Whenever I attached my HP to my system, this error pops up. Error Code 20 is a reaper that reaps your printers. How? I’ve managed to find from where exactly it comes from and what you can do to get rid of it. Interested to know? Read on.
Restart the Printer
Whenever this error pops up, shut down your printer. Disconnect the power cord and the USB cable connected to your PC. Connect it again later. But first, follow these simple steps.
Use Printer Troubleshooter
Everyone knows that Windows has an in-built utility to diagnose problems with your printer device. All you’ve to do is to ensure that you run it with the required admin privileges by selecting the right option. Where to find that right option? Well, that’s exactly resides in the Advanced category.
Confused? Yeah, I too. But I’ve found another option to repair all problems automatically. Simply type Find and fix printing problems in your Windows Search. You’ll be prompted to select your printer in Page # 2.
Now Set Your Desired Printing Device as a Default Printer
The printer you’re using should be set as a default printer. Under Printers and Scanners tab of the Devices page in your PC Settings, click Devices and printers link under Related Settings category. You can set desired printing device as the default printer by right clicking on its icon. Select Set as default printer option from the right-click menu options.
See What’s Printing. Stop Active Tasks if Your Printer is Busy
Check if your printer is already working on other documents. Use the See what’s printing icon on the standard toolbar in Devices and Printers page. This page is comes in your Hardware and Sound settings of your Control Panel. If the printer is already busy in other tasks, do stop the active tasks and try again.
Reinstall HP Printer Software
A word of recommendation: If some software files are missing, corrupted, or deleted do update them from the official website. There you need to insert your HP Model Number in the text box. Click Identify Now button under the Let HP Find my products category. Whew! HP comes in handy.
Restart Print Spooler Service
Do you know that the Print Spooler service handles all your printing jobs. If it’s malfunctioned or stopped working, your printer is not activated and this is from where that mighty reaper (error code 20) comes up.
But hey, there’s an option to stop this service in Service Properties dialog box under Services.msc tool.
Disable Norton Antivirus Plug-In in Microsoft Office
Why? When you install Norton Antivirus, it installs a special plug-in in Microsoft Office stand-alone apps such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel and so on. Norton Antivirus fights with that plug-in, and it doesn’t allow your printer to get activated. And so that reaper reaps in.
Disable that plugin by unchecking Office plug-in. Office plugin is in the Miscellaneous tab of the Options dialog box of Norton Antivirus. You can also use the Add-Ins tab in the Word Options. Open that dialog by choosing “Options” from the File menu.
Reinstall USB Composite Device
Use Device Manager from Computer Management window located under System and Security > Administrative Tools in your PC’s settings. You’ll find USB Composite Device node after expanding the top node representing your PC Name. Simply uninstall it. Restart your PC. And reinstall it with the New Hardware wizard. Why? It detects newly detected device(s) automatically. But if it doesn’t work out, right click the top node and scan hardware changes.