In Windows XP, when you connected to a new network printer, you would seen an entry in the event log of the type "event id 20: printer driver was added or updated" followed by a list of the driver files that were installed. This was very useful for troubleshooting purposes. I'm trying to troubleshoot some problems with Windows 7 and network printers, but Windows 7 doesn't seem to be recording anything at all in the event logs when I add new network printers. Am i missing something?

There should be records in the Application log. If no records can be found, I suspect that the printer installation progress is not performed. Forum FAQ:How to manually add a printer with shipped driverPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi Arthur, Sorry i didn't get a notifcation of your reply. I can confirm i have tested this on Windows 7 Enterprise on a domain, and just now on Windows 7 Professional on a standalone laptop. Neither OS recorded any events at all, in the application log or in the print service-admin event log. In each test i connect to a different model of network printer being shared from a W2K3 Print Server. I receive a prompt asking me if i trust the server i am connecting to, and click install to install the driver. I then see the files being copied. The connection process completes successfully, and the printer appears correctly in the devices and printers window, and i can then use the printer. As there are no events at all recorded in either the application event log, or in the Print Service->Admin event log, i cannot easily deduce what files a client is installing, which i used to be able to in Windows XP when performing the same operation of connecting to a new network printer and installing a new driver. Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated.

In the System log in Event Viewer, there are records for driver installation. You may get information there. In the Application log, there are records after you setup the printer, as: Log Name: Application Source: Interactive Services detection Date: 1/28/2011 16:55:46 Event ID: 1000 Task Category: None Level: Information Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: COMPUTER Description: A device or program has requested attention. Device or application: C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe. Message title: \\printer\{GUID},LocalsplOnly Document Properties. Event Xml: <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"> <System> <Provider Name="Interactive Services detection" /> <EventID Qualifiers="16384">1000</EventID> <Level>4</Level> <Task>0</Task> <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords> <TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-01-28T08:55:46.000000000Z" /> <EventRecordID>2355</EventRecordID> <Channel>Application</Channel> <Computer>COMPUTER</Computer> <Security /> </System> <EventData> <Data>C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe</Data> <Data>\\\printer\{GUID}LocalsplOnly Document Properties</Data> </EventData> </Event>Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Arthur, There must be more to this. I have just tested this procedure again on my standaline Windows 7 Professional laptop. I connected to an Oce Variolink 2221 print queue shared from a Windows 2003 Print Server. I receive a prompt asking me if i trust the print server, as the client needs to download and install a driver from it. I click yes, and the driver and printer are then installed successfully on my laptop. I note the exact time that i did this. I then examine the application log, system log AND print service->admin event logs, and I can state with absolute certainty that no event is logged for the printer i just installed in any of the above event logs. Looking at your post, I then ran a filter on the application log, searching for the event ID you quote should be appearing (event ID: 1000). I do see a filtered list of entries for event ID 1000 returned, but they are not related to printing, and the timestamps for these entries do not coincide even closely to when i am adding a printer. Example entry below: Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft-Windows-LoadPerf Date: 28/01/2011 15:38:53 Event ID: 1000 Task Category: None Level: Information Keywords: User: SYSTEM Computer: windows-team Description: Performance counters for the WmiApRpl (WmiApRpl) service were loaded successfully. The Record Data in the data section contains the new index values assigned to this service. Event Xml: <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"> <System> <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-LoadPerf" Guid="{122EE297-BB47-41AE-B265-1CA8D1886D40}" /> <EventID>1000</EventID> <Version>0</Version> <Level>4</Level> <Task>0</Task> <Opcode>0</Opcode> <Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords> <TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-01-28T15:38:53.154198000Z" /> <EventRecordID>2654</EventRecordID> <Correlation /> <Execution ProcessID="3144" ThreadID="3112" /> <Channel>Application</Channel> <Computer>windows-team</Computer> <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" /> </System> <UserData> <EventXML xmlns:auto-ns2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events" xmlns="LoadPerf"> <param1>WmiApRpl</param1> <param2>WmiApRpl</param2> <binaryDataSize>16</binaryDataSize> <binaryData>38160000EA16000039160000EB160000</binaryData> </EventXML> </UserData> </Event> So i'm still no clearer as to an answer on this.

I have run printer installation on test machine again and the same event is recorded. Maybe this is because I install the printer with Devices and Printers. How does it work if you use the same method? There is a log can record the printer installing. It is the log setupapi.dev.log located in C:\Windows\inf.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.