Windows 10 Installing Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 on Windows 10 PC kills some of the installed virtual printers

[LRC-cc]

I recently installed an updated version of VMWare Player which also installed Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 (both x86 and x64 flavors). After this install I noticed that some virtual printers on my Windows 10 Pro PC no longer worked.


By "virtual printers" I mean installed printers that print to files or print directly into other applications (see the list further below).


I figured out the problem is directly related to the install of Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 by this series of experiments:

1. I tried uninstalling/re-installing some of the virtual printers (such as Bullzip PDF Printer), but this did not fix the problem
   
2. I used System Restore to restore to a point just before the VMWare Player and Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 installations.
   • All of the virtual printers now worked again
3. I downloaded and installed Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 (both x86 and x64 flavors) directly from Microsoft's "The latest supported Visual C++ downloads" web page.
   • The virtual printers stopped working again
4. I uninstalled Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 (both x86 and x64 flavors) from Control Panel's Programs, then restarted the PC
   • After restart the virtual printers still didn't work
5. I used System Restore to restore to a point just before theMicrosoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 installations.
   • All of the virtual printers now worked again

Based on the above results it is clear to me that:

• VMWare Player software is not the problem
• The problem is related to Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 installation (and/or the later versions too)
• The problem must be occuring during the installation of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017, and 2019 because uninstalling it doesn't make the problem go away
  • In other words - something during the installation process is making a permanent change which kills these virtual pdf printers, a System Restore is the only way to recover functionality

It is interesting to note that only some of the virtual pdf printers on my PC are affected/killed by installation of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019, there are other virtual pdf printers that continue to work OK.


Here is the list of virtual pdf printers which continue to work OK after installation of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019:

• eDoc Printer PDF Pro
• Foxit Reader PDF Printer
• Microsoft Print to PDF

Here is the list of virtual printers which no longer work after installation of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019:

• Bullzip PDF Printer
• PaperPort Image Printer (from PaperPort v14)
  
• Send to One Note 2010
• Snagit 2019

Clearly these virutal printers must be using some particular service/feature of Windows 10 that is being affected by the MS Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 (and later) installation.


For the record I'll note that I have many earlier-year versions of MS Visual C++ Redistributable installed on my PC - these do not affect the virtual printers.


This is a very serious problem/bug for me. I use the virtual printers all the time but realize that as time goes by various software updates (like VMWare Player) will want to install MS Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 (and later) which will then kill some of my virtual printers.


I look forward to hearing from anyone who can provide insight and hopefully a fix for this issue.


Thanks!


LRC-cc

Continue reading...