According to this 2021 statistic, HP is the world’s largest manufacturer of consumer printers. However, just under 25 percent of the market is hardly a monopoly. So it’s no surprise that many Windows users were confused when all printers from any manufacturer suddenly started showing up as “HP LaserJet M101-M106” last week.
The culprit appears to be a Windows update that accidentally relabeled some or all hardware printers connected to computers, either directly or over the network, with incorrect metadata and automatically installed the HP Smart app. (Windows Update may download third-party executables in addition to standard drivers from some partner companies. The issue has been reported by Windows users to various Microsoft support systems.
The error does not appear to cause any other technical problems for most users, but mislabeled printers can be a big problem for a busy office, sending print jobs to the wrong printer, consuming expensive ink or toner. Both HP and Microsoft are aware of the issue, but no one has set a timeframe for a fix yet, and there are no workarounds discovered.