Windows Update breaks Microsoft XPS Printer which QB Desktop relies on for many functions
I just thought I'd give a heads-up to anyone else who might have experienced the same issue as I have. This is the second occurrence for me.
On Jan 31, 2022, Microsoft downloaded and installed update KB5009596. I had not tried to use any affected areas of Quickbooks until Thursday, Feb 3/22, so didn't experience the errors until then. I spent two full days troubleshooting and trying to find out why my Quickbooks desktop all of a sudden could not:
- Reconcile an account without locking up and having to be re-started
- Email T4's without locking up and having to be re-started
- Email paystubs without locking up and having to be re-started
- Add a class to a transaction or edit a class in an existing transaction without an Unrecoverable Error, which shuts the program down immediately.
This happened to me a couple of months ago also. I thought it might be the most recent Windows update then, but when attempting to uninstall that update, it was greyed out and wouldn't allow me access. I ended up having to re-install .NET framework, and download a new, clean copy of Microsoft XPS Document Writer to get QB working properly again. That was a two-day ordeal as well.
This time, I didn't initially try to uninstall the Windows update of Jan 31/22, as I thought it would be the same as last time and not allow me to do it. I guess I should have looked - - would have saved me several hours on the phone with QB support (who could not fix the problem), multiple attempts at repairing using the QB Tool Hub, uninstalling and reinstalling the program itself, and a ton of grief overall. It should also be noted that when using the Tool Hub and running the utility that you would think would repair this issue (the Quickbooks Print & PDF Repair Tool), it actually deletes the Microsoft XPS Document Writer completely.
Long story short, I finally thought to look at the latest update and lo and behold, I could uninstall it. Immediately after uninstalling that update and re-booting, QB desktop was back to it's old self, rectifying everything in my list above. A complete and utter waste of two days. ARGHHHH!
I said all that to say this . . . if you have ever, or are now experiencing issues with the items in the list above, it is a MS Windows update that has likely caused it and uninstalling it should set your QB right again. The downside is that even if you delay your updates for the maximum 35 days that MS now allows you, eventually this update will be foisted upon you again.
Intuit, can you please notify Microsoft that this update can break the functionality of the XPS Document Writer (and somehow involves .NET framework as well), rendering many features of QB unusable and constant unrecoverable errors and shut-downs? Perhaps they will provide another update to "fix" the update KB5009596.