Windows: Brother printers won’t work after update (6.2020)

[German]Since June 2020, many users of Brother multifunction printers (MFC, HL etc.) suddenly have the problem that they do not print. This is caused by the Windows security updates of June 9, 2020, and Microsoft has provided correction updates that can help. Here is an overview with hints if the option updates to fix the issue do not help.

June 2020 updates disable Brother printer

I had mentioned it in the blog post Windows 10: Printer issues after June 2020 Updates. The cumulative security updates released on June 9, 2020 for various Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 versions and the corresponding server versions cause serious printing issues for many users. The printer spooler crashes and no more printing takes place. Owners of Brother (HL, MFC devices etc.) seem to be particularly affected. Here is a comment from my blog (the German text has been translated):

I have been trying desperately the last few days to convince the printer (Brother MFC – 240C). But scanning and copying worked. Hours of daily attempts with driver update, removing printer etc. – all in vain! Yesterday I finally found the solution here on the Internet. The MS-Update KB 4560960 has massively hindered the printer! Whenever the printing should start, it crashed again.

Microsoft has confirmed on the status page of Windows 10 Version 2004 the issue with printing for all cumulative security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 as well as the server counterparts. I have described the updates for the various versions of Windows 10 and its server counterparts in the blog post Patchday: Windows 10-Updates (June 9, 2020).

For most of the people affected, it was sufficient to uninstall these updates to be able to print again. The problem: This leaves open vulnerabilities that the updates are intended to close. Brother provides this support article which outlines how to uninstall the update in question.  

Out-of-band update to fix the issue

In the meantime, Microsoft has released several correction updates for Microsoft to fix the printer problem. I have listed the available special updates that must be manually downloaded and installed from the Microsoft Update Catalog in the following blog posts:

Windows 10: Out-of-band update to fix printer issues – I
Windows 10: Out-of-band update to fix printer issues – II

These Out-of-band updates should also bring the Brother printers back to life after installation.

Brother printers still not working?

If a Brother printer still won't print after the Out-of-band update has been installed, you should check the following:

• In the blog an anonymous user reported in this comment that the printer connected via USB was apparently redirected to the port LPT1. After the printer port was changed from LPT1 to USB0001, printing was possible again. Blog reader Wolfgang confirms this approach as helpful.

In another comment in the blog someone writes: Printer would not respond to "Print" command at all. Changed HP print quality to "best" and it immediately began printing WORD, pdf and jpg. Using more ink, but finally able to print again.

Brother released this FAQ and troubleshooting page to fix printing issues after the June 2020 updates. In addition, this comment also contains information on how to solve printing problems that took months to solve.

Similar articles:
Patchday: Windows 10-Updates (June 9, 2020)
Windows 10: Printer issues after June 2020 Updates
Windows 10 Bug: USB printers not detected
Windows 10: Out-of-band update to fix printer issues – I
Windows 10: Out-of-band update to fix printer issues – II