If when you try to print files / documents from a Microsoft Office program like Word, Excel, Publisher et al and you receive the print error message; The function address has caused a protection fault – then this post is intended to help you. In this article, we will identify some known potential causes that could trigger the error, and then provide possible solutions that you can try to resolve this problem.
When the print job fails, you receive the following instance of the error message;
The function address XXXXX has caused a protection fault.
(exception code XXXXX)
The page (s) in the application property sheet may not function properly.
Most users who experience this printing error report that the error does not occur if they try to print in a conventional way – the error only appears when they try to print from a Office application. Keep in mind that there are different instances of this error message with different error codes. However, the underlying causes are the same – therefore, the same fix should work on all instances of this error.
You may experience the error message due to one or more (but not limited to) of the following known causes;
- The correct printer is not set by default.
- Outdated printer driver.
- Corrupted printer subkeys.
- System File Corruption – System file corruption is less likely but may be a culprit for this problem. Typically, it appears after a security scan quarantines certain items used by the print service.
The address of the correction function caused a protection fault
If you are faced with this The function address has caused a protection fault printing error, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if it helps to fix the problem.
- Run printer troubleshooting
- Start SFC / DISM analysis
- Change the default printer
- Update the printer driver
- Uninstall the printer driver, rename the print subkeys, and restart the Print Spooler service
- Change LegacyDefaultPrinterMode registry key Value data
- Perform system restore
Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved in relation to each of the solutions listed.
1]Run printer troubleshooting
Running Windows 10 troubleshooter will restart your printer and drivers and check for errors. Your printer must be connected during this procedure.
To troubleshoot the printer, follow these steps:
- Click on Start and select Settings.
- Go to Update and security.
- Click it Convenience store tongue.
- Scroll down and click Printers.
- Click it Run the troubleshooter button.
- Follow the on-screen instructions and apply the recommended fixes.
Then try to print and see if the The function address has caused a protection fault the printing error is resolved. Otherwise, go to the next solution.
2]Start SFC / DISM analysis
The SFC / DISM is a Windows utility that allows users to check for corruption in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.
For ease and convenience, you can run the analysis using the procedure below.
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, type notepad and press Enter to open Notepad.
- Copy and paste the command below in the text editor.
@echo off date /t & time /t echo Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup echo ... date /t & time /t echo Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth echo ... date /t & time /t echo SFC /scannow SFC /scannow date /t & time /t pause
- Save the file with a name and add it .bat file extension – for example; SFC_DISM_scan.bat.
- Run the batch file repeatedly with administrator privileges (right click on the saved file and select Execute as administrator in the context menu) until it reports no error.
- Restart your PC.
Resume the print job and see if the problem is resolved. Otherwise, go to the next solution.
3]Change the default printer
the The function address has caused a protection fault A printing error can also occur in a situation where the printer you want to use is not configured as the default setting in Windows settings. Follow these steps to change the default printer:
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, copy and paste ms-settings: printers and press Enter to open the Printers and scanners window of Settings app.
- Once inside the Printers and scanners tab, scroll down in the right pane and uncheck the Allow Windows to manage my default printer setting.
- Now click on the printer you want to use and click on Define by default.
After setting the correct printer as the default printer, restart your computer and see if the printing error is resolved. Otherwise, go to the next solution.
4]Update the printer driver
This solution requires that you make sure you have installed the latest printer drivers for your printer. You can download the latest version of the printer driver from the manufacturer’s website.
You can also update the printer driver through Device Manager. Here’s how:
- Press Windows key + X to open Advanced user menu, then press M to open the Device Manager.
- Once inside Device Manager, scroll through the list of installed devices and expand / collapse it Print queues section.
- Then right click on the printer you are having problems with and choose Update driver in the context menu.
- On the next screen, click Automatically check for the updated driver.
- Wait until the analysis is finished. If a new driver version is found, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install it on your computer.
- Restart your device.
