Devices and Printers give you a quick view and access to all of your connected and wireless devices on your computer. Also from here you can manage, add and remove smartphones, portable music players, digital cameras, webcams, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, Bluetooth adapters and more. And is easily accessible from the control panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers. But sometimes users report devices and printers not loading. Especially after the recent windows 10 update opening devices and printers not responding.
Users report after a recent Windows 10 update
Go into devices and printers in Windows 10 and it keeps hanging and says not responding.
Fix devices and printers slow to load windows 10
There are various reasons that can cause the issue it may be corrupted system files, or the installed printer driver is not compatible with the latest windows version. User profile corrupted, or may any printer related service (Print spooler) stuck, not running etc. If you’re currently struggling with this particular issue, Here are some Solutions you may apply to get rid of this.
First of all, Unplug the printer and external devices and check if you can access the devices and printers window. If it works, then plug in one device at a time and check which device is causing the problem.
Run the printer troubleshooter
Run the Printer troubleshooter and let windows diagnose the exact issue itself.
- Press Windows + I keyboard shortcut to open the settings app,
- Click on Update & security then Troubleshoot, and click on additional troubleshooters
- Here on the right-hand side scroll down and look for printer
- Select the printer option and click on Run the troubleshooter.
This Printer troubleshooter will check if:
- You have the latest Printer drivers, and fix and or update them
- If you have connectivity issues
- If the Print Spooler and required Services are running fine
- Any other Printer related issues.
After completion, the troubleshooting process restarts windows and check everything working fine printer is printing documents as before and opens Devices and Printers without any stuck.
Perform a clean boot
Start windows into clean boot state check and make sure any third-party application not causing the issue ( printer not working, Devices and Printers not Loading ).
Here follow the Steps below to perform a clean boot:
- Press Windows + R, type msconfig and Click ok To open the system configuration window.
- Here On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
- And Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items checkbox.
- Then move to the Services tab,
- Click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services checkbox, and then click Disable All.
- Click OK And When you are prompted, click Restart.
Now on the next login open Devices and printers and check it opens properly If yes then may any third party application causing the issue and you have to find out the problematic application.
Run SFC scan
The System File Checker (SFC) scan will make Windows replace corrupt or missing system files on your computer. Run the system file checker utility to check and make sure corrupted, missing system files not causing the issue.
- Search for cmd, Right click on the command prompt and select run as administrator,
- Here on the command prompt window, type command sfc /scannow and hit the enter key,
- This will start the scanning process for missing corrupted system files,
- If found any the utility will restore them from %WinDir%\System32\dllcache
- Wait until 100% complete the scanning process after that restart windows
Check If the issue was caused by a corrupted system file, you should be able to open the Devices and Printers window without issues.
Also if SFC scan results found corrupted system files but are unable to repair some of them Then run the DISM command which repairs the system image and allows SFC to do its job.
Check Bluetooth Support and Print Spooler Service Running
If apply the above solutions didn’t fix the problem, Still Devices and Printers not Loading or the printer not working properly Then open Windows Services And check if the Bluetooth Support service or the Print Spooler service Is in running state.
- Press the Windows key + R to open a Run window.
- Then, type “services.msc” and hit Enter to open up the windows services console.
- In the Services window, scroll down through the list of Services (Local), right-click on Print Spooler and choose Properties.
- In the Print Spooler Properties screen, go to the General tab and set the Startup type to Automatic.
- Then, hit apply to save the changes.
Next, return to the services list and right-click on Bluetooth Support Service and choose Properties. Then, go to the General tab and set its Startup Type to Automatic. Also ensure that the following device-related Services have the following Startup types:
- Device Management Enrollment Service – Manual
- Device Association Service – Manual (Trigger Start)
- Device Install Service – Manual (Trigger Start)
- Device Setup Manager – Manual (Trigger Start)
- DevQuery Background Discovery Broker – Manual (Trigger Start).
Restart your computer and see if the issue has been resolved by opening the Devices and Printers folder.
Register the IE8 DLL
Also, Some users suggest (Microsoft forum, Reddit) Register the IE8 Dll help them to resolve the issue “blank Devices and Printers folder ” Try this solution it may help you also.
- Open the command prompt as administrator,
- Type regsvr32 “%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\ieproxy.dll” And Press Enter key to execute the command.
- You should see a confirmation window “registration is successful”.
- Close Everything and restart windows, on the next start check Devices and Printers windows not causing any issues.
Reinstall the printer driver
If applying the above solutions didn’t fix the problem, I recommend you uninstall and reinstall the printer driver from the printer manufacturer’s website and check. Follow the steps:
- Press the Windows key + R, Type devmgmt.msc in the box and hit Enter.
- Go to Printer queues and uninstall the driver.
Then visit the Printer manufacturer’s website and download and install the latest printer driver. Restart windows and check this resolve the issue.
Also some users report create a new user account profile helps them to fix devices and printers not loading windows 10.
Did these solutions help to resolve the problem “Devices and Printers not Loading on Windows 10” let us know which option worked for you. Still, have any queries, or suggestions about this post feel free to discuss on the comments below. Also, Read
- Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware (Code 37)
- Fix print spooler service not running after the windows 10 update
- Fix Audio services not responding Problem on windows 10
- Windows 10 Freezes frequently while playing Games
- Solved: Windows 10 black screen with cursor after Login
- 15 Tips to Optimize Windows 10 for better performance
