Printers Disappear

[Scott]

I get calls frequently about computers that will not
print. When checked I find that all the printers have
disappeared. Rebooting always fixes this but what could
cause it?

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

Most likely, the Print Spooler when down. It can also be corrected by
restarting the Print Spooler service.

I have asked Microsoft to create a KB article explaining what steps to take
in this case, given the frequency at which it occurs. I don't know if they
did.

This is usually caused by third party components. It is a good idea to try
eliminating them as the cause one by one by uninstalling or disabling them.
You can start with those you don't need.

Paul

 

[Guest]

I just posted a similar message to the newsgroup. I don't see the spooler
stop when this behavior happens on a Win 2000 terminal server. When you
mention third party software, what do you mean? I have a program by Tricerat
called PMP that maps printers in thru a terminal server session. I did not
see a KB article from Microsoft as of yet

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

Amanda,

I would try eliminating this Tricerat software. See if maybe that's causing
it.

The usual third party components to blame are print providers, port
monitors, language monitors, printer drivers and network providers. Third
party software can hook into various places in the printing process. I would
suspect any third party printer-related software.

Paul

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your response. We can not eliminate the third-party software
because that is the software that manages how our printers map into the TS
session. Any other thoughts?

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

Amanda,

I meant eliminate it as a possible cause.

This means that you temporarily uninstall or disable it and see what effect
it has. If the problem goes away, you know it is the cause. If the problem
persists, you have *eliminated* it as a possible cause. Your course of
action will depend on the results. If it is the cause, you need to decide
whether you wish to keep the software or not, knowing the good and bad it
does. If it is not the cause, you can look at other things.

Are you aware that Windows probably has built in support for what you are
trying to accomplish? If this software is the cause, we can look at what you
are trying to accomplish and perhaps find a more native way of doing it.

Good luck!

Paul

 

[Guest]

What do you mean by Windows has built-in support for this issue?

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

Amanda,

These questions are only really relevant if the Tricerat software is found
to be the cause. That being said...

What does this Tricerat software do?

If it makes local printers available in a Terminal Services session, this is
already a feature of Windows that can be enabled in the Remote Desktop
client.

If it makes network printers available to all users in all sessions, this
can already be achieved by adding it for all existing users and for the
default user (which gets copied to all new users).

Or does it do something else? If so, what?

Paul

 

[Guest]

The purpose of the Tricerat software is to use NT global groups defined in
User Manager to map in printers assigned to certain groups from a print
server. Its purpose is not to map in local printers.

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

I am not sure whether or not there is a way of doing the same thing using
Windows, but there might be.

Were you able to determine whether or not this software is the cause?

Paul

 

[Guest]

No, I have not had a chance to determine that. We don't have a test
environment setup to test it right now and we cannot remove the Tricerat s/w
from the production server. Its hard to even test the problem because it
occurs so infrequently. I will usually hear it happen from an employee or
two once a month.

 

[Paul Baker [MVP, Windows - SDK]]

Oh, that makes it very difficult then! You said "I get calls frequently
about computers that will not print". I was thinking that meant that it
happens so often that it is a simple thing to make a change and see if it
helps. It sounds like it is not. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Paul

 

[Guest]

The original person who posted this question said it occurs frequently, I did
not. I said I had a similar problem. I will post again if it happens more
in the future. Thanks for all your help.