Win7 Printer Problems 0x0000007b and 0x00000002.
I've run in to a bit of a problem with printing on our new Windows 7 Pro machines. The machines work perfectly when i first add the printers, which are shared on a 2003 print server, but after about 2-3 days they all of a sudden refuse to print. I've looked in to the problem further and have stumbled across a few error messages. 1. The ports page is completely empty and when i try and add a port, i get the error 0x0000007b. 2. When i delete the printer and try and re add it before rebooting, i then get the error 0x00000002. The only temporary solution is to delete the printers and restart the machine, and re-adding them after the machine has rebooted. This works again for a short random period of time but the error always seems to reappear. It is also worth pointing out that all 10 new win7 pro machines are exhibiting the same issues. They are all in a server2003 domain environment. Cheers
February 22nd, 2010 8:14am

That is because the printer driver installation does not start because of the error. By default high privilege will be needed when you install driver. The clients may need to install the Windows 7 compatible driver on their client computers. Printer driver installation program will prompt that if you would like to install a local printer or a network shard printer. Then select the correct option and finish the installation. If the driver installation program does not help in this, follow the steps below to add a shard printer. 1. Click Start, click Control Panel and double click Devices and Printers.2. Click Add a Printer. 3. Select "Add a local printer". 4. Select "Create a new port". Choose "Local Port" as the type of the port.5. In the box "Enter a port name", type the address as the following format. \\[IP address of the host computer]\[The Share Name of the printer] Then click Next. 6. Follow the instruction to finish the installation. During installing, choose the correct driver in the driver list. Also you can try to add the Windows 7 compatible printer driver to the printer server. You need to install the Windows 7 compatible driver in one of the Windows 7 client, then follow the steps below. 1. Install the driver on one of the Windows 7 clients.2. Launch mmc from Start Search box.3. Click File->Add/Remove Snap-in.4. Add "Print Management". Point to the server in "Specify the printer server". 5. Expand "Printer Management"->"Printer Servers"->"Drivers". 6. Right-click, then click "Add a driver".7. follow the instructions to add the Windows 7 printer driver. After doing so the driver should be added into the server. If the driver is packed, you can directly extract the driver pack and add the driver from Printer Management in the printer server. If the printer driver is not found, the driver should be not designed for enterprise environment. In this case you may need to add the printer from the client side manually.Arthur Xie - MSFT
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February 24th, 2010 3:30am

I have the same exact problem as Martin posted. Arthur, I don't follow your explanation of why this is happening. If the error occurs during driver installation, then it wouldn't print at all. However, the printer/driver installs correctly, and printing works fine, for days in some cases. Then, randomly, the ports disappear, and printing ceases. The "solution" I've seen posted here and elsewhere isn't a solution, but a workaround. It bypasses the server for printing, and instead installs a TCPIP port on the local Windows 7 PC. LOTS of reasons why IT people don't want to do this. For openers, all PCs will need to have driver updates installed manually, instead of letting the server push them out. There's potential for other problems too.It seems that the problem we're having only occurs when the printer is installed on a W2K3 server (W2K8 doesn't seem to have the problem), and Windows 7 clients. This wasn't an issue with Vista.There are a lot of people I found in other forums with the same issue. I can't believe Microsoft isn't being more proactive in finding the REAL SOLUTION to this!
February 24th, 2010 11:47am

This issue isn't solved.
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March 8th, 2010 8:07am

Hi Everyone,My name is John Dickson and I work on the Performance Team specializing in printing support.We may have found a resolution to this issue. Starting in Windows Vista and in Windows 7 we introduced Asynchronus RPC which speeds up communcation to a Windows 2008/2008 R2 Server. Windows Server 2003 doesn't support this new protocol and when Windows 7 trys to communicate using Async RPC, this is most like causing the temporary loss of communcation.The result is the blank driver tab and port tab.The work around is to disable Async RPC by adding the following registry key on the Windows 7/Vista clients: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\EnabledProtocols Type: DWORD Data: 6Please let me know if this resolves the issue.
March 8th, 2010 10:14pm

