Epson WF-2960 icon missing from Windows Taskbar; can't access Utilities

[Electrojim]

Don't know if this had anything to do with it, but following a Windows general update the printer icon in my Taskbar has disappeared and I can no longer pull up the Epson Utilities that show ink level, etc. The Fax Reception icon is there, but nothing for the printer...

Task Manager / Startup says Epson Status Monitor 3 is enabled...

...but I don't see it running in msconfig...

Any ideas on why it's missing in action? Many thanks.

 

[Smile]

Windows updates always causes more problems then solves, i have disabled them. You need to uninstall epson software then download latest version and perform clean reinstall.

 

[Tony4597]

Rarely do Windows updates cause problems in my experience and if they do you can always roll back. Disabling updates is not a good idea.

You may need to uninstall and reinstall drivers, but there may not be an issue and you may want to just reinstate the option to display the icon in the taskbar. I am not familiar with your printer or driver but assume that Epson drivers follow a similar pattern throughout the range.

If that is the case the sequence may be similar to Epson P800:

1. Open any document and select print and in the dialogue box that follows make sure your printer is highlighted (assuming you may have more than one)

2. Click Preferences and your Printer Preferences dialogue should open.

3. Click Utility then click (or double click) on Epson Status Monitor. The Monitoring pref should open
make sure the Select Shortcut icon ticked and all being well you should get the icon back on the Taskbar

 

[Smile]

Rarely do Windows updates cause problems in my experience and if they do you can always roll back

There are updates that cant be uninstalled, and only backup restore would help. If it ant broken do not fix it.

 

[Electrojim]

Thanks to you both. Yes, I'm a bit hesitant to turn off all Windows updates, although I do have a utility installed that keeps Microsoft from downloading and installing updates automatically; I like to see what they're foisting-off on me before embracing anything new.
.
Tony, there is a box to check for the icon in the tray, but it is checked and still no icon. Moreover, through the method you suggested I was also able to bring up the ink level display, but the image on the screen was corrupted (no color, ugly graphic... not what I saw in the past), so I have downloaded the installation package again and will do an uninstall/reinstall per Smile's recommendation later today. Wish me luck!

 

[Tony4597]

There are updates that cant be uninstalled, and only backup restore would help. If it ant broken do not fix it.

There is a limited time to roll back updates I think around 10 days?

All systems should be considered broken including Windows and Mac OS. Looking at a broader picture you may also wish to consider the UK Post Office/Fujitsu problems and numerous security breaches within our NHS.

If you turn off updates, you are leaving your door (or windows 😉 ) open to potential security issues which in the main these updates are meant to fix.
In that case, it might be better to consider alternative solutions such as using a more lightweight OS.

 

[Electrojim]

A quick FYI follow-up on this matter. I uninstalled everything Epson that I found in my list of installed programs, and was amazed by the number of what looked like incidental or add-on programs associated with this printer. I'm more used to HP printers that uninstall with a single click.

But I got it all purged, the reinstalled, and am now back in full operation with the proper icon in the tray and functionality of the printer monitoring utility. I did notice that at least a couple of the items to be flushed and reinstalled had an option for "repair," which I guess I should have tried first. If this situation was caused by a Windows update, it'll probably happen again, so I'll try the repair option then.

Thanks again for the guidance; I do appreciate forums and newsgroups.

 

[Smile]

Good job, the repair works only sometimes