Skip navigation.

Log in | Sign up

Phillip

my not so interesting life put on the internet

Fixing "Devices and Printers" in Windows 7

Sunday, 2. August 2009, 11:03:49

,

A few week ago some things stoped working on my Windows 7 installation. The most annoying thing was that I could safely remove my hardware anymore, no matter how often I clikced the icon, no pop-up menu would appear.
Opening the "Devices and Printers" window resulted in nothing but an empty window and an address-bar that kept indication that it was looking for something.
Since bluetooth was relying on this Devices and Printers window, it of course stopped working too.

First I tought it was caused by VirtualBox, since it installed a driver to overtake USB devices, but removing VirtualBox and any remaining drivers didn't resolve the problem. After looking for solutions and trying some things I decided to do something drastic: uninstall most devices and see how Windows reacts on it p:.
And it reacted pretty well to it. After rebooting the Devices and Printers window worked again untill Windows started installing and configure my Bluetooth dongle, logic reaction: bluetooth isn't fucked up by a faulty driver, bluetooth is the fucked up device.
After checking my services list I noticed that I had set the "Bluetooth Support" startup type to manual. Started the service and all the problems are resolved.

This actualy proves some things:
  • Windows 7 is not ready, or at least a troubleshoot pack should be made to fix this problem
  • OS'es become more complex, all components are interconnected and if one fails, everything fails
  • Don't mess around with Vista/7 services, they became to sensitive and a change easily renders windows unbootable

Happy SysAdmin DayInternship pt.5

Comments

daxonmacs 6. August 2009, 09:23

I heard first they were going to rebuild Windows 7 from scratch, but now I've read it's actually built on vista.
The os becomes more and more a piece of bloating software, way too big and not streamlined, demanding a bit too much of our systems.
I mean , a multiple Gb installation? Com 'on.

Phillip 6. August 2009, 10:45

Indeed, I don't know how they manage to put this many gigabytes in an OS :eek: . Okay, a clean openSuse installation also occupies a few gigabytes, but 16Gb (that's the size of my windows folder atm) for a W7 x64 ultimate edition installation, that's a lot !
Seven is supposed to have a new core that's built from scratch, but everything around this core is of course based on Vista, but at least they did it right this time :smile: (despite some bugs).

ericzb 11. August 2009, 15:40

Very helpful.

I was struggling with "Devices and Printers" this night.

Phillip 11. August 2009, 16:57

Glad I could help :wink:

Anonymous 26. October 2009, 03:26

Anonymous writes:

I enabled both Bluetooth services but still have this same issue. Any additional fixes recommended?

Phillip 26. October 2009, 15:15

Both services ? Then I assume you're not using the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (probably Widcomm or Bluesoleil ?).
Maybe you should disable the "Bluetooth Support Service" and only enable the other bluetooth service.

I've also noticed that sometimes it does take a while and a few refreshes before it shows all my devices and also that the "Bluetooth Devices" is a bit confusing. Windows doesn't show anything when I'm browsing for BT devices, but instead shows them in the list of connected devices (it's one level up as you can see here (the red underlined devices are both BT devices)

Here is the list of enabled services on my pc:
one
two

Anonymous 30. October 2009, 13:15

Rage Monkey writes:

I hate the new Windows 7. The fact that:

1. Something as basic as printer options have vanished as no devices are visible.

2. Folders open in new windows whatever the user preference.

3. Windows creates a secret partition without my permission.

Most of this was in the beta - can you seriously tell me that it wasn't fixable in the first 2 cases? I also hate that I should pay M$ for support for their shitty software when it is clearly their problem.

Phillip 31. October 2009, 10:22

Well, you can't expect beta software to be flawless :wink: .
I've never had or heard anything about your second problem, folders are being opened in the same window (unless I press the ctrl-key :smile: ).

The secret partition your talking about is nohting to worry about, it's there to hold to bootloader and other stuff. You should be glad that Microsoft separates this from the rest of the OS (and all your data). The main reason why they didn't assing a drive letter to it (which is something different than hiding it) is that normal users shouldn't be messing around with the data on that partition.

Anonymous 18. November 2009, 02:06

billbo writes:

Thank you very much! It works!!! That's amazing. I would have never figured this out.