John, thanks so much for this post! This has been a real pesky problem! My printers suddenly went offline yesterday at the end of the day and I just left it. When I arrived this morning, they'd come back online and the jobs in the queue printed. It's been intermittent like this, so the communication issue you describe makes sense. I also read that this seems to be prevalent with W2K3 servers as opposed to W2K8.I made the change to the registry you mentioned. I had to create the Printers key, then add the EnabledProtocols entry. I'll report back with the results after a few days.-Dave MCITP Enterprise Admin/Server AdminMCSE NT, 2000, 2003
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March 9th, 2010 9:06am

John,I'm sorry to say the registry entry did not fix the problem. I have triple-checked my entry in the registry, but the issue persists - intermittent failure to print, and loss of ports and communication with all printers on the affected server(s).Please check if there's possibly a type in the registry location or something like that. I really need to get this one fixed.Thank you,-DaveMCITP Enterprise Admin/Server Admin, MCSE NT, 2000, 2003
March 9th, 2010 11:48am

Hi Dave,Did you reboot the Windows 7 client after entering the registry key?We have also seen the workaround of restarting the Print Spooler service but this is temporary.If the registry key entry doesn't resolve the issue then I suggest opening up a support case with use to further troubleshoot.Thanks,John
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March 9th, 2010 4:10pm

Hi John,Yes I did reboot. If you have anymore info on this issue, please post. I may have to open a case, I've got a dozen Win 7 systems in production now and I can't have this kind of issue from day to day.MCITP Enterprise Admin/Server Admin, MCSE NT, 2000, 2003
March 10th, 2010 8:24am

Hi,Please open a case so we can troubleshoot this further.http://support.microsoft.com/gp/soThanks,John
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March 10th, 2010 4:13pm

Hi John, Thanks for getting back to me regarding this issue. When i add the registry entry, does it have to a be a hexadecimal or decimal? Cheers Martin
March 16th, 2010 10:33am

Hi Martin,Decimal value of 6.Thanks,John
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March 16th, 2010 6:10pm

Thanks, i've made the reg changes to the machines. Due to the random nature of the problem, i wont know the issue is fixed for a couple of days. Although guitarfish wasn't so lucky i'm hoping it works for us. Cheers Martin.
March 17th, 2010 6:42am

Hi Martin,Please let me know if this resolves your issue, if not then please open up a support case with us.Call Customer Support at 800-936-4900 or open via the web at http://support.microsoft.com/select/Default.aspx?target=assistanceThanks,John
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March 17th, 2010 9:51am

Aloha! Has any progress been made towards solving this issue? I have applied the reg fix suggested and it appears to have reduced the number users whose printer ports have disappeared but there are still a couple who still have the problem. I am seeing more techs mentioning this issue in forums but no permanent solution. Looking forward to correcting this problem and moving to the next. Mahalo, P.
April 27th, 2010 5:22pm

The solution that jdickson posted has been working fine for me. I have about 15 Win 7 clients now, and haven't had any printing issues as long as I make the registry change.MCITP Enterprise Admin/Server Admin, MCSE NT, 2000, 2003
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April 27th, 2010 8:04pm

The solution that jdickson posted has been working fine for me. I have about 15 Win 7 clients now, and haven't had any printing issues as long as I make the registry change. MCITP Enterprise Admin/Server Admin, MCSE NT, 2000, 2003 Aloha, I see in an earlier post that you continued to have problems after the registry change was made. Did you do anything different in addition to the registry change that may have helped? Please note that the registry change has corrected the problem on 18 of the 20 WIN7 computers on my 2003 domain. There are just two stubborn ones that keep having their printer ports disappear. I've confirmed that the registry changes have been made. Thanks for your answer in advance. I’m glad someone has had the same issue and has been able to resolve it. Mahalo, P.
April 28th, 2010 3:12pm

Has anyone come up with a solution that works other than the ones posted here?
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September 20th, 2010 11:05am

