CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3

Printers

Printers bridge the gap between the virtual world and the physical world, allowing people

to touch what they have created with their computers. Most users only print the most

important documents, and therefore, it is important that printers work when users expect

them to. If a user needs to print handouts twenty minutes before an important meeting and

they encounter an error, you must be able to quickly diagnose and resolve the problem.

To keep users productive, you must understand how to configure and troubleshoot

shared printers. This chapter shows you how to troubleshoot common problems with

printer drivers, sharing, and hardware.

Exam objective in this chapter:

■ Identify and resolve network printer issues.

Lesson in this chapter:

■ Lesson 1: Troubleshooting Network Printers 107

Before You Begin

To complete the lessons in this chapter, you should be familiar with Windows 7 and be

comfortable with the following tasks:

■ Installing Windows 7

■ Connecting a computer to a network physically

■ Configuring and managing printers

■ Performing basic administration tasks on a Windows Server 2008 R2–based domain

Controller

REAL WORLD

Tony Northrup

This book has entire chapters dedicated to troubleshooting hardware and

network problems. So, why do network printers get their own chapter? After

all, troubleshooting network printers should be a combination of network and

hardware troubleshooting.

Though it doesn’t necessarily make sense, Windows 7 treats printers very differently

from other hardware components. First, you won’t find a Printers node in Device

Manager. Instead, you have to open the printer’s properties dialog box to change

drivers. Second, standard users can’t install most driver types, but they can install

printer drivers (if you let them). Printers are also the only hardware component

that’s commonly shared across a network.

Besides the unique way Windows 7 handles printers, printers deserve their own

chapter because they cause so many more support calls than other hardware types.

Many travelling users connect to different printers on a regular basis, depending

on whether they are at home, at the office, or in a hotel. Each printer might require

a new connection and drivers. Printers are also much higher-maintenance than

other pieces of hardware because they run out of paper or ink regularly, and their

complex inner workings can cause them to fail more often than other hardware

components.

Lesson 1: Troubleshooting Network Printers

This lesson describes the processes and tools that you can use to troubleshoot complex

problems with shared printers, including failed services, invalid drivers, firewall configuration

problems, and network outages. For simpler problems, Windows 7 makes the troubleshooting

so straightforward that no instruction is necessary. For example, if a printer runs out of paper,

Windows 7 simply informs the user. Similarly, if a user lacks sufficient privileges to print,

Windows 7 displays an error message describing the problem.

This lesson is written on the assumption that you are already familiar with configuring and

managing printers in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

After this lesson, you will be able to:

■ Use the Printer Troubleshooter built into Windows 7.

■ Examine printer-related events in the event log.

■ Configure Group Policy settings to facilitate printer troubleshooting.

■ Troubleshoot problems with a print server.

■ Troubleshoot printer driver problems.

■ Troubleshoot problems connecting to printers across a network.

Estimated lesson time: 25 minutes

Using the Printer Troubleshooter

Windows provides a built-in troubleshooting feature for diagnosing problems related to

printers. The troubleshooter is designed to be easy enough for users to utilize, but it is also

the best first step for systems administrators to take when diagnosing a printer problem.

If you are having a problem connecting to a shared printer, follow these steps to open the

Printer Troubleshooter:

1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.

2. Click System And Security.

3. Under Action Center, click Troubleshoot Common Computer Problems.

4. Under Hardware And Sound, click Use A Printer.

5. The Printer Troubleshooter appears and attempts to diagnose the problem. Follow the

steps that appear.

6. On the Troubleshoot And Help Prevent Computer Problems page, click Next.

7. On the Which Printer Would You Like To Troubleshoot? page, click My Printer Is Not

Listed. Click Next

8. Respond to the prompts that appear to troubleshoot your problem.

If you are having a problem printing to an existing printer, follow these steps to run the

Printer Troubleshooter:

1. Click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Troubleshoot.

The Printer Troubleshooter appears and attempts to diagnose the problem.

3. Respond to the prompts that appear.

The Printer Troubleshooter can detect the following problems:

■ No physical printer is installed.

■ A new printer hasn’t yet been detected.

■ The printer is not the default printer.

■ The printer is not shared.