Anonymous 3. December 2009, 01:03

Graeme writes:

I am plagued by this problem too.
My 'Devices and Printers' window is empty - says 0 devices at bottom left and no signs of searching for devices or anything.
All printer drivers I installed work OK - they just don't appear in 'Devices and Printers'.
Even more perplexing, when I click on icon for 'Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media' it comes up with a single item menu which allows me to 'Open Devices and Printers'- how wonderful!
Tried the Bluetooth 'solutions' and same result with no bluetoot, MS Bluetooth driver and Asus Bluetooth drivers - ensured services started and set to automatic.
Linux looks more attractive with each passing day...
Any further suggestions on this?

Phillip 3. December 2009, 08:43

Has it worked before or did it just stop ? In the last case you should think about the last thing you did before it stopped working. Other than that, I can't immediately think about anything that could fix this problem.
Maybe you could run the troubleshoot wizard (not that it has ever helped me, but hey, you never know p: ).
Open the start menu and type 'troubleshoot', there open the first item (troublshooting). Under 'Hardware and Sound', click on the 'Configure a device'. Seven will look for any problems and it'll try to fix them automatically for you. Maybe it helps.

And of course, installing the latest updates and drivers might fix it (and now that I'm typing this, I do remember something about video drivers causing this problem, try installing the lasts ones from the intel, ati or nvidia website :wink: ).

Anonymous 5. December 2009, 12:30

Graeme writes:

It worked initially when I first installed Windows. I don't know at what point it stopped working as I seldom look in 'Devices and Printers' and as everything seemed to be working OK had no reason to do so until I wanted to change defaults on a printer driver.
I ran the troubleshoot wizard as you suggested. It said it had made some changes but obviously not the right ones to fix my problem.
I installed the latest Nvidia Driver as you suggested and again no change.
Any more ideas? This just seems very strange. I thought of re-installing printer drivers but what I can't see I can't delete. The 'Select a device to add to this computer' just keeps searching for devices as long as I am prepared to let it run.
This is bizarre.
I have also started getting a BSOD when shutting down. Some mention serial.sys, some don't. Any connection?
Thanks for your tips so far.

Phillip 5. December 2009, 19:20

The BSODs might have something to do with the reason why devices and printers isn't work correctly.
If Windows stops, it usualy mentions an error code (something like 0x000AF0D0) on the BSOD. Write that one down and search the internet for this code :wink: .

Anonymous 5. December 2009, 23:20

Graeme writes:

Windows runs perfectly and the BSODs only occur during shutdown.
I was having some other issues with Outlook but resolved that by repairing the .pst files which somehow had got corrupted.
I am hardly a novice and just find it perplexing that so many strange issues are arising since I installed Win 7.
I will try what you suggest re the error code next time I get one.

Anonymous 6. December 2009, 02:03

Elbyron writes:

I have the same problem too. I don't have a Bluetooth dongle and I don't think my motherboard has built-in support. I do have a "Bluetooth Support Service" in my Services which I changed to Automatic and started it, but the problem persists. No other bluetooth-related entry in Services. This is on a new installation, and the only driver I changed was updating to the latest video drivers from ATI. I was able to add a network printer, but I just can't get to it through the Devices and Printers screen. Anyone have any further suggestions?

Anonymous 7. December 2009, 12:12

Graeme writes:

Hi Wutske,
That worked! At least my Devices and Printers now show up. It also allows USB devices to be ejected.
So it is an IE8 problem!
I got a BSOD today and the error code was 0x0000000A. Haven't rebooted so don't know if that is fixed yet. I will watch it over the next few days and see what happens and let you know.
Thanks for your help. Brilliant work!

Phillip 7. December 2009, 16:56

A 0x0000000A can be caused by anything, faulty drivers, bugs in a program, a hardware malfunction ...
Serial.sys should be a driver for serial ports (COM1, COM2, ...), tough it's now usually used for bluetooth serial port emulation.
I'd say, keep windows and your bluetoot stack up to date and maybe the problem stop one day =)

How to use Quote function:

  1. Select some text
  2. Click on the Quote link

Write a comment

Comment
(BBcode and HTML is turned off for anonymous user comments.)

If you can't read the words, press the small reload icon.


Smilies