Hi Everyone, We have resolved this issue via hotfix 2388142 which can be downloaded from article http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-US;2388142. To obtain this hotfix, use the link above and click on "View and Request Hotfix Downloads" or use link on the right hand pane to Chat with a support professional who can send the hotfix. Thank for your patience! Best regards, John
October 26th, 2010 2:26pm

Hi Everyone, I was having issues with my printer mapping using GPO login scripts in my W2003r2 Native Domain. JDickson was on the right track. I came across a fix similar to his but with more settings that seem to have solved the problem. Here is the Registry Change that has Fixed all of my 20+ Windows 7 Pro workstations... [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PackagePointAndPrint] "PackagePointAndPrintServerList"=dword:00000000 "PackagePointAndPrintOnly"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint] "Restricted"=dword:00000000 "TrustedServers"=dword:00000000 "InForest"=dword:00000000 I hope this help!
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December 16th, 2010 7:44pm

Simple reboot did trick for me.
September 27th, 2011 4:44pm

Then you didn't have the same problem we all did. This issue was discussed 18 mos ago, and long since fixed with a patch which you probably already have on your system.MCITP Enterprise Admin/Server Admin, MCSE NT, 2000, 2003
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September 27th, 2011 9:03pm

This problem is still not fixed. 100 machines all running Windows 7 Professional 64bit. Approximately 2 months ago people started complaining about not being able to print. I deleted their printer and then pathed to the print server (windows 2003 server) and double clicked ont the printer and I receive the error. "Windows cannot connect to the printer. Operaton failed with error 0x00000002" Nothing I do listed here fixed this issue, I have applied the workaround to all system which is to manually install the printer. It's very annoying.
October 5th, 2011 3:59pm

I ran into a similar problem a couple of years ago and remembered after reading a post on another site suggesting to delete and reinstall the printer on the server using Vista drivers and compatability mode. I ran into the problem again after setting up HomeGroup. Try deleting the printer on the server and reinstalling it. I have an HP Laserjet 4250 and used the Vista driver in compatibility mode on my Windows 7 computer. It doesn't make sense because I could print to using the computer with the printer attached, but it worked. I have 2 HP printers and found that Vista drivers work better than Win 7 drivers on my Win 7 computers. My PhotoSmart 7280 package won't install and aborts. The Vista package works.
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December 1st, 2011 11:52pm

We have the same problem. It is caused (probably) by broken printer drivers from vendor. Refer: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/22b09750-93d6-4602-a7e9-4676b1cc6cb8 Problem occurs, when in c:\Windows\System32\spool\prtprocs\x64 you have all subdirectories from 1 to 499. Then, Windows cannot install additional Print Driver. We fix this using following steps (please be sure, what you are doing - this is draft): 1. Stop Print Spoller Service, kill PrintIsolationHost.exe process 1. Delete (usused?) print processors from c:\Windows\System32\spool\prtprocs\x64 (directories with names 1-499, and any file except winprint.dll) 2. Clear print processor (and driver?) entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments (except winprint) 3. (Check content before remove) and delete key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations 4. Start print spooler 5. Install printers Links: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverprint/thread/111c5a7e-14f5-42a8-9a89-789a8f2e54cb/ http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310335 (PendingFileRenameOperations) THIS IS MY DRAFT OF SOLUTION. BE SURE, WHAT YOU ARE DOING. You have been warned.
February 15th, 2012 2:36am

I had this problem for a long time, Mateusz' solution worked for me; simply delting the folders from 1-499 did the trick. I watched the directory as I added the printer and my computer created folders named 1 and 2, even after the printer was added it continued to add folders all the way up to 8 until I re-deleted them which seemed to stop it in it's tracks (all of the new folders were empty). The printer now works fine. It seems there's a bug somewhere with driver installation, also someone 'sensible' who limited the folder count to 499, imagine if my computer had sat there for a year generating folders... Anyway, thanks for that!
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April 3rd, 2012 4:53am

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