My printers have all disappeared from the Control Panel, Printers & Faxes

This is why I seem to have the nickname of the Printer Wizard from a few friends of mine!  I can magically make your printers disappear and re-appear?  No, I'm no magician!  This is generally caused by the Print Spooler not being started - or having stopped for one reason or another!

Bring up a Command Prompt.  You may remember it being called a DOS prompt, way back in the days of WIndows95 and 98.  We can't really call it a DOS prompt now, since DOS hasn't really been present in Windows since Windows ME was released, but it does look similar!

You can't find Command Prompt?  It's in Start, Program Files, Accessories.  It brings up a windows of its own.

Type:  net start spooler              (and remember to hit enter!)

Go back and look in the Control Panel, under Printers & Faxes.  They should have re-appeared now!

 

 

Thank you for visiting, and I hope I've solved your problem.  A few tips when buying a new printer...

ALWAYS set a limit for your budget and remind yourself what you will be using the printer for.  If you're going to be printing a lot of plain documents, then a laser printer is always the way to go.  It may seem more expensive to start off, but those toner cartridges last and last.  If you're going to be printing photos, then I strongly suggest you consider an inkjet printer which has separate cartridges for each color.  It's much more economical when it comes to replacing the ink.

I hope you enjoyed your stay, please come back again