# Printer issues with remote desktop



## lscott (Jul 14, 2006)

I've inherited a problem that just got the former IT company fired for for not being able to fix. So now my butt's on the fire. 

What happening is that printers that are set up as network printers on the server (Win2003) are not always visible and available to the remote desktop session. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they're not. The clues I've got are that when the printer is not visible, the 'share' tab on the server's printer properties takes a while to load, and when it does, the 'List in Directory' checkbox is missing. Later, the checkbox will be there for no apparent reason.

I've tried all the combinations of deleting and reinstalling the printers both on the workstations and the server. I've checked the group settings on the server to make sure all the printer settings look right.

The other clue I've got is that the server was originally set up with Server 2003 Small Business, and was upgraded when it was determined that Small Business would not support the custom software package they've got.

I was told that the upgrade was a clean install, but I've got no way to know if that's true.

Any clues would be appreciated!

Lee Scott


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## whardman (Jun 28, 2006)

Is the server set up as a print server?


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## lscott (Jul 14, 2006)

Yes, it is set up as a print server. 

For some reason, the remote printers created when a remote desktop session is initiated work fine. Just the printers that are defined on the server itself seem to be flakey. You can see them when you go into 'printers and faxes' from the desktop, but not when you go into Manage the Print server.


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## whardman (Jun 28, 2006)

Are the local printers shared? Also, is it possible for you to log in locally or not? If you can see if the same thing happens.


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## lscott (Jul 14, 2006)

No problems logging in locally. Same thing happens regardless of whether I'm logged in as an administrator or as a user. The printers on the server are shared, but the little hand underneath never appears. The printers created by the remote desktop connections will display the little hand when I share them with no problems. It just seems to affect the printers that are set up as network printers on the server.

All of these network printers are connected to desktops. I'm wondering if there would be any difference if we installed print servers instead?


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## whardman (Jun 28, 2006)

Let me make sure I understand correctly. Printers on a remote computer work fine and are visible in the Manage the Print Server, but the local printers do not show up as shared and are not visible in manage the Print Server.

When you connect using Remote Desktop make sure that under local resources 'connect automatically to these devices' is unchecked for all three (or at least the printers). If they are unchecked try checking them.


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## lscott (Jul 14, 2006)

That's correct. The printers created when a remote desktop session starts work fine, the printers that are set up on the server are not visible either on the remote desktop, or on the server itself when you go into Manage the Print Server. They are visible on the server when you go into Printers and Faxes, however. When you try and share them, the little hand never appears, but it will appear when you share the session printers. 

Just some very strange behavior. The application logs have a few references to not being able to connect due to bad network connections, but only a couple of entries - nowhere near as many as would be the case if that were the problem.

We're going to try installing print servers rather than connecting the printers to the local workstations and see if that makes any difference. If we still can't see them, we'll know the problem is somewhere on the server.


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