HOW TO FIX SETTING DEFAULT PRINTER ERRORS.

BEST FIX: Steps To Fix Error 0x00000709

Kevin Arrows November 29, 2014 Guides 27 Comments

This error is usually caused when you are unable to setup your new printer or a different printer as your default printer other then the one that is already setup as default. This is caused by a glitch in the registry settings, which prioritizes the previous printer to be the default one.

In order to fix this issue, the registry needs to be manually modified.

However, before proceeding with making changes to the registry you must back them up incase something goes wrong; you should be able to restore the registry.

To backup registry, after opening it, Click File -> Export, name the registry file, eg: backupreg and click Save. To import / restore from backup, open registry editor again, click  File -> Import, and select the file you exported earlier. See below on how to access registry editor.

Steps To Fix Error 0x00000709 – Method 1

1. Click the Start button located at the bottom left and type regedit, this will list the result in the search pane, right click regedit and select “Run As Administrator”.

2. Expand the tree and scroll down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER

– Select Software
– Select Microsoft
– Select Windows
– Select Windows NT
– Select CurrentVersion
– Select Windows

Note that each folder is a subset of another folder, the main folder and the path of the destination folder is
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Windows

The picture above is an example, please scroll through to the complete path as stated above.

3. Select device key from the right pane, right click on it and select Modify now change the value, to the name of your printer. eg: HP Laserjet P1006,winspool,Ne03:

Only change the name of your printer, not the part after it, which in this example is ,winspool,Ne00:

Example, if your printer’s name is HP 1102W, then this would become HP 1102W,winspool,Ne00:

4. If you are prompted with the “cannot edit device” dialog, click OK.

5. Right click on the Windows folder from the left pane and choose Permissions, and put check in the Full Control box.

permissions Error 0x00000709

Steps To Fix Error 0x00000709 – Method 2

If the above method doesn’t works, then you should try this method, which is a bit easier.

1. Click Start and select “Devices & Printers”

2. Right click on the name of your printer and select “see what’s printing”

3. In the que view, select “Open As Administrator”

4. Then select “Set As Default Printer” on the main menu, note if it is already opened up as administrator, then you may not see the option to open it as administrator.