HP is the biggest manufacturer of consumer printers in the world, according to a 2021 statistic. However, with less than 25 percent market share, it’s not a monopoly. Many Windows users were puzzled when all their printers, regardless of the manufacturer, suddenly appeared as “HP LaserJet M101-M106” last week.
The issue seems to be caused by a Windows update that incorrectly relabeled some or all of the hardware printers connected to PCs with wrong metadata and automatically installed the HP Smart app. The bug was reported by Windows users to various Microsoft support systems and spotted by Tom’s Hardware.
While the bug doesn’t seem to cause technical problems for most users, having incorrectly labeled printers can be problematic for a busy office that may end up using expensive ink or toner by sending print jobs to the wrong printer. Both HP and Microsoft are aware of the issue, but no fix or workaround has been discovered yet.