■ The printer is out of paper.

■ The printer is out of toner.

■ The printer has a paper jam.

■ The printer driver needs to be updated.

■ The printer is turned off.

■ A print job is preventing other print jobs from printing.

■ The Print Spooler service is not running or has an error.

As shown in Figure 3-1, the Printer Troubleshooter can repair some configuration-related

problems automatically (though Administrative privileges might be required).

Monitoring Printer Events

Windows 7 adds printer-related events to the Applications And Services Logs\Microsoft\

Windows\PrintService\Admin event log. Common events include:

■ Changing the default printer

■ Errors related to initializing a new printer or driver

■ Errors occurring when attempting to connect to a network printer

■ Errors occurring when attempting to share a printer

Windows 7 can add events to the Security event log when users initially connect to

a printer. To add an event when users connect, use Group Policy to enable success or failure

auditing for the Audit Logon Events policy in the Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\

Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy node.

FIGURE 3-1 The Printer Troubleshooter can fix some problems automatically.

Windows 7 does not support auditing when users print or manage printers. However,

Windows Server 2008 R2 does support object auditing for printers. First, enable success or

failure auditing for the Audit Object Access policy in the Computer Configuration\Windows

Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy node. Then, follow these steps to enable

auditing for the printer:

1. Click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties.

The printer properties dialog box appears.

3. On the Security tab, click Advanced.

The Advanced Security Settings dialog box appears.

4. On the Auditing tab, click Add.

The Select User, Computer, Service Account, Or Group dialog box appears.

5. Type the name of the user or group that you want to audit, and then click OK.

The Auditing Entry dialog box appears.

6. Select success or failure auditing for the different access types, as shown in Figure 3-2.

Click OK three times.

FIGURE 3-2 Windows 7 does not support printer

auditing, but Windows Server 2008 R2 does.

Now, Windows Server 2008 R2 adds events to the Security event log when users in the

group that you specified perform the types of access that you specified.

Group Policy Settings for Troubleshooting

Windows 7 provides many Group Policy settings that allow you to configure the behavior of

printers and printer drivers in the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers

node. In addition, you can configure client computers to connect automatically to a shared

printer by adding the printer to the Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Deployed

Printers or User Configuration\Windows Settings\Deployed Printers node.

Because the 70-685 exam focuses on troubleshooting, this book does not describe Group

Policy settings related to deploying or managing printers. However, the following Group

Policy settings can be useful for troubleshooting printers on computers running Windows 7:

■ Execute Print Drivers In Isolated Processes By default, the print spooler keeps print

drivers in a separate process. This enables the print spooler to continue to function even

if a print driver fails. The default setting is best for troubleshooting, but if you find that

the print spooler is failing, you should verify that this setting has not been disabled.

■ Override Print Driver Execution Compatibility Setting Reported By Print

Driver Print Drivers provide a driver isolation compatibility flag that indicates

whether the print driver should be run in a separate process from the print spooler.

If you enable this setting (which is disabled by default), the print spooler runs all print

drivers in a separate process, regardless of their driver isolation compatibility flag.

If you find that the print spooler is failing, you should enable this setting.

■ Allow Print Spooler To Accept Client Connections This setting prevents a computer

from acting as a print server. If you experience problems sharing a printer, verify that

this setting is enabled (the default).

Troubleshooting Server Problems

In home environments, users typically connect their computers to their printers using

a universal serial bus (USB) cable. In business environments, printers are often shared

between many users. To connect many different users to a printer, printers must be accessible

from the network.

There are two common methods for sharing a printer on a network:

■ Connecting the printer directly to the network Printers must have networking

capabilities, which require them to have an Ethernet port or wireless network

capabilities.

■ Connecting the printer to a computer and sharing it on the network In this scenario,

the computer that is connected directly to the printer becomes the print server.

All recent client and server versions of Microsoft Windows are capable of acting as

print servers.

Choosing Whether to Use a Print Server

Connecting a printer directly to the network can reduce your upfront costs by not requiring

you to purchase or configure a server. In addition, a printer that is shared directly from the

network does not go Offline if a server fails. Depending on the management capabilities

of the networked printer, a direct network connection might be the best choice for your

environment. However, configuring a computer to act as the print server offers several

advantages:

■ Integration with Windows security When you share a printer from Windows, you

can configure which Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) accounts have access to

print or perform different management functions.

