HP LaserJet 1018 Not Printing After a Windows 7 x64 Update — the Fix
Everything was fine until one day an optional Windows update was installed — new drivers for the HP LaserJet 1018. This was on Windows 7 x64, with the printer connected over the network. After the update the printer was visible, its status was Ready, we sent a document to print — and silence. Rebooting, removing and reinstalling the printer didn’t help.
Still, there is a way to get the printer working again: you need to completely remove the new driver, not just the printer itself.
Why this happens
The HP LaserJet 1018 is a simple printer without its own “smart” firmware: the driver on the computer does all the page preparation and also loads the firmware into the printer when it’s switched on. So with an unsuitable driver the printer looks ready but prints nothing. And if you only remove the printer, the driver stays in the system and Windows installs it again.
The fix: HP 1018 + Windows 7 x64
- Clear the print queue.
- Remove the HP 1018 printer the usual way: Devices and Printers → right-click → Remove device.
- Open Print Server Properties: Start → Run →
printui /s /t2. On the Drivers tab select the HP LaserJet 1018 driver → Remove → Remove driver and driver package. - Reboot and install the printer the same way as before. It should work.
If the driver won’t remove (“in use”), stop and restart the print spooler — in a Command Prompt run as administrator:
net stop spooler net start spooler
If you delete the files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS while the service is stopped (between these two commands), you’ll also clear a stuck print queue.
Where to get the right driver
Download the driver from HP’s official website or use this one: a working HP 1018 driver for Windows 7 x64 (3 MB, Russian-language installer).
To keep the problem from coming back, hide this optional driver update in Windows Update: right-click the update → Hide update.
If it didn’t help
- Most likely the old driver wasn’t removed completely, and after the reboot Windows installed its own again. Repeat the removal, reboot, and only then install the right driver. Keep the printer unplugged from USB meanwhile and connect it when the installer asks.
- With other printers (for example, the Xerox Phaser 3117) the method is the same: remove the driver completely and find an older version that works.
P.S. Please let us know in the comments whether it worked for you. Judging by the feedback, it worked for most people.