In a rather peculiar turn of events this year, users found their printers mysteriously labeled as “HP Laserjet M101-M106” following the latest Windows update. This glitch, though not as dramatic as Y2K, proved to be quite vexing, particularly in offices with multiple printers of different brands and models. Microsoft responded with a fix, but unfortunately, it’s not the seamless resolution users were hoping for.
Rather than a straightforward Windows Update patch to correct the auto-labeling error, affected users are required to manually download a specialized troubleshooter application. Dubbed the “Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool December 2023,” the tool aims to do exactly what its name suggests. It restores the accurate label to attached or networked printers (assuming they aren’t actually HP Laserjet M101-M106) and removes the automatically downloaded and installed HP Smart application.
While the fix addresses the problem, there’s a notable inconvenience – to rectify the issue and remove an extraneous application, users must download yet another application. As highlighted by Tom’s Hardware, it’s a tad frustrating that resolving the glitch necessitates the introduction of another tool. This particular bug seemed to have embedded itself deeply into the intricacies of the Windows printer system, requiring the creation of four new executables (x32, x64, x86, and ARM, as detailed on the support page).
It seems we’ll have to endure such peculiarities until the long-promised paperless office finally materializes, presumably in the distant future of 2005.
