Why does an uninstalled Canon LBP 5050 printer keep reappearing?

Question

I used to have a Canon LBP 5050. It is no longer connected to the network or the Mac. I removed the printer from: "System Preferences → Printers" and even removed the ppd from /Library/Printers, using Terminal, but for some reason it constantly reinstalls itself every time I reboot my machine.

As far as I can tell there is no special Canon software installed or gets "called up" as a logon item.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

The problem is, that some software after installing is deeply nested within the system, so if you try to un-istall it manually you might just scratch the surface and miss out on daemons or other relevant files.

I suggest you, to reinstall the software completely and then un-install it by using iTrash.app or CleanApp (both are available as trial-versions which will do for your case!)

edit: Take a look at these two directories /Library/Printers/Canon and /Users/Username/Library/Printers/Canon. You can delete the Drivers from there manually, but please make a backup first, just in case!

Answer 2

Somewhat of a hidden feature, you might want to try resetting the printing system.

• Go to the Print and Scan preference pane.
• Right click in the list of available printers (mine's empty).
• Select "Reset printing system...".