Printer Problems and NT permissions????

[opo]

I now have two printer that are not working.
Anyone with Adminstator privleges can see and use the printers. Anyone else cannot. Being told it has nothing to do with permissions. But shouldn't it be?
The driver is not faulty or would not work.
They can be seen on network and can be used
And the printer is shared.
PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[shipmate]

Do you get any errors? Does the print job ever make it to the queue? NT 4.0, anything else installed or running?

Have you checked the event log to see what the server says? Or the workstations (if it's NT or 2k)

Check the permissions on the winnt\system32\spool directory,everyone should have access to read, write, execute (if I remember correctly, maybe it's just read/write).

You could also give admin priviliges to every user

 

[opo]

the job is queued to the printer then notifies of error
sometimes get message no permission to computer, sometimes can see computer, although icon is there.
I will check the event log
sys admin does not want to give everyone admin priveleges
thanks

 

[yizhar]

HI.

You should check the permissions on each printer itself.
The users must have at least the PRINT permissions.

This could also be a licensing issue.
If your server is using "Per server" licensing and you have reached the maximum, then it might silently drop file and print clients request but still allow administrators.

You can check with "License Manager" and Event Viewer.
You can also try to stop the licensing service. If this works around the problem then you have a licensing issue.

Bye
Yizhar Hurwitz

http://come.to/yizhar

http://teachers.sivan.co.il/yizhar

 

[opo]

Hi
Checked the Event Log, message:
'Document failed to print due to GDI/Driver error in rendering'
Window Graphic Driver Interface ?
If so how do i fix?

 

[shipmate]

CHeck this out (copy and paste in your browser):

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;q271901

Basically, it says there is likely a permission problem with the system32/spool directory.

The article gives instructions on how to fix, like either enabling the guest account, set it to print directly tot he printer, or grant the Everyone group Read and Execute, Read, and List Folder Contents permissions on the system32/spool directory.

ALso, you should try what yizhar said too, and check the licensing.

Good luck

 

[opo]

Check Microsoft Site, that reference you gave no longer exists

 

[shipmate]

Here you go:







SYMPTOMS
When you are working on a computer that is running Windows, if you attempt to connect to a printer on another Windows computer that is part of a workgroup or a member of an untrusted domain, you may receive the following error message:

You do not have sufficient access to your machine to connect to the selected printer.
This message occurs regardless of the guest account that is being enabled or disabled on the local computer.

In addition, when you log on to the client locally and install the printer, when you print a file, you may receive an error message when the print job is spooling. The system event log on the print server reports the following message:
Event ID: 45
Document failed to print due to GDI/Driver error in rendering.



CAUSE
This issue may occur if you do not have proper NTFS permissions on the Spool folder. By default, Windows sets stricter permissions on the Spool folder.

NOTE : This issue does not occur when you give the Everyone group Full Control permissions (the default NTFS permissions) on the Spool folder in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use any of the following methods:

Method One
Enable the guest account on the computer that is hosting the shared printer.


On the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool folder, grant the Everyone group Read and Execute, Read, and List Folder Contents permissions.


On the client computer, log on as the user and add the printer.


Method Two
Enable the guest account on the computer that is hosting the shared printer.


Add the guest account to the NTFS permissions list on the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool folder, and then grant the guest account Read and Execute, Read, and List Folder Contents permissions.


On the client computer, log on as the user and add the printer.


Method Three
Enable the guest account on the computer that is hosting the shared printer.


Add the guest account to the NTFS permission list on the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool folder, and give this account Full Control permissions.


Log on to the client station as a local administrator and install the printer driver locally by adding the printer as a network printer.


Log off of the client station as the local administrator, log on as the user, and then add the printer again.

NOTE : This method may create a security issue. When you grant the guest account Full Control permissions, any user is able to manage other users' documents in the print queue.


Method Four
Log on to the client station as the local administrator and add the printer.


On the print server, right-click the printer, click Properties , and then click the Advanced tab.


Click the Print directly to the printer check box. When you enable this option, the print spooling function is bypassed.


For additional information about NTFS Default Permissions, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q244600 Default NTFS Permissions in Windows 2000
Q148437 Default NTFS Permissions in Windows NT