Phantom printers appearing in my PC

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nancy
  • Start date Start date
N

Nancy

It's happened twice now in the last 4-6 months. The
printer which is connected directly to the PC slows way
down or stops printing. I check the printers in Control
panel and find that there are other people's printers
(icons) there along with mine. This time I have two.
Sometimes they have people's names associated with them.
Where are they coming from? How do they get on our PC?
Is this a security issue I need to worry about? What can
I do to get rid of them besides just deleting them in the
Control Panel? How can I keep this from happening again?
It's freaky!

Thanks.
 
Are you on a network with the persons whose printers show
up? Or, are they just random, unknown, names?

If you are on a network I'd say someone is playing games
with the printers. If not, then I agree - something
weird is happening. Possibly a virus or spyware.
 
We aren't on a network and don't know who they are. One
of the two we have right now say Auto HP LaserJet (with a
number string) and the other says Auto Tektronic Phaser
740 Plus (with a number string). When we got them
before, there were as many as 6 at one time, most with
people's names, like John's home printer or similar.

I now have Adaware and Spyware downloaded but can't
figure this thing out. I wish there was a way to find
out where they are coming from.

Any other ideas?
 
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