Have you ever tried to install a printer and received an error message that says “A port with that name already exists. Choose another port name?”

This can happen when you are installing a printer using the same port already in use. If a printer install errors or does not complete properly, the port may have been assigned even though the printer is not installed, and when you try to install the printer again, the error will appear.

The fox for this is easy. Follow the directions below or click the film icon to watch the video.

Go under control panel to Printers, right click in the middle of the white space on the right side of the window and choose Server Properties. Go to the Ports tab, select the port you want to delete, and choose Delete port.

Click the icon to view the video.

Another method to delete a printer port is to edit the registry. Use caution when editing the registry and always backup the registry.

Click Start then Run. Type regedit and then find this registry key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Print\Monitors\Standard TCP/IP Port\Ports\

Highlight and delete the port that is causing the error.

Note: This error may occur during any printer install, but is very common with network printers that use an IP address port.

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