A printer driver or software is a connection between your printer and computer that gives commands to the printer to tell it how and what to print. There are several possible reasons why the Ricoh printer driver may stop working. For example, it may be incompatible or corrupt, the settings may be incorrect, or it may be missing updates. Fixing a printer driver issue is often an easy matter of updating, installing, or reinstalling the printer driver.
Causes of Ricoh Printer Driver Problem
There can be many reasons why Ricoh printers stop working and show the ""Printer Driver Unavailable"" error. Identifying the cause will help in fixing the issue using the proper procedures. Here are the main reasons for this problem with Ricoh printers:
The system has an outdated printer driver: The printer driver in Windows or Mac systems is out of date. When you've used the printer for a long time and have not updated the software, it causes a working problem and stops printing.
Latest Updates Ignored: To avoid printer issues, you should only install new software updates whenever you see pending updates, download and install them to stop or fix printer driver software-related problems.
The system has corrupted files: When you download a corrupted printer driver software, you face printing problems, or the printer displays are unavailable. The system may not recognize the corrupt printer driver software and doesn't allow it to be set.
Solutions To Ricoh Printer Driver Issues
You can download a file to your computer or type a document you need in hard copy, but nothing happens when you attempt to send it to print. If the printer has stopped working, and instead, you see a Printer Driver Is Unavailable message on the screen, you need to find out what the issue is. Here are three solutions to resolve this error while running Windows 10 computer:
Solution 1: Run Your Windows Update Utility
One of the reasons your Windows 10 system may show the Printer Driver Is Unavailable message could be that you have an outdated operating system. For this, you should install all available Windows Updates as soon as possible. It will help you print again and ensure your computer's overall security and stability. Here's how to run the Windows Update tool:
- In the first step, press the Start button on the lower right side of the screen.
- After that, you have to press the Settings icon.
- Then, select the Update & Security option.
- Your computer will search for updates and, if any, will be downloaded and installed automatically.
- After the update procedure is finished, restart your PC.
After your computer restarts, you can check the error and attempt to print it to check if that fixed the problem.
Solution 2: Update The Ricoh Printer Driver Manually
You should consider updating the Ricoh printer drivers if you still have an issue after updating Windows. You can visit the printer manufacturer's website and find out whether Windows 10 computers support the printer. Printer driver downloads are usually found in the support section of the manufacturer.
If your printer is supported, you should download the latest version. Once downloaded, double-click on the file to add a new printer driver. However, you may find that the printer only supports the manual installation of printer drivers. You can do this by following the instructions given below:
- As your initial step, you need to open the Control Panel tab.
- Then, select the Small icons to view at the top right of the dialog box and hit the Device Manager section.
- Find the printer for which you need to install the printer driver within the Device Manager window.
- Often, you'll find that the printer with corrupt or outdated printer drivers will have a yellow exclamation mark next to their name.
- Right-click on the printer name and select the Update Driver Software option from the menu.
- A new window will appear with 2 options.
- Select the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.
- Follow the steps in the wizard that will appear to install the latest printer drivers for the printer if you haven't already.
- If you've already downloaded printer drivers from the manufacturer's support website, select “Browse my computer for driver software” instead.
Solution 3: Install the Ricoh Printer Drivers
- First, go to the printer manufacturer's website and search for printer drivers.
- After that, find the correct printer driver software for the Ricoh printer model.
- Now, download and install the printer driver. You have to restart your PC after a new printer driver is installed.
It's easy to reinstall the printer driver software that comes with your printer. Just insert the disc into your disc drive and follow your on-screen steps.
