Zebra Printers Unable to Print After Installing Windows Update
It has become evident that after installing KB5003690 or later Windows Security updates (including out of band updates, KB5004760 and KB5004945), users are having issues printing to certain printers. The issues are primarily found with receipt and label printers that connect via USB.
Printers affected include all printers running Windows 10 versions 21H1, 20H2, or 2004 and all printers running Windows Server 20H2 or 2004. Zebra printers have been impacted, as well as other brands and models.
Windows is aware of the issues affecting multiple brands of printers when printing from PCs that have been recently updated via the Windows Update Service (KB5004945, KB5004760, or KB5003690). They have found that the most common symptom is print jobs being sent, but not actually printing.
This issue is observed after users install the Windows 10 out-of-band security update KB5004945 (or previous updates, KB5004760 and KB5003690). The KB5004945 security update addresses a remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service, known as “PrintNightmare,” documented in this article.
The following are the affected Windows 10 versions and their Update KB IDs (build numbers):
- Windows 10/Windows Server version 21H1, 20H2, 2004 – KB5004945 (Builds 19041.1083, 19042.1083, and 19043.1083), including previous updates KB5004760 (Builds 19041.1082, 19042.1082, and 19043.1082) and KB5003690 (Builds 19041.1081, 19042.1081, and 19043.1081)
Please see the links below to view the steps being taken to address these issues across multiple versions of Windows:
| Windows | Version | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 | 21H1 | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-21h1#1647msgdesc |
| Windows 10 and Windows Server | 20H2 | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-20h2#1647msgdesc |
| Windows 10 and Windows Server | 2004 | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-2004#1647msgdesc |
Helpful Information:
- Microsoft Support: July 6, 2021—KB5004945 (OS Builds 19041.1083, 19042.1083, and 19043.1083) Out-of-band
- Microsoft Support: June 29, 2021—KB5004760 (OS Builds 19041.1082, 19042.1082, and 19043.1082) Out-of-band
- Microsoft Support: June 21, 2021—KB5003690 (OS Builds 19041.1081, 19042.1081, and 19043.1081) Preview
- Microsoft Security Response Center: Windows Print Spooler Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2021-34527)
- Windows Latest: Windows 10 KB5004945 emergency update released to fix PrintNightmare
