[rc cool]

I have a Lenovo L412 with Win 7 professional Service Pack 1. Printers etc were OK with a duly selected default printer (HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809) which was connected to a USB port of a different desktop. Well, a few days back the selected default printer had to be removed and a network printer (HP Color LaserJet CP2020 Series PCL6) was to be installed. Prior to the new installation the earlier selected default printer (HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809) was unceremoniously removed probably by using delete or backspace key in the 'Devices and printers' panel. However, since then it is not possible to select any printer as default.

Following have been noticed:
1. When one tries to select any printer other than the HP Color LaserJet CP2020 as default, nothing happens.
2. When one tries to select the HP Color LaserJet CP2020 as default, following error message is seen: "Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709). Double check printer name and make sure that the printer is connected to network." Needless to say that the printer is connected to network and I am able to check it by its IP address.

Anyway, even if no printer can be selected as default, different outcomes are seen for different usages as follows:

Printing Word document(docx), Powerpoint (ppt)
> 'Fax' appears as the default printer
> It is possible to select the CP2020 from the dropdown list of printers
> It is possible to print the document in CP2020.

Printing Excel document(xlsx)
> 'Fax' appears as the default printer
> Although the CP2020 printer appears in dropdown it is NOT possible to select it
> Obviously, it is NOT possible to print in CP2020.

Printing Acrobat documents (pdf)
> Although deleted, the HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809 appears as the default option
> CP2020 printer DOES NOT appear in dropdown list of printers
> Obviously, it is NOT possible to print in CP2020.

Just in case if it is of any use kindly be informed that in Registry, HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Windows it is seen that under "Device" still the old (deleted) printer (i.e., HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809) is appearing.

Searched in this forum and also googled for any solutions. However, no success yet.
Thanks for any help in resolving this problem.

[rc cool]

The solution to the above problem was found.

It was mentioned by me that:

"Just in case if it is of any use kindly be informed that in Registry, HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Windows it is seen that under "Device" still the old (deleted) printer (i.e., HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809) is appearing."

This is where the problem seemed to be. So, in HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Windows, under Device the old printer name (HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809) was replaced by the new printer name. For doing this administrator rights were necessary.

On hindsight it seems that if one deletes the default printer by using 'del' or 'backspace' key instead of using 'Remove device' tab (option available on right click over the device to be removed) such problems will arise.

[rshaffer61]

Thank you for following up and posting your resolution. I am sure it will help others in the future with the same issue. Congratulations for resolving the issue yourself.