Microsoft’s Solution for Windows Printer Renaming Is Still Frustrating

In a strange bug, some users found their printers renamed to “HP Laserjet M101-M106” after the latest Windows update, regardless of their actual brand or model. This was understandably frustrating, especially in offices with multiple printers. Microsoft has released a fix for the issue, but users will need to manually download a custom troubleshooter application, the “Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool December 2023”. This tool will restore the correct label to the printer and remove the HP Smart application that was automatically installed. As noted by Tom’s Hardware, it’s annoying that another application has to be downloaded to fix the issue and remove an extraneous application. However, it seems that the bug was deeply embedded in the Windows printer system and required creating four new executables (x32, x64, x86, and ARM) to resolve it. Until the paperless office arrives, we may have to continue dealing with these types of issues.