■ Integration with AD DS browsing You can publish printers to your AD DS and allow

users to browse to find the closest printer.

■ Automatic installation of printer drivers Windows print servers can provide print

drivers to client computers the first time they connect, simplifying management.

■ Integration with enterprise management tools Problems with printers generate

events in the event log, which you can manage using standard enterprise management

tools, including Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager.

Requirements for a Print Server

For a computer to share printers, it must have two services running:

■ Server This service is required for sharing either fi les or printers across the network.

■ Print Spooler This service is required for printing.

Client computers connecting to the shared printer require the Workstation service and

the Print Spooler service. If a required service does not start, verify that all the service’s

prerequisite services are started. Then, review events in the System event log and the

Applications And Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\PrintService\Admin event log.

How to Share a Printer

In Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, follow these steps to manage a shared printer:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties. Do not click Properties;

Printer Properties is in the middle of the shortcut list.

3. On the Sharing tab, select the Share This Printer check box. You then have three

additional options:

■ Select the Render Print Jobs On Client Computers setting to reduce the processor

performance impact on the server by forcing the client to do more of the print

rendering. If your print server has more processing power than client computers

and print performance does not suffer, clear this check box.

■ If you are part of an AD DS environment, you can select the List In Directory check

box. This publishes the printer to AD DS, so that users can browse to find printers

near their location.

■ Click Additional Drivers to select other processor types to store drivers for. Clients

can download a driver automatically from the server if the driver type is available.

When you click OK, you might be prompted to select a path where the driver is

located. Click OK.

How to Manage Print Jobs on a Printer

In Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, follow these steps to manage a shared printer:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Double-click the printer you want to manage.

3. Click See What’s Printing.

4. Windows displays the print queue, a first-in, first-out collection of documents waiting to

be printed. You can right-click any document and then click Pause, Restart, or Cancel.

Troubleshooting the Print Queue

If you ever encounter a document that won’t leave the print queue, you can clear it by

restarting the Print Spooler service. You can use the Services node in the Computer

Management tool, or you can run net stop spooler and net start spooler from an

administrative command prompt. To restart the Print Spooler service in a single command,

run net stop spooler && net start spooler.

If restarting the print spooler does not remove unwanted documents from the print

queue, you can remove them manually by following these steps:

1. First, stop the Print Spooler service, as described earlier in this section.

2. Next, use Windows Explorer to delete all fi les in the %WinDir%\System32\Spool\

Printers folder. This folder has two fi les for every document in the print queue:

one .SHD fi le, and one .SPL fi le.

3. Start the Print Spooler service.

EXAM TIP

You must understand the importance of the Print Spooler service for the exam. The service

must be running on both the client and the server to be able to print or manage printers.

Restarting the Print Spooler service clears the print queue, which can resolve the problem

of a document that won’t print and prevents other documents from printing.

Troubleshooting Driver Problems

Drivers handle communications between Windows and any piece of hardware. For example,

Windows has drivers for video adapters, keyboards, mice, and monitors, in addition to printer

drivers. For most hardware components, you use Device Manager to manage printer drivers.

For printers, however, you use the printer properties dialog box.

How to Update a Driver for the Print Server

When you connect a new printer, Windows 7 detects the new hardware and attempts to

install a driver automatically. If the standard driver causes problems, follow these steps

to install a different driver:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer you want to manage and then click Printer Properties.

3. On the Advanced tab, click New Driver to add a driver.

4. The Add Printer Driver Wizard guides you through the process. You can select a driver

built in to Windows, download a driver from Windows Update, or choose a driver that

you have saved to the hard disk.

Occasionally, a driver installation fails, causing the printer to stop working. The quickest

way to reinstall the driver is to reinstall the printer by following these steps:

1. Remove any documents from the print queue, as described in the section entitled

“Troubleshooting the Print Queue,” earlier in this lesson.

2. Remove the printer by right-clicking it and then clicking Remove Device.

3. Use the Uninstall A Program tool in Control Panel to uninstall any printer-related

software.