Try sending a print job and see if the The function address has caused a protection fault the printing error is resolved. Otherwise, go to the next solution.
5]Uninstall the printer driver, rename the print subkeys, and restart the Print Spooler service
In this solution, there is a task sequence (which involves uninstalling the printer driver, renaming the print subkeys, and restarting the Print Spooler service) that you must perform to see if the The function address has caused a protection fault the printing error can be resolved.
Proceed as follows:
- Log on to the affected computer.
- Press Windows key + X to open Advanced user menu, then press M to open the Device Manager.
- Once in Device Manager, browse the list of installed devices and expand the Print queues scrolling menu.
- Then right click on the printer driver you want to delete and choose Uninstall the device.
- Click on Uninstall again to confirm the process.
Once the uninstall process is complete, you can exit Device Manager.
- Then press Windows key + R to call up the Run dialog box.
- In the Run dialog box, type printui.exe / s / t2 and press Enter to open the Print server properties user interface.
- Once inside the Print server properties screen, go to Conductors and select the driver causing the problem. With the selected driver, click on the Remove button.
- You will then be invited by the Remove driver and package dialogue.
- Select the radio button to Delete the driver only.
- Click on OKAY.
Once the process is complete, you can exit the Print server properties screen.
- Now press Windows key + R to open another Run dialog box.
- Type regedit inside the text box and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Important: Back up the registry before continuing with this procedure so that you can restore the registry in the event of a problem.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPrintEnvironmentsWindows x64Print Processors
At the location, proceed to rename all subkeys or keys under Print processors with the Extension for .old. This will force Windows to ignore these keys and create new folders and values instead.
Note: In this case, there is only one subkey (winprint), so we renamed it winprint.old.
Once this step is complete, you can safely close the Registry Editor.
- Again, call up the Run dialog and type services.msc in the text box and press Enter to open the Services window.
- In the Services window, find the Print spooler a service.
- Right click on Print spooler and select Properties.
- In the Properties window, click Stop it.
This will stop the print queue process. Keep the Print Spooler Properties window open.
- Now open File Explorer and navigate to the following location:
C: WINDOWS system32 spool PRINTERS
- Delete all files from the Printers folder.
If you don’t see any files, click on the View tab and check the Hidden objects box.
- Close the File Explorer window.
- In the Properties window of the print spooler, click on the button Start to restart the service.
Restart your computer again and reinstall the printer drivers required the next time you start the computer. Try the print job again and see if the problem is resolved.
6]Change LegacyDefaultPrinterMode registry key Value data
In this solution, to solve the The function address has caused a protection fault printing error you will need to change LegacyDefaultPrinterMode Registry key Value data in the Registry Editor.
Here’s how:
Remember to back up the registry.
- Browse or navigate to the registry key path below:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWindows
- In the right pane, double-click LegacyDefaultPrinterMode to modify its properties.
- Set the value data to 1.
This will revert to the old default printer behavior in Windows 10.
- Click on Okay to save the changes.
- Restart the PC.
Check if the problem is resolved. Otherwise, go to the next solution.
7]Perform system restore
If you have noticed that The function address has caused a protection fault a printing error has started to occur recently, it is entirely possible that the problem was facilitated by a change that your system has recently made.
If you don’t know what has changed and may have interrupted the printing functionality of your Office applications, you can use System Restauration (all changes such as installing applications, user preferences, and anything else done during this period will be lost) to return to a date when you are certain that the printing was working properly.
To perform system restore, follow these steps:
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, type rstrui and press Enter to open the System Restauration Wizard.
- Once you get to the initial system restore screen, click on Next to go to the next window.
- On the next screen, check the box associated with Show more food outlets.
- Once you have done this, select a point whose date is earlier than the date on which you started to notice the error.
- Click on Next to go to the next menu.
- Click on finish and confirm at the final prompt.
The next time the system boots, the status of your old computer will be applied.
I hope one of these solutions will solve the problem for you!