Why am I being blocked from installing Windows 11 2022H2 because of printer driver compatibility, even with no printers installed?

Question

I'm attempting to upgrade from Windows 11 21H1, build 22000.1165 to Windows 11 22H2, Windows Update does not offer the upgrade, and when I try installing the update manually, I receive an error message that links to the documentation for Windows safeguard hold ID 41332279, titled "Some installed printers might only allow default settings".

This error persists even after removing all printers and associated printer drivers in the Print Management console. The only printer drivers remaining are the x86 and x64 versions of the "Microsoft enhanced Point and Print compatibility driver". When I try to delete those drivers, I receive an error message that states "The selected driver cannot be deleted. The specified printer driver is currently in use."

I tried deleting those drivers with the Print Spooler service stopped, but I received an error that indicated that the Print Spooler service must be running.

I even tried deleting the registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3\Microsoft enhanced Point and Print compatibility driver and rebooting, but the key was automatically recreated after the reboot.

At this point I thing I'll need to reinstall Windows completely, which I really don't want to do.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

1. Stop the Print Spooler service.
2. Open an administrative command prompt.
3. Remove everything in your windows/system32/spool folder with the command rmdir /s %WINDIR%\system32\spool

This completely removes the printers from the system. Start spooler, Try the windows 11 installer again.

Further reading about the 41332279 states that a fix is currently in progress. MS say "We are working on a resolution and estimate the safeguard will be removed in mid-November."