When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Microsoft offers a temporary workaround for Patch Tuesday printer crashes

Windows 10 logo to the word Bugs

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a whole bunch of updates for Windows 10 users. These updates also included KB5000802 cumulative update that caused PCs to crash with 'APC_INDEX_MISMATCH' BSOD error when trying to use printers.

Yesterday, Microsoft acknowledged the issue and confirmed that the company was working on a fix for the problem. Now, it has updated the Windows Health status page to include a temporary workaround for the problem. According to Microsoft, the bug affects a subset of Type 3 printer drivers and does not affect Type 4 printers. As such, the company has shared a video for users to follow and fix the issue temporarily.

If you are unsure about the type of printer drivers you have, you can follow the steps below to check it:

  • Open Run by clicking Windows Search and typing "Run" or by pressing the Windows+R key.
  • Type "printmanagement.msc" and click 'Ok'. This should open Print Management window.
  • Now navigate to Print Servers > <your computer name> > Printers and you will see the list of installed printer drivers with their type listed in the adjacent column.
Print Management Console

Do note that if you get the "Windows can not find printmanagement.msc", you will need to install the service. To do that, open Windows Search and type "manage optional features" and press enter. Now click on 'Add a feature' and type 'print'. Click the checkbox next to "Print Management Console" and click on 'install'. Now, follow the aforementioned steps to determine the type of printer driver installed on your system.

Microsoft has not provided an ETA on a permanent fix, but the company is working on a solution which should be available in next couple of weeks.

Report a problem with article
Microsoft Windows and OPPO logos in silver on a dark background next to the Neowin Podcast logo
Next Article

Neowin Podcast Episode 20: Ignite recap, no more 3D in Windows, and new BBK phones

Angled view of the back of the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable
Previous Article

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable unboxing and first impressions

Join the conversation!

Login or Sign Up to read and post a comment.

18 Comments - Add comment