4. Reinstall the printer with the latest version of the driver. In the Devices And Printers

window, click Add A Printer and follow the prompts that appear.

If reinstalling the printer does not solve the problem, you might need to remove fi les

related to the driver installation manually by following these steps:

1. First, stop the Print Spooler service.

2. Use Windows Explorer to browse to either the %WinDir%\System32\Spool\Drivers\

W32x86\3\ folder (or 32-bit versions of Windows) or the %WinDir%\System32\Spool\

Drivers\x64\3\ folder (or 64-bit versions of Windows).

3. Inside the selected folder, remove any numbered subfolders.

4. Finally, start the Print Spooler service.

For information about troubleshooting non-driver-related hardware problems, refer to

Chapter 1, “Troubleshooting Hardware Failures.”

How to Add Drivers for Shared Printer Clients

When connecting to a new printer, clients running Windows can install automatically drivers

that are stored on the print server. By default, the print server has only the drivers required

for the print server to print. For example, a 64-bit print server running Windows 7 has

64-bit printer drivers but not 32-bit printer drivers. Therefore, 64-bit clients running

Windows 7 automatically install the driver from the print server, but 32-bit clients running

Windows 7 need to download a driver from Windows Update or prompt users to provide

their own drivers.

While managing the print server, you can store drivers for different processor architectures

for a specific printer, or you can store drivers for any model of printer you specify. For example,

you can add a 32-bit printer driver to a 64-bit print server and allow 32-bit Windows 7 clients

to automatically download the driver.

To store drivers for different processor architectures, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties.

3. On the Sharing tab, click Additional Drivers.

4. In the Additional Drivers dialog box, select the processor architectures for which you

want to store drivers. By default, only the driver for the server’s processor architecture

is available. Click OK.

5. In the Install Print Drivers dialog box, select a path with the driver. For example, if you

have installed the 32-bit version of Windows 7 and you want to provide the printer

driver automatically to clients running the 64-bit version of Windows 7, you should

download the 64-bit version of the driver and select it now. Click OK twice.

NOTE FINDING DRIVERS

You cannot select Windows drivers directly from the Windows 7 DVD because all

system fi les are contained within the \Sources\Install.wim fi le. To browse a .wim fi le,

install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK; available as a free download

from Microsoft.com) and use the ImageX command-line tool to mount the .wim fi le as

a folder. For example, to mount the Install.wim fi le to an empty C:\Win7 folder, you run

the command imagex /mount D:\sources\install.wim 1 C:\Win7. If a hardware vendor

provides only executable fi les to install drivers, install the driver on a client computer

with the required processor architecture, and then copy the driver from that computer.

To store drivers for any printer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Click any printer, and then click Print Server Properties on the toolbar.

3. On the Drivers tab of the Print Server Properties dialog box, click Add.

The Add Printer Driver Wizard appears.

4. On the Welcome To The Add Printer Driver Wizard page, click Next.

5. On the Processor And Operating System Selection page, select the processor

architectures for which you want to install drivers. Click Next.

6. On the Printer Driver Selection page, select the driver that you want to install from

the list of drivers included with Windows 7. If the driver that you want to install is not

available, you can download the driver and click Have Disk to select the driver. Click Next.

7. Click Finish.

8. If prompted, provide a path for printer drivers.

If updating the driver does not solve the problem, or only one version of the driver is

available, you should determine whether disabling advanced printing features resolves the

problem. To disable advanced printing features for a printer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties.

3. On the Advanced tab of the printer properties dialog box, clear the Enable Advanced

Printing Features check box and click OK.

Troubleshooting Point And Print

By default, Windows 7 allows standard users to install only trustworthy drivers. Windows 7

considers drivers provided with Windows or drivers provided in digitally signed printer-driver

packages trustworthy. By limiting users to install only trustworthy drivers, you reduce the risk that

a non-trustworthy driver will decrease system stability (because the driver is unreliable) or perform

malicious acts (because the driver is malware). Windows 7 includes a large number of printer

drivers, so most users can connect to printers while they travel and install drivers on demand.

