Printers Missing and Can't add printers

[John Hopkins]

I usually don't do a lot of printing from this workstation
but now I have too. I had two printers setup on this
computer one through usb and another one through the
parallel port both of them are missing. When I tried to
add them again the Add Printer Wizard would not pop up. I
tried everything to get the add printer wizard working but
no luck. I found the Knowledge base article about this
problem but that didn't help either.

It told me to change every *.dll extension to a new
extension in my Winnt directory. Still doesn't work I
have tried everything. I tried to install a PDF printer
but it comes up with an error saying "can't find Printer
Directory." Any ideas or suggestions? I don't want to
reinstall the OS.

 

[Tor]

Have the same problem. Printer dissapeared from registery
and now I cannot re-laod the program (Compaq IJ750/Windows
2000). Cannot add printer either (message:...due to lack
of resources. Printer sub-system is unavailable).

This all happend after I interrupted and cancelled
printing.

Any ideas out there?

Tor

 

[Wolf Kirchmeir]

On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 12:34:04 -0700, John Hopkins wrote:

=>I usually don't do a lot of printing from this workstation
=>but now I have too. I had two printers setup on this
=>computer one through usb and another one through the
=>parallel port both of them are missing. When I tried to
=>add them again the Add Printer Wizard would not pop up. I
=>tried everything to get the add printer wizard working but
=>no luck. I found the Knowledge base article about this
=>problem but that didn't help either.
=>
=>It told me to change every *.dll extension to a new
=>extension in my Winnt directory. Still doesn't work I
=>have tried everything. I tried to install a PDF printer
=>but it comes up with an error saying "can't find Printer
=>Directory." Any ideas or suggestions? I don't want to
=>reinstall the OS.

Here are a few suggestions. HTH.

The only solution I can think of to recover the Add Printer wizard is to
repair W2K - one of the options available if you press F8 during bootup. Read
up on this process before you attempt it.

Given the absence of the Add Printer wizard, you can install the polrinter
using its own install utility. You should have a folder for each printer
(perhaps even two folders), and this should contain an install utility.
Alternatively, it should be on the CD (or floppy for older models) that came
with the printer. ) This should work the first time you try it, but if not,
there is likely some trash from the previous printer installations lying
around. In that case:

A) If _any_ printers still show in the Printers folder, and there is an
Uninstall icon, uninstall the priinters. O'wise delete them.

B) Look for the folders dedicated to each printer, and Uninstall any printers
from there, and in any case delete the folders. You may discover that some
files are "in use" and can't be deleted - this means that the system thinks
the printers are still connected, and has loaded these modules. In that case,
delete what you can and reboot. The offending files should now be deletable.

C) Remove _all_ references to the old printers from the registry.

D) Shut down and ensure printer(s) are properly connected.

E) Reboot. Windows should find the printers as "new device" or "new
hardware", and should either install the correct drivers, or request that you
supply them (on CD or floppy as the case may be.)

If Windows does not find the printers, you have a more serious problem than
can be diagnosed from afar, at least by me, so additional help would be
needed - tech help IMO, and you should not be shy about getting it. There's
only so much you can do on your own.

Good luck.

 

[ejk010]

Missing printers

Similar to John (above) I also had two printers setup on my LAN, a multifunction ink jet through a usb port on computer (1) and a laser jet connected through my router to the system, both shared to two PCs on the LAN.

After installing internet antivirus software onto computer (1), both printers had disappeared from the "printers and faxes" window of computer (1) while they still appeared and were fully functional on computer (2).

From computer (1), I could still print from my Microsoft Office products, but other printing was prohibited. A non-functional “add printer” icon was the sole occupant of my "printers and faxes" window.

I searched the internet for solutions, seeing that others shared this problem as well with no effective solutions. Reimaging (the OS) seemed the only answer; lots of software, big job, there had to be a better solution.

Looking at my computer properties, I noticed that I had not yet installed SP3 on my XP OS as I didn’t trust it when it was first released. I downloaded and installed the service pack, rebooted & opened the "printers and faxes" window to see the problem resolved. All the missing printers and fax items appeared and are so far, fully functional.

I hope this helps some of the folks suffering from this quandary.