Nonexistent Printers

L

LoyeP

Bit poster
Hello!

I take my Macbook Pro to two different locations. One location has an HP wireless printer, and the other an Epson. Both are setup on Mac OS X Lion and work fine. Windows 7, on the other hand, while running as a VM constantly installs the newly found printer that's not there. Just about any action on the Mac side will prompt Windows to try to install the printer. I'm guessing it's a problem with Parallel's tools. Just an FYI.
 
When I installed the PD7 upgrade yesterday, it too was trying to install more than one printer that doesn't and never exist on my system.
 
I've had the exact same experience since upgrading to Parallels 7 Desktop for Mac. I'm running Windows 7 as guest OS on my home desktop connected via Ethernet. It keeps "installing drivers" for a USB HP 2800 LaserJet over and over again. That printer isn't and has never been connected to this computer. After it says it installed the driver successfully, such a printer doesn't show up on my Windows 7 side as installed.
 
Also seeing this

I'm also noticing the same problem. I've never had an HP printer connected to my machine nor is there one on any of the networks I connect to. Seems to happen randomly though, mostly when starting up the VM and then it settles down only to start installing again a few hours later.
 
I have the same exact problem. I just moved from XP to 7, and this problem didn't happen under 7. Is there a way to find out if Parallels is working on a fix?
 
I think the HP printer is the one that Parallels uses to send your output to the Mac printer. It installs that but if everything goes well the name of it then changes to that of your Mac Printer. I'd guess Parallels is triggering that printer install, not sure why it's not completing and continuing to try to install.

What happens if you deselect "Use Default Mac Printer" in Parallels? That should at least stop Windows from trying to install that printer. If that helps then perhaps remove all the printers listed in Windows, then reboot and see if Windows is still trying to install non-existent printers.

If that works reinstall Parallels Tools to ensure you have the latest version. Then either install the Windows printer driver for the printer(s) you want to use, or try enabling "Use Default Mac Printer" again and see if it finished the install of the HP printer correctly (and renames it),
 
Thanks Megavolt! Deselecting the "Add all Mac Printers" in the hardware section of of the configuration screen fixed the problem and removed all the duplicate 2800 laserjet printers.
 
I also have this problem. Each time I start Parallels 7 and Win 7 VM, it reloads all the Mac printers found in my Mac preference files. It uses the HP2800 driver. If I configure the VM to NOT add all Mac printers, I cannot print from the VM. It does not seem to affect the loading of all mac printers whether I have the synchronize default printer checked or not. I have also tried reloading PD7 as well as reloading tools but no change in behavior. Everything works and prints fine but the loading of printers and drivers each time I boot into the VM seems like a bug.
 
I installed the PD7 update as prompted and the phantom printer problem is still there. Deselecting "Add all Mac printers" may be a stopgap, but this behavior (continually installing the HP2800) did NOT happen in PD6. I'd consider it a bug in PD7 and I'm disappointed that it wasn't fixed in the update.
 
Hello!

I take my Macbook Pro to two different locations. One location has an HP wireless printer, and the other an Epson. Both are setup on Mac OS X Lion and work fine. Windows 7, on the other hand, while running as a VM constantly installs the newly found printer that's not there. Just about any action on the Mac side will prompt Windows to try to install the printer. I'm guessing it's a problem with Parallel's tools. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...

Hello, LoyeP
How many printers installed in Mac OS (look in Preferences -> Print & Scan)? Parallels Desktop 7 create as many printers in Windows as there are in the Mac OS. If you have two printers in Mac OS, then Parallels Desktop 7 installs two printers in Windows (all of type HP 2800 LaserJet), which will be named as printers in Mac OS.
After all the printers will appear, then you shouldn't see installations of new printers. Is this true?
 
Ken1 said:
When I installed the PD7 upgrade yesterday, it too was trying to install more than one printer that doesn't and never exist on my system.
Click to expand...

Hello, Ken1
It's normal if you see installation of printers HP 2800 LaserJet in Windows. Parallels Desktop 7 create as many printers in Windows as there are in the Mac OS. This allows you see from Windows Application (Wordpad) same printers you see from Mac Application and print on it. Please check, how many printers installed in you Mac OS. Windows (Start ->Devices & Printers) and Mac (Preferences -> Print & Scan) must have the same number of printers, with the same names.
 
mkertzman said:
After it says it installed the driver successfully, such a printer doesn't show up on my Windows 7 side as installed.
Click to expand...

Windows (Start ->Devices & Printers) and Mac (Preferences -> Print & Scan) have the same number of printers, with the same names after driver installed successfully. Is this true? Maybe you doesn't see installed printer because it was renamed by parallels tools?
 
HI Kirill
I understand what you are saying. Yes, PD7 installs all of my printers as seen in Mac preferences and then it uses the HP 2800 LaserJet as its driver but names the printer as seen in Mac preferences. That is all good. The problem is, every time I shut down my Win7 VM and close PD7 and then restart start it, all the printers load again rather than remembering what it had done last time and it produces a beeping sound each time a printer is loaded into memory. In PD6 the printers were loaded one time and then "remembered" by the system. This seems like a bug in the software. It should not need to reload each printer each time I start the software.
 
mkertzman said:
I installed the PD7 update as prompted and the phantom printer problem is still there. Deselecting "Add all Mac printers" may be a stopgap, but this behavior (continually installing the HP2800) did NOT happen in PD6. I'd consider it a bug in PD7 and I'm disappointed that it wasn't fixed in the update.
Click to expand...

Hello, mkertzman!
How many printer installed in Mac OS X (Preferences -> Print & Scan)?
Parallels Desktop 7 creates as many printers in Windows as there are in the Mac OS, with the same names like in Mac OS. Is this true? Your problem is that the printer periodically reinstalled?
Please, generate problem report and write it number here.
 
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