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, the ability to install printer drivers automatically is

called Point And Print. You can use the Point And Print Restrictions Group Policy setting and

the Package Point And Print – Approved Servers Group Policy setting to restrict Point And

Print to specific servers. If you find that Point And Print fails, verify that the Point And Print

Restrictions setting is not enabled, or add the print server to the list of approved Point And

Print servers.

If users receive unwanted User Account Control (UAC) prompts, enable the Point And Print

Restrictions policy, and adjust the Security Prompts settings, as shown in Figure 3-3.

FIGURE 3-3 Point And Print Restrictions can cause problems printing to new printers.

Troubleshooting Network Problems

Problems connecting to shared printers can be caused by several different factors:

■ The client can’t find the server because of a name resolution problem.

■ A firewall is preventing the client from connecting to the server.

■ The server is rejecting the user’s credentials.

In most cases, printer troubleshooting begins when a user calls to complain. Therefore, you

typically begin troubleshooting from the client computer. Depending on the nature of the

problem, you might also have to log on to the print server. The following sections describe

the troubleshooting process, assuming that the client and server are domain members.

For more information about troubleshooting network problems, read Chapter 2,

“Networking.” Also, refer to Chapter 31, “Troubleshooting Network Issues,” in the Windows 7

Resource Kit by Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, and Jerry Honeycutt (Microsoft Press, 2009).

How to Troubleshoot Printer Sharing from the Client

Perform these steps to troubleshoot problems connecting to shared printers:

1. Stop the Offline Files service if it is started. If the Offline Files service is running,

Windows might report that it can connect to a remote server even though the server

is not available. You can stop the Offline Files service from the Services console or by

running the command net stop cscservice from an administrative command prompt.

2. If you are connecting using File And Printer Sharing, instead of using Internet Printing

Protocol (IPP) or Line Printer Daemon/Line Printer Remote (LPD/LPR), attempt to

establish a NetBIOS connection manually. Open a command prompt and issue the

command net view \\server. If the connection succeeds, it tells you the exact name

of the shared printer, and you know there is not a network or firewall connectivity

problem. If you receive an “Access is denied” message when attempting to connect to

the printer, the user account lacks sufficient permissions to access the shared printer.

Depending on the server configuration, you might be able to identify authentication

problems by viewing the Security event log on the server. For more information

about security auditing, see the section entitled “Monitoring Printer Events,” earlier in

this lesson. For more information about adjusting privileges, see the section entitled

“How to Troubleshoot Printer Sharing from the Server,” later in this lesson.

3. If you stopped the Offline Files service in step 1, restart it now using the Services

console or by running the command net start cscservice from an administrative

command prompt.

4. Verify that you can resolve the server’s name, as described in Lesson 2, “Troubleshooting

Name Resolution,” of Chapter 2. If you cannot resolve the server’s name because the

Domain Name System (DNS) server is Offline, you can work around the name resolution

problem by connecting using the server’s Internet Protocol (IP) address rather than the

server’s host name. For example, instead of connecting to \\servername\printer, you

might connect to \\10.1.42.22\printer.

5. If you are connecting using File And Printer Sharing, use PortQry to test whether the

client can connect to TCP port 445 or TCP port 139 on the server. If you are connecting

with IPP, test whether the client can connect to TCP port 80 on the server.

If you are still unable to connect, continue troubleshooting from the server, as described in

the next section.

Quick Check

■ Which tools can you use to verify that a firewall is not preventing you from

connecting across the network to a shared printer?

Quick Check Answer

■ You can use the net use command to connect to the print server, or you can use

the PortQry command to verify that the server is listening for incoming network

connections on the ports used by printer sharing (primarily TCP 445 or TCP 139).

How to Troubleshoot Printer Sharing from the Server

If you are sharing a printer from a computer running Windows 7, you can troubleshoot it by

performing these steps:

1. Verify that you can print from the print server. If you cannot print, the problem is not

related to printer sharing. Instead, you should troubleshoot the problem as a local

printer problem. Start by using the Printer Troubleshooter, as described in the section

entitled “Using the Printer Troubleshooter,” earlier in this lesson. Clear the print queue,

as described in the section entitled “Troubleshooting the Print Queue,” earlier in this

lesson, and then attempt to print again. If you are still unable to print, reinstall the

printer with the latest driver, as described in the section entitled “How to Update

a Driver for the Print Server,” earlier in this lesson.

