Symptom
Your printers, scanners and other devices are correctly installed, but when you open your “Devices and Printers” in Windows 7, it is blank – all devices and printers are missing. It may take some time to open, or hang in the process, and eventually return an empty window.
This issue has been observed mainly on computers running Windows 7, 32 and 64 Bits versions. However, it may be affecting other Windows operating systems.
The Fix
Chats and discussions in forums show that this is a problem affecting many Windows 7 computers, and though users have tried many suggested fixes, they were not able to restore their devices and printers. Some of the solutions tried were re-installing drivers, editing Windows registry and disabling services may be conflicting with the devices.
The solution that worked for me is really simple. It is described below, and is the only fix that has consistently worked for many users:
1) Click on Start button at the bottom left corner of your Windows 7 computer
2) Type “Services” in the search field
3) Click on Services in the search results. This will open a window that lists the local services on your computer.
4) Scroll down the list and select Bluetooth Support Service
5) Right click on Bluetooth Support Service and select Properties
6) In the Properties windows, use the drop down arrow in Startup type: and select Automatic
7) Click Apply at the bottom of the Properties window
8) Click Ok to close the window
9) Click Start at the Service status: section of the Bluetooth Service Properties window
10) Go to Start > Devices and Printers
11) Your Devices and Printers will now be available.
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