On a Windows Server 2003 based computer, the upgrade of HP Print Driver hangs

Source: Microsoft Support

RAPID PUBLISHING ARTICLES PROVIDE INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM WITHIN THE MICROSOFT SUPPORT ORGANIZATION. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS CREATED IN RESPONSE TO EMERGING OR UNIQUE TOPICS, OR IS INTENDED SUPPLEMENT OTHER KNOWLEDGE BASE INFORMATION.

Note: This article is to replace the previous Knowledge Base article 946940.

On a Windows Server 2003 or Windows Vista based computer, when you  try to upgrade HP printer drivers, it hangs at the finish window. If you try to restart the spooler, the following error message occurs:

Unable to install printer driver, Operation could not be completed.

This may occur due to the problem of the hpbmini.dll file or the hpcdmc32.dll file from HP. They are located in the %windir%\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3 folder. directory. Here %windir% is the folder where Windows is installed, normally c:\Windows.

To resolve this issue, update the OEM HP print driver that uses the “hpbmini.dll” and/or “hpcdmc32.dll”. You may contact HP for further assistance.

The PrintDrivers.txt in MPSReport Setup/Perf version can be used to check if the driver is using these two files or not. To download the MPSReport tool, visit the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=CEBF3C7C-7CA5-408F-88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=CEBF3C7C-7CA5-408F-88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en)

Sometimes, updating the driver may not succeed if some other drivers have open handles to these files. In that case, we can rename these files to "hpbmini.dll.old” and “hpcdmc32.dll.old" and then try to install the updated driver which in turn updates the above two files. 

Note: We do not recommend to remove the above two files as it may break the point and print functionality. We suggest replace them with an updated version.

MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY OR ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE DOCUMENTS AND RELATED GRAPHICS PUBLISHED ON THIS WEBSITE (THE “MATERIALS”) FOR ANY PURPOSE. THE MATERIALS MAY INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND MAY BE REVISED AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM AND EXCLUDE ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, AND CONDITIONS WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, OR CONDITIONS OF TITLE, NON INFRINGEMENT, SATISFACTORY CONDITION OR QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE MATERIALS.