2. Verify that the folder or printer is shared. To do this, right-click the printer and then

click Printer Properties. Then, click the Sharing tab, and verify that Share This Printer is

selected.

3. Though the Printer Troubleshooter already should have verified this, you can verify

manually that the Server and Print Spooler services are running. To do this, click Start,

right-click Computer, and then click Manage. Under Services And Applications, select

the Services node. Verify that the Server and Print Spooler services are started and the

Startup Type is set to Automatic.

4. Verify that users have the necessary permission to access the resources. To do this,

right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties. In the printer properties dialog

box, click the Security tab. Verify that the user account is a member of a group that

appears on the list and that the Print Allow check box is selected. If the account is not

on the list, add it to the list and grant the Print Allow permission.

5. Check the Windows Firewall exceptions to verify that they are configured properly by

performing the following steps:

a. Click Start and then click Control Panel.

b. Click System And Security and then click Windows Firewall.

c. In the Windows Firewall dialog box, note the Network Location. Click Allow A

Program Or Feature Through Windows Firewall.

d. On the Allowed Programs window, determine whether the File And Printer Sharing

check box is selected. If it is not selected, click Change Settings and select it for

the current network location. If it is selected, verify that no other firewall rule is

blocking File And Printer Sharing. Click OK.

Firewall Configuration

Firewalls, including Windows Firewall, selectively block network traffic that

has not been allowed explicitly. Most firewalls block incoming connections

(connections sent from a client to a server) by default, and allow all outgoing

connections (connections sent from a server to a client). Therefore, if printer sharing

has not been allowed explicitly on a print server, clients are unable to connect.

If clients are unable to connect to a print server, you should check the firewall

configuration on the print server. If the client and server are not on the same local

area network (LAN), you must also check the configuration of any firewalls that

might block traffic between the client and server.

How you configure the firewall depends on the network protocol used to connect

to the print server:

■ File And Printer Sharing This type of printer connection uses a Universal Naming

Convention (UNC) path such as \\servername\printer or \\192.168.1.10\printer.

If the File And Printer Sharing exception is enabled on the print server, as shown in

Figure 3-4, Windows Firewall allows connections to the shared printer. This firewall

exception is enabled automatically when you share a printer; however, administrators

might have removed the exception either manually or by using Group Policy.

■ Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) This type of printer connection uses a Universal

Resource Locator (URL) path such as http://server/printers/printer/.printer. Windows

Vista and Windows 7 can only act as an IPP client; they cannot share a printer using

IPP. However, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 can

share printers using IPP. For HTTP connections, the server must allow incoming

connections using TCP port 80. For HTTPS connections, the server must allow

incoming connections using TCP port 443.

FIGURE 3-4 Verify that the File And Printer Sharing firewall exception is enabled.

PRACTICE Troubleshooting Printer Problems

In this practice, you troubleshoot two different printer problems.

EXERCISE 1 Troubleshooting Printer Sharing

In this exercise, you troubleshoot a client computer that cannot print to a print server.

1. Connect a printer to your domain controller, DC1. Alternatively, you can connect

a printer to any computer running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 in your test

environment. The computer should not be part of a production environment, however.

If you do not have a printer, you can install a printer driver manually for a printer that

is not connected.

2. Share the printer from DC1 by following these steps:

a. On DC1, click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

b. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties.

c. On the Sharing tab, select the Share This Printer check box and the List In The

Directory check box. Click OK.

3. Connect to the printer from CLIENT1 by following these steps:

a. On CLIENT1, click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

b. Click Add A Printer.

The Add Printer wizard appears.

a. On the What Type Of Printer Do You Want To Install? page, click Add A Network,

Wireless, Or Bluetooth Printer.

b. On the next page, click the printer you shared from DC1, and then click Next.

c. On the You’ve Successfully Added page, click Next.

d. Click Print A Test Page to verify that the printer is installed successfully. Then, click

Finish.

4. On DC1, verify that the page prints successfully. If you do not have a physical

printer, double-click the printer from the Devices And Printers page and verify that

a document is in the queue.

