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Writer's pictureGeorge Hepworth
Jun 252 min read

Windows Generic/Text Only Printer Driver Fails for Access Reports (Fixed)

Updated: Jul 18

Description


Windows updates KB5039211 (Windows 10) and KB5039212 (Windows 11) appear to cause the Windows Generic Text/Only driver to fail.


Reports using the generic driver are blank while being prepared in Print Preview, and then fail with an overflow memory error like this:


"There isn't enough free memory to update the display. Close unneeded programs and try again."


Typical discussions of the problem are here.




The problem is the printer driver, not the physical printer. It occurs with different physical printers, including an Epson dot matrix printer and a Zebra label printer when used with the Windows Generic Text/Only driver.


Status

According to reports in the Answers discussion

the problem has been fixed by the updates KB5040427 (Windows 10) and KB5040442 (Windows 11), both released on July 9.



Microsoft does not mention the problem or the fix in its articles about the causing or fixing KB updates. It is precisely because of such weaknesses in the documentation that the public forums are important and that we maintain this blog.


Workaround

Rolling back KB5039211 or KB5039212 fixes the problem for users who have reported doing so in the forums. Private communication from another Access developer, also confirms uninstalling KB5039212 fixes the problem for her client.

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Justin Osborne
Justin Osborne
shortDate

Anyone tested the July Cumulative to see if the issue is addressed with it yet?

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kalbert
shortDate

We develop a commercial software product running on Access 2007/2016/365 runtimes. The product prints Concrete Batching Tickets using Access reporting, to various DOT Matrix printers (OKI, Epson) through a Generic/Text-Only Driver. We have 1000 customers across the US that all have blank tickets after Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB5039211) is installed. Each customer may print hundreds of tickets per day. We have been very busy the past couple weeks uninstalling this Security Update to resolve the issue. Problem is that the update is 'required' so it keeps reinstalling itself. This is a major hassle.

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Richard Rost
Richard Rost
shortDate

Who figured this one out? Does anyone actually still use this driver? LOL

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degannesi
shortDate
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You'll be surprised at just how many people use this driver. In my search for a solution, I've seen entire printing businesses shut down because of it, myself included. We use it to print on IBM 6500 v20 line printers, and post update sending jobs only outputs blank pages. Uninstalling the KB5039211 update resolves the issue.

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