Shared printer goes offline after using VPN
I have a desktop running Windows 7 Ultimate, in Workgroup, with an HP printer directly connected to it via USB. The printer is shared. I have a laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate, in a domain. Both the laptop and the desktop are connected (wired) to my home network. That laptop has the desktop's printer defined as a network printer and was always able to print to the desktop's printer via the home network (port USB001). However, a few weeks ago something changed. I regularly connect the laptop to my company via VPN. Of course, while connected, I cannot print to that printer as it is connected to the desktop which is in my home network, not in the company's. However, I used to be able to print normally after disconnecting from VPN. Now, after I connect and disconnect from VPN, the printer shows as offline on the laptop (it is ok on the desktop). Restarting the spooler on the laptop does not help. I also noticed that when that happens the USB001 port on the laptop disappears from the list of ports under "Print Server Properties". The only solution I found so far is to delete the printer on the laptop, and add it again. Any ideas of why this is happening all of a sudden, and how to fix it? MM
June 18th, 2011 10:09am

Please follow the steps in the thread below to add the printer on the laptop. Forum FAQ:How to manually add a printer with shipped driver http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprohardware/thread/2c055ac8-b79e-4f30-a53d-798e69ed8d2f/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.
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June 21st, 2011 3:26am

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