5. Right-click the script Ch3-lesson1-ex1-script1.cmd and then click Run As Administrator

to introduce a printer problem that you will solve in the steps that follow.

6. From CLIENT1, attempt to print again. You can print by double-clicking the printer

from the Devices And Printers page, clicking Customize Your Printer, and then clicking

Print Test Page from the General tab of the Printer Properties dialog box. Notice that

the document is added to the print queue on CLIENT1, but it does not appear on the

print queue in DC1. This indicates that the connection between the client and server is

unavailable.

7. From CLIENT1, troubleshoot the network connectivity problem by performing the

following steps:

a. Open an administrative command prompt and attempt to ping DC1 from CLIENT1.

You should be able to ping DC1 successfully, indicating that CLIENT1 and DC1 can

communicate.

b. While still at the command prompt on CLIENT1, attempt to stop the Offline Files

service by running the command net stop cscservice. Make note of whether the

service was already stopped or whether Windows 7 had to stop it.

c. While still at the command prompt on CLIENT1, attempt to establish a NetBIOS

connection by running the command net view \\dc1. Notice that the connection

attempt fails with the message “The network name cannot be found.” This indicates

that CLIENT1 cannot connect to the Server service on DC1. You know the computer

must be online and connected to the network because the previous ping attempt

succeeded; therefore, you can conclude that the Server service is unavailable.

d. If you had to stop the Offline Files service in step b, restart it by running the command

net start cscservice at the administrative command prompt on CLIENT1.

e. Verify that the Server service is running. To do this, on DC1, click Start, right-click

Computer, and then click Manage. In the Computer Management console, select

the Services And Applications\Services node. Scroll to the Server service and verify

that it is running and that the Startup Type is set to Automatic.

f. Verify that File And Printer Sharing is allowed in Windows Firewall. Click Start and

then click Control Panel. Click System And Security, and then click Allow A Program

Through Windows Firewall. Verify that File And Printer Sharing is selected.

g. While still in the Windows Firewall Allowed Programs window, examine other firewall

rules, and notice the rule named Block File And Printer Sharing. As indicated by the

name, this firewall rule might be blocking the connection attempt. Click Change

Settings, and then clear the Block File And Printer Sharing check box. Click OK.

8. On DC1, switch to the printer window. Notice that the document you printed earlier is

now in the queue or is already printing, indicating that you solved the problem.

9. Finally, right-click the script Ch3-lesson1-ex1-script2.cmd and then click Run As

Administrator to remove the firewall rule that the first script added. Then, remove the

printer that you added in step 1 of this exercise.

EXERCISE 2 Troubleshooting a Local Printer

In this exercise, you install a printer and troubleshoot problems printing locally.

1. Connect a printer to your computer running Windows 7, CLIENT1. Alternatively, you can

connect a printer to any computer running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 in

your test environment. The computer should not be part of a production environment,

however. If you do not have a printer, you can install a printer driver manually for

a printer that is not connected. When you install the printer, choose to print a test page

and verify that the printer functions correctly.

2. Right-click the script Ch3-lesson1-ex2-script1.cmd and then click Run As Administrator

to introduce a printer problem that you will solve in the steps that follow.

3. From CLIENT1, open Windows Internet Explorer. Then, press Ctrl+P to print the current

Web page. Notice that you receive an error indicating that you do not have a printer

installed. Click OK, and then click Cancel.

4. From CLIENT1, troubleshoot the local printer problem by performing the following

steps:

a. Verify that your printer is still installed. Click Start, and then click Devices And

Printers. Notice that no printers are listed. This can happen if either all printers

were deleted or if the Print Spooler service is not running.

b. Verify that the Print Spooler service is running. Click Start, right-click Computer,

and then click Manage. In the Computer Management console, select the Services

And Applications\Services node. Scroll to the Print Spooler service and notice that

it does not have a Status of Started. Right-click the service and then click Start.

5. Return to Internet Explorer and press Ctrl+P again to print the current Web page. Click

Print to verify that you can print successfully.

6. Finally, remove the printer that you added in step 1 of this exercise.

Lesson Summary

■ Use the Printer Troubleshooter built into Windows 7 to diagnose and solve common

problems quickly.

