Add printer icon / wizard missing

[deamar4]

Has anyone ever had their "add printer" icon go away? When i go to configure your 2000 server to get it back i get an error that reads "operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in place on this computer".
Anyone got any ideas? cant get remote printers to work onthe server since I cant add printers. any help would be great. could this be a policy problem? I didnt find anything out of place when I checked. I am logging in as the administrator.

 

[PScottC]

Check the Print Spooler service. Make sure that it is started and set to automatically start. Make sure there isn't a GPO causing that service to be stopped or disabled.

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers

 

[deamar4]

i went through all of the GPO's I could find. Is there a particular one I should take a look at? Thanks for the help

 

[PScottC]

Use the Group Policy Management Console to analyze your GPO's...

But the question remains, Is the print spooler working?

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers

 

[deamar4]

The spooler is on. I did a on/off on it aand all went well. Where is the Group Policy Management Console? I can check it out. The issue is the printer is usb connected to the PC. The user does a term serve session into the server and runs a print. I have the printer and driver present in the server with exact matching share names. No prints come back to the local printer from the server through the term serve session. It is very possible a policy of some sort is holding me up, but I cant find it. This did work fine for a long time but we lost a router (and VPN tunneling) and a server and it all stopped functioning after that. I did a repair disk fix on the server, and a pro came in and re-created the router settings. all pc's can get to and work in the server, just no prints. Its driving me crazy. I have spend 20+ hours trying to figure it out. i have removed all the printers and re-created them, you name it I've tried it, except GPO manipulation, as I cant find the console. appreicate the help, and I owe you a big one if you can figure this out!!!

 

[PScottC]

Ok... This is not a GPO issue, it's a Terminal services issue. I wish you had mentioned that up front. Check a couple of settings...

1) On the Server, open the Terminal Services Configuration MMC. Double Click on RDP-TCP. On the Client Settings tab, make sure that disable printer mapping is unchecked. On that same tab you probably want to uncheck "Use connection settings from user settings" and select "Connect client printers" and "Default to main client printer" checkboxes.

2) On the Server, open the Local Security Policy MMC. Drill down to Local Policies/Security Options. Change "Prevent users from installing printer drivers" to Disabled.

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BTW: If this system was rebuilt, was the computer object in Active Directory placed into the same OU that contained the it previously?

You must download the Group Policy Management Console from Microsoft.

Good Luck!

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers

 

[deamar4]

Followed the directions and the internal PC USB connected printers all came to life. The outside building connected PC's still cant print. I am investigating this as we speak. I didnt know it mattered for you to know the GPO / Term Serve issue. sorry for that. Anyway, I am back on it today to hopefully get the remaining external PC to print. Very much appreicate all the help.

 

[PScottC]

There are some issues with Citrix and USB printers. Don't think it applies to you since you had it working already.

Good Luck!

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers