where the password would not be accepted and had to change it. I went on to check further sites I visit which need a password, I found that all of them had the 'stay logged in' had been over-ridden and I had to use my password to gain access.

Before I get in touch with Canon yet again I was hoping someone may have an idea what is causing this. Could it be an intermittent fault with the USB connection on the printer? Non of the USB ports on my Desktop has show any signs of a problem.

Sounds like your Anti-virus software (you don’t say what it is?) Uninstall it and use the inbuilt Microsoft Defender (if it isn't that one) to run a check on your machine. The second issues with passwords is the more concerning.

The anti-virus is AVG the free version which I have used on all my computers since I stated with them just after 2000. They have always been good and on the odd occasion they have activated, the system has been protected. I tend to agree with the AVG being the culprit, but is it a combination of AVG and the Windows 10 update causing the problem. I have never had that before. I also leave my printer on all the time in the standby mode so it doesn't have to go through the length process of starting up and checking everything. (Canon OK'd this as perfectly fine) but as the computer is 'off' when not in use the updates cannot affect it until it is switched on again.
I know the printer is physically working because with the control panel on the printer I can set things up to print and even print off printer head check sheets, but not by using the computer.

I had AVG many years ago but got rid as it did something weird to my system if I remember correctly. I would still delete it and run MS Defender - it's inbuilt and seems pretty good - at least as good as AVG free. That may sort out the password problem because that does sound odd. As to your printer problem a google search shows there are other people with problems after the latest Win update and their are solutions out there (dated November 10th 2021) - https://howtofixwindows.com/printer-not-working/
Not suggesting this is the answer to your issue so try at your own risk. (at least this fix doesn't want you to download any dodgy software)

I use avg and after latest Windows update I could no longer use the start menu.... whether it was avg or open office causing the problem I never knew but some procedure was getting stuck in a loop even after restarting pc.

Task manager might show something or it might just need avg switching off

Bikerider said:

Can anyone tell me if it is possible for Windows 10 updates can affect physical and electronic properties of a printer? .

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No it's not possible but there isn't any changes in the physical and electronic properties of your printer. Only the software is different. It does seem that your antivirus software isn't compatible with the new printer driver.

The printer was new in March this year and had performed perfectly until the 1st problem too place. The AVG anti virus has always been installed and I didn't have to load it when I first got it going. It was only after the 1st breakdown to get it going again I had to remove that programme to upload the driver.. This time it didn't work. I am not convinced that the anti virus is responsible. If this goes on and it cannot be repaired satisfactorily, I think I will sell it for what I can get for it, buy a smaller A4 printer for documents and revert completely to my darkroom for photography. However Canon in UK have a good reputation and usually don't repair them they just replace them which is what I hope will happen here.

Bikerider said:

Although this post is mainly digital it also involves the use of film and then scanning to film to form part of a catalogue of negatives so they can be easily found to print in my darkroom or via a digital printer....
I spoke to Canon 2 weeks ago when the problem first occurred and after much discussion it was suggested I un-install my antivirus then un-install the printer drivers. This I did then reinstalled the drivers directly from the Canon website.This was OK and the printer was working again. I reinstalled the anti-virus . Last night I went to print a document, but it failed and I got the same message about the USB Cable.

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I had a problem with multiple PCs connected via network (both hardwired network and also wifi connected), in sending print jobs to a Canon printer, but sporadicially no output from printer...they would stack up in a print queue and nothing would send the tasks to the printer. After many calls to Canon, and then to Microsoft, all unsuccessful, I ultimately did what someone suggested (I forgot which company representative) and de-installed the antivirus...it fixed the problem! As I had only recently paid for and installed Total AV, I contacted the company and they refunded my purchase; I switched to another antivirus package and (knock on wood) no problems since then.

So perhaps there is some issue caused by your antivirus software, as represented by the fact that you were successful in restoring printer functionality via removal of antivirus and then re-installling printer drivers!

Well, I never allow my computer to update, ever, and I ditched Win 10 because it's a terrible OS. If you get Win 7 your troubles will be over. You can easily set it up as you wish, it's intuitive. Win 10 was designed by a drunk chicken.

I also ditched all that antivirus stuff on the advice of a son in law that runs the IT dept in a Hilo, Hi high school. Those slow things down and seldom stop things beforehand. Hard wire your computer at home, ditch the wi fi (another source of trouble), and if you do get a virus. unplug the PC from the internet and power cord, power it back up, and all should be fine.

momus said:

Well, I never allow my computer to update, ever, and I ditched Win 10 because it's a terrible OS. If you get Win 7 your troubles will be over. You can easily set it up as you wish, it's intuitive. Win 10 was designed by a drunk chicken.

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And now they have Windows 11 available for download free of charge. Adobe has said that newer versions of Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop will only work with the latest operating systems. I hope they don't abandon Windows 10 for a while. Currently Adobe discourages updating to Windows 11 until Adobe offers compatible versions of its apps.

Probably even worse than Win 10. No thank you. I had Linux, loved it, it committed suicide during an update :-(

momus said:

Well, I never allow my computer to update, ever, and I ditched Win 10 because it's a terrible OS. If you get Win 7 your troubles will be over. You can easily set it up as you wish, it's intuitive. Win 10 was designed by a drunk chicken.

I also ditched all that antivirus stuff on the advice of a son in law that runs the IT dept in a Hilo, Hi high school. Those slow things down and seldom stop things beforehand. Hard wire your computer at home, ditch the wi fi (another source of trouble), and if you do get a virus. unplug the PC from the internet and power cord, power it back up, and all should be fine.

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My home network issue with print jobs going via network to a Canon printer, yet sporatically no output was with a MIX of both Win10 and Win7 PCs on the network, and problem printing from both Win10 and Win7 PCs!

As for antivirus...subsequent to my problem with print jobs caused by Total AV: I have a different antivirus package, and on some different occasions it has detected potential 'harmful' things that have gotten into PCs simply via web surfing, and quarantined them. It may slow things down, but better than getting a trojan into your PC !

No problems with Windows 10 (latests update) and Canon drivers. Though, I don't have an extra antivirus, only the one that comes with Windows. For me Windows 10 has been the best of all and I used all the versions since DOS. I also used Unix, Solaris, Linux and Mac. The best feature of Windows 10 is the Linux subsystem. Unfortunately my machine cannot be updated to Windows 11 because it has a Xeon CPU.

Can you try installing a virtual machine running Windows 10 inside your Windows just to see if the problem is the printer or your system? I know this is not for everybody but it isn't too difficult.

https://www.oracle.com/virtualization/solutions/try-oracle-vm-virtualbox/

Your Windows machine should have a Restore point made just before the update. Go to the search bar and type "Windows Restore" and find a restore point just prior to the update. It should restore your machine to that state and not lose any personal data.

If this works, then you can put Windows Update on a non-automatic setting and only have it alert you when a new update is about to be pushed.

The fact Yr Hotmail password wouldn't work suggests something far more sinister. You need to get to the bottom of that before worrying about Yr printer.

faberryman said:

And now they have Windows 11 available for download free of charge. Adobe has said that newer versions of Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop will only work with the latest operating systems. I hope they don't abandon Windows 10 for a while. Currently Adobe discourages updating to Windows 11 until Adobe offers compatible versions of its apps.

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Yes available free of charge so long as you computer is new(ish) because the system has changed and if it is a few years old it will not load. I had mine checked and although it is only just over 2 yrs old I would be unable to load Windows 11. But as per my original post I have more important problems to solve..

the more I think about it this has to be has to be the Canon printer. I tried to connect it to my laptop so at least it would be able to print and that failed too with the usual message that there was a USB cable connection failure. I am going to speak to Canon this morning about it

I expect everyone understands this, but...
With respect to most (commonly used by the public) operating systems, peripherals like printers don't really connect directly to your software, operating system or computer itself.
They connect to a driver - a little piece of software that translates stuff back and forth.
The driver translates signals back and forth between the software and operating system. The programs you use transfer signals back and forth between themselves and the operating system.
And security software like anti-virus tends to stand in the midst of all that, sometimes intercepting some of those signals.
So when you have any piece of that labyrinth of software updated, the potential for disruption is huge! That can include misinterpreting a signal as meaning something else, like a USB connection failure.

The situation has now been resolved (for the time being) It was the connection between the printer and the computer (software) via a USB Port on the printer.

I was sent a link to connect the two using an ethernet cable to my router and it is now working. I have printed out both a document and a picture and no problem. No saved settings were changed within the printer. However as the printer is less than a year old, there is still a fault with the USB port which remains to be resolved. Apparently because it is a 'Pro' model and within the guarantee period, it should be exchanged 1 for 1.
The other problem relating to all my passwords being deleted/changed appears to be due to the uninstalling of the anti virus soft ware because that happened again immediately after the antivirus was deleted from the operating system. I have never know this happen before and will be considering changing it for another name. Any suggestions please?

Bikerider said:

The other problem relating to all my passwords being deleted/changed appears to be due to the uninstalling of the anti virus soft ware because that happened again immediately after the antivirus was deleted from the operating system. I have never know this happen before and will be considering changing it for another name. Any suggestions please?

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As previously mentioned, my printer issues went away when I removed Total AV. Installing Malwarebytes, I have had zero problems.

I have Malwarebytes as well but that never seems to pick anything up but AVG used to. Anyway I have got rid of AVG now and installed a bought full version of a antivirus called BULGUARD. In revues over here a few months ago it came out top of the pile out of 7 compared to others.

Out of 18, Bullguard achieved a score of 18, Two others 17.5, 3 achieved 17 whilst AVG only managed 16.5. Not a lot between them but probably enough to make a real difference.

My 'tame' computer engineer is a 'go to' guy when there is a problem with systems, reasoned when AVG started and possibly up to 2010, they were top dog, but since they have branched out in different ways and taken their eye of the ball.

Avast.

momus said:

Well, I never allow my computer to update, ever, and I ditched Win 10 because it's a terrible OS. If you get Win 7 your troubles will be over. You can easily set it up as you wish, it's intuitive. Win 10 was designed by a drunk chicken.

I also ditched all that antivirus stuff on the advice of a son in law that runs the IT dept in a Hilo, Hi high school. Those slow things down and seldom stop things beforehand. Hard wire your computer at home, ditch the wi fi (another source of trouble), and if you do get a virus. unplug the PC from the internet and power cord, power it back up, and all should be fine.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this is the most inaccurate, misleading, and downright dangerous post I've seen today.

First, Windows 7 is not secure any longer-- If you run it, don't use the internet. Second, you should install updates-- yes, sometimes, they're a pain, but ultimately, not updating windows is like leaving your house for a vacation, and leaving your doors unlocked and your windows open. Third, Windows 10 is much better than it was, mainly because of those updates you're not installing.

Finally, no anti-virus is 100% efffective-- they tend to run between 90% and 95%, depending on the package and the viruses of the week. But it's still better than not having any anti-virus. Performance hits should be minimal-- although that's exactly why I gave up on McAfee years ago. Windows Defender has gone from being a bit of a joke to being a pretty solid product-- not necessarily the best, but usually in the top 5.

Your son-in-law is wrong. I say this as a Windows admin from 1995 to 2011, a linux admin from 1998 to present, and an expert on network security who maintains a few hundred servers running web and database applications exposed to the global internet that withstand about 15-20 thousand attacks per day.

Finally, by the time you're aware that a virus, or other malware, has latched onto your computer, a restart is almost certainly not going to remove the infection. If you're lucky, it's a simple service you can remove. If you're unlucky, it's a rootkit, and you may need a professional to remove it.

Bikerider said:

The situation has now been resolved (for the time being) It was the connection between the printer and the computer (software) via a USB Port on the printer.

I was sent a link to connect the two using an ethernet cable to my router and it is now working. I have printed out both a document and a picture and no problem. No saved settings were changed within the printer. However as the printer is less than a year old, there is still a fault with the USB port which remains to be resolved. Apparently because it is a 'Pro' model and within the guarantee period, it should be exchanged 1 for 1.

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If I had to make a guess-- and I admit, I am-- I would guess that the USB driver for your USB port isn't quite right. There are many USB chips out there, and they have varying drivers in terms of quality. Even with the right drivers, some USB 2.0 devices have problems with the USB 3.0 ports on my computer, simply because the driver handles USB 3.x very well, but not so much USB 2.x. This could certainly be the result of a Microsoft update, or as I experienced once, my AV software broke a driver update, leaving me with an NVidia driver that was 90% one version, and 10% another version. It "almost" worked.

You could try the printer in another USB port. Note that Microsoft Windows will consider switching ports to be "reinstalling" the printer, so don't be surprised if it starts detecting new hardware.[/quote]

The other problem relating to all my passwords being deleted/changed appears to be due to the uninstalling of the anti virus soft ware because that happened again immediately after the antivirus was deleted from the operating system. I have never know this happen before and will be considering changing it for another name. Any suggestions please?

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Do you have internet or browser protection in your AV software? That could have caused the cached passwords in your browser to be deleted if they were being secured by the anti-virus.

Microsoft Defender is a pretty good product these days. If you want commercial, I've been very happy with eSet NOD32, which is a basic anti-virus package. They have multiple levels, but nod32 is the "essentials", and doesn't try to manage my web browsing (although it will protect against downloaded malware).