Windows Update Button Missing in Add Printer Dialog (Policies)

If the Windows Update button is missing in the Add a Printer wizard, this means that one or more Windows Update Policies are set in the system. If the system is part of a domain, Group Policies may have been applied. If you’re a home user and no domain Group Policies apply, checking the registry based Policies or Local Group Policies is in order.

Download wu-policies-add-printer.zip, unzip and run the enclosed Registry file. Here are the contents of the REG file

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Removes Windows Update Policies

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching]
"DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching]
"DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=-

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableWindowsUpdateAccess"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableWindowsUpdateAccess"=-

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableWindowsUpdateAccess"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableWindowsUpdateAccess"=-

If you plan to make the changes manually, follow these instructions:

Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and go to the following locations one by one, and remove the value name referenced for each branch:

Value name: DisableWindowsUpdateAccess

Registry Paths:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate

Value name: DontSearchWindowsUpdate

Registry Paths:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DriverSearching