How to REALLY remove a printer?

I have tried deleting the printer and device drivers

If the Printer is still in Programs and Features, then remove it from there (uninstall).  At that point, the printer should not show up in Devices and Printers.

Now, did you remove the driver from Printer Server Properties?  Open Devices and Printers, click on any printer to reveal a new sub-menu. Click on the Printer Server Properties link and then the Drivers Tab. Make sure there are none of your printer (and fax) drivers in this list.

The printer should be now gone.

...  Thinkpads_User

Open Computer Management then expand services.

Scroll down to Print Spooler

Then stop the service.

wait a min or two

Then check your print queue see if jobs still appear.

restart the service

Once the queue is cleared then you will be able to delete the printer by simply clicking on remove device from the devices and printers window.

You may need to stop and start the print spooler service a few times to clear the queue.

This is the only way to clear the print queue if jobs are hung up there.

Give it a try

This is what is happening:

1. Log on as Admin.
2. Uninstall printer.
3. Printer remains, grayed out.
4. Delete printer, it disappears.
5. Restart computer.
6. Printer still in Devices and Printer
7. Go into Print Manager - can delete printer or devices. Says "driver currently in use".
 
So how do I delete a printer?

Did you stop the spooler as suggested above?
... Thinkpads_User

Thanks - this line killed the queue and then everything else began to behave!

Type del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\* /Q then press Enter.