■ Use the Applications And Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\PrintService\Admin event

log to determine whether Windows 7 has added any printer-related events. If the print

server is running Windows Server 2008 R2, you can enable object access auditing to

add events to the Security event log when users access printers.

■ You can configure several Group Policy settings to facilitate printer troubleshooting,

especially for driver-related problems.

■ Print servers must have both the Print Spooler and the Server services running to share

a printer. The most common print server-related problem is a print queue that stops

processing print jobs. To resolve that issue, restart the Print Spooler service.

■ Both the print server and the client must have a printer driver installed. You can

update drivers from the printer properties dialog box. If a driver update fails to install

correctly, remove the printer and then reinstall it.

■ Troubleshoot problems connecting across the network to a shared printer by verifying

that the client can resolve the name of the server, that no firewall is blocking fi le and

printer sharing communications, and that the client can establish a fi le and printer

sharing connection to the server.

Lesson Review

You can use the following questions to test your knowledge of the information in Lesson 1,

“Troubleshooting Network Printers.” The questions are also available on the companion CD

if you prefer to review them in electronic form.

NOTE ANSWERS

Answers to these questions and explanations of why each answer choice is correct or incorrect

are located in the “Answers” section at the end of the book.

1. A user is attempting to connect to a network printer using the UNC name

\\servername\printer. The user receives the error message “Windows couldn’t connect

to the printer.” Which of the following might be the cause of the problem?

A. The Server service is not started on the client.

B. The Workstation service is not started on the server.

C. The File And Printer Sharing firewall exception is not enabled on the server.

D. The File And Printer Sharing firewall exception is not enabled on the client.

2. A user previously has been able to print to a network printer, but the printer appears

to be unavailable. You want to verify that all the required services are running. Which

of the following services are required on the print server? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Workstation

B. Print Spooler

C. Server

D. Peer Name Resolution Protocol

3. A user calls to complain that she is experiencing a problem with her printer. When

she prints a large print job, the printer adds a blank page between each printed

page. You research the problem and discover that it is driver-related. The hardware

manufacturer recommends using a driver for a different printer to resolve the problem.

Which tool should you use to change the driver?

A. Services

B. Device Manager

C. Event Viewer

D. Printer Properties dialog box

Chapter Review

To further practice and reinforce the skills you learned in this chapter, you can perform the

following tasks:

■ Review the chapter summary.

■ Review the list of key terms introduced in this chapter.

■ Complete the case scenarios. These scenarios set up real-world situations involving

the topics of this chapter and ask you to create a solution.

■ Complete the suggested practices.

■ Take a practice test.

Chapter Summary

■ Problems with network printers can have several different sources: client or server

print drivers, the print queue, printer permissions, and network connectivity.

■ To solve driver problems, add the latest driver version to the print server, or replace

the driver by reinstalling the printer. In addition, you can store printer drivers on the

print server so new clients can install the printer driver automatically.

■ To solve print queue problems, restart the Print Spooler service.

■ To diagnose problems related to printer permissions, enable security and examine the

Security event log. To resolve the security problems, adjust the printer permissions.

■ You can use standard network troubleshooting tools to troubleshoot network

connectivity. To verify that you can establish a connection to a print server, use the

net use command.

Key Terms

Do you know what these key terms mean? You can check your answers by looking up the

terms in the glossary at the end of the book.

■ print queue

■ Point And Print

Case Scenarios

In the following case scenarios, you apply what you’ve learned about subjects of this chapter.

You can find answers to these questions in the “Answers” section at the end of this book.

Case Scenario 1: Troubleshooting Insufficient Privileges

Your manager calls you into his office because he is unable to connect to a network printer.

The printer appears as an option in the Add Printer Wizard, but when he selects it, the wizard

prompts him for a user name and password. When he provides his AD DS user name and

password, he receives the message “The credentials supplied are not sufficient to access this

printer.”

Answer the following questions for your manager:

1. Why is he receiving the error message?

2. How can you solve the problem?

Case Scenario 2: Troubleshooting a Printer Problem

A user calls to complain that she is unable to print to a network printer. You are familiar

with the printer, and you know that it is being shared from a computer running Windows