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Troubleshooting Windows Printing Problems

(from the Microsoft Knowledge Base)

 

 

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

 

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

 

 

SUMMARY

This article describes how to troubleshoot some common printing problems in Windows.

 

 

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

 

 

Cannot Print to a Network Printer After Adding ICS

After you add Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to the network, you are unable to print. This occurs because ICS uses a Class C subnet with an address range of 198.168.0.x. To fix this issue, reset the IP address of the printer to match the subnet of the computers that are using ICS.

 

 

 

Cannot Send a Print Job to a Windows 98 Client

You cannot send a print job to a Windows 98-based client that is using a password for the printer share from Window 2000 or Windows XP. To resolve this issue, use the following command:

net use LPT1 \\computer\printerpassword /persistent:yes

 

Replace computer with the computer name of the Windows 98-based computer that is sharing the printer, replace printer with the name of the printer share, and replace password with the password for the share.

 

 

Error Messages Typically Caused by Local Port Monitor Problems

When you reboot the computer or restart the Print Spooler service, you receive the following error message: Spoolsv.exe failed to start

 

When you open the printer's properties, you receive the following error message

Out of Resources Error

 

When you try to print a document, you receive an "Access violation" (Dr. Watson) error message. The Dr. Watson log points to Spoolsv.exe with error code C0000005.

You receive the following error message, and the print spooler stops: The instruction at 'address' referenced memory at 'address'. The memory could not be read.

 

Attempting to restart the Print Spooler service or open the Printers folder causes the same message.

These problems can occur if the default local port monitor is changed by a third-party program. Fixing these problems require editing the registry:

 

1.  Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

 

2.  Locate the Local Port value under the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\Local Port

 

3.  Double-click the Driver subkey, and then edit the value. Change the string value to

Localspl.dll, and then click OK.

 

4.  Check the following registry key for third-party monitors. Remove any non-default

monitors:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors

The default port monitors are:

AppleTalk Printing Devices (When Services for Macintosh is installed)
BJ Language Monitor
Local Port
PJL Language Monitor
Standard TCP/IP Port
USB Monitor
Windows NT Fax Monitor

 

5.  Check the following registry key for third-party print providers. Remove any non-

default print providers:

 

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers

 

The default print providers are:

Internet Print Provider
LanMan Print Provider

 

6.  Quit Registry Editor.

 

After you edit the registry, restart the print spooler. To do so, start Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and add the Computer Management or the Services snap-in. Right-click Print Spooler Service, and then click Start.

 

 

Cannot Add Windows 2000 or Windows XP Printer Drivers to Windows NT 4.0

To add a network printer managed by Windows NT 4.0 to a Windows XP or Windows 2000-based computer:

 

1. On the Windows XP or Windows 2000-based computer, install the printer locally on LPT1.

 

2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.

 

3. Right-click the printer, and then click Properties.

 

4. On to the Ports tab, click LPT1.

 

5. Click Add Port.

 

6. Double-click Local Ports.

 

7. Type \\servername\printershare, where servername is the name of the server and printershare is the name of the printer share.

 

8. Click OK.

 

 

Error Message Printing a Document

When you print a document, you receive the following error message:

 

There was an error found when printing the document "Name of document" to LPT1:. The device is not ready.

 

If the printer is a network printer, try opening an IPC connection by using \\Servername to make sure there is network connectivity and that the server is able to respond to share requests.

For a local printer, check the cabling and power to the locally attached printer.

If these methods work, you may need to reinstall the printer drivers. To completely remove the printers you may need to edit the registry:

 

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

 

2. Locate the Printers value under the following key in the registry:

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers

 

3. Remove the printers that are installed under this key. For example, remove the following key for a Generic Text/Only printer:

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\Generic / Text Only

 

4. Follow the instructions in the "Error Messages Typically Caused by Local Port Monitor Problems" section of this article.

 

5. Quit Registry Editor.

 

6. After you do this, reinstall the drivers for your printer.

 

 

Cannot Print from a 16-Bit MS-DOS-Based Program

In this situation, type the following line at a command prompt:

net use lpt1: \\servername\printer_share /persistent:yes

 

In your 16-bit program, print to LPT1. You can assign other LPT ports to MS-DOS-based 16-bit programs of the program needs to use other ports.

 

 

Additional Information

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

 

Q156082 Windows NT Printer Driver Support

Q255507 No Local Ports Are Available for Printers

Q247408 Error Message or Spooler Hangs When You Pause or Resume Printing

Q240683 Windows 2000 Print Spooler Performance Enhancements

Q246855 Managing Network Printing in a Windows 2000 Environment

 

 

 

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© 2008 by Carlson Software, Inc.   Last modified November 18, 2008