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INTELLIscribe, type 4 drivers and Windows protected print mode

INTELLIscribe sends jobs from Windows printers, so two Windows settings decide whether it can work: the printer’s driver, and Windows protected print mode. Both come from Windows rules that apply to every printing product with its own printer port, not only to INTELLIscribe.

Q: Windows says “Unable to install printer” when I choose the INTELLIscribe port

A: The printer’s driver is almost certainly a class driver or another type 4 driver. Windows doesn’t allow those with a port monitor that isn’t Microsoft’s own, and INTELLIscribe’s port is handled by its own port monitor. Microsoft’s documentation states it directly: “Non-Microsoft port monitors and language monitors aren’t supported in the v4 driver model or with print class drivers.”

The message Windows shows rarely gives that reason. Depending on how the printer is created, it can be Unable to install printer, The printer name is invalid or This operation is not supported.

The answer is a type 3 driver for the printer:

  • Look on the printer maker’s website. Most makers offer a type 3 PCL6 or “universal” driver that covers their printers, such as the HP Universal Print Driver, Xerox Global Print Driver or Canon Generic PCL6 Driver.
  • Or, in the Add Printer wizard’s driver list, click Windows Update to load more drivers.
  • Or choose INTELLIscribe Generic PCL6, listed under Brooks Internet Software. INTELLIscribe 4.2 Setup installs it. It’s a type 3 driver for printers that understand PCL6 (PCL XL), as most office laser printers and copiers do, and prints in black and white or color, in duplex, from up to three trays.

Drivers that can’t be used on an INTELLIscribe port include:

  • any driver whose name ends in Class Driver, such as Microsoft PCL6 Class Driver, Microsoft PS Class Driver or HP LaserJet 2300L PS Class Driver;
  • Microsoft IPP Class Driver, which Windows chooses for printers it finds on the network;
  • other type 4 drivers, which don’t always say so in their name.

To see which type each installed driver is, run this in PowerShell. MajorVersion is 3 or 4:

Get-PrinterDriver | Sort-Object MajorVersion, Name | Format-Table Name, MajorVersion

When INTELLIscribe 4.2 imports a configuration and can’t install a printer’s own driver, it creates the printer with INTELLIscribe Generic PCL6 (or, if that isn’t installed, Generic / Text Only, a type 3 driver that comes with Windows but prints only plain text), and lists those printers so you can install their real drivers.

Q: What is Windows protected print mode, and why must it be off?

A: Windows protected print mode is a Windows 11 setting that stops Windows from loading any printer driver or port monitor that isn’t Microsoft’s, and prints only to printers Windows reaches directly over IPP. While it’s on, Windows doesn’t load INTELLIscribe’s port monitor: INTELLIscribe ports aren’t offered for printers, and printers on them don’t print.

To turn it off:

  1. In Windows Settings, open Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
  2. Under Printer preferences, find Windows protected print mode, choose Turn off, then Yes.

If you can’t change it there, it’s set by your organization’s policy, and whoever manages your computers must turn it off. In Group Policy it’s Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers > Configure Windows protected print, set to Disabled or Not Configured; Intune has the same setting.

Turning protected print mode on removes printers that use non-Microsoft drivers and deletes those drivers, and turning it off again doesn’t bring them back. Install the drivers again, then recreate the printers: File > Import Configuration does that in one step from an INTELLIscribe 4.2 export. If INTELLIscribe ports still aren’t offered, run INTELLIscribe setup again.

Microsoft has said it intends to make protected print mode the default in a future version of Windows. If INTELLIscribe stops printing after a Windows update, check this setting first.

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