Access Violation in Windows Explorer When You View Printer Properties in Active Directory (317250)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2
This article was previously published under Q317250

SYMPTOMS

If you try to view the properties of a printer that is published in Active Directory, Windows Explorer (Explorer.exe) may generate an access violation and stop responding (hang).

CAUSE

This behavior may occur if both of the following conditions are true:
  • The printer has not been previously installed on your computer.

    -and-
  • You try to view the printer properties by following these steps:
    1. In My Network Places, double-click Entire Network.
    2. Click the entire contents link, double-click Directory, and then double-click the domain.
    3. Double-click the organizational unit (OU) that contains the printer, right-click the printer icon, and then click Properties.
This behavior is dependent on the specific network configuration, Active Directory access times, and local resources. It occurs in a race situation, where the operating system calls the DllCanUnloadNow routine while in the middle of creating a new thread, and because the thread has not yet been created, the operating system unloads the dynamic-link library (DLL).

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
   Date         Time   Version        Size     File name
   -------------------------------------------------------
   21-Mar-2002  18:26  5.0.2195.5212  381,200  Printui.dll

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, connect to the printer before you try to view the printer properties. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. On your desktop, double-click My Network Places, and then double-click Entire Network.
  2. Click the entire contents link, double-click Directory, and then double-click the domain.
  3. Double-click the OU that contains the printer, right-click the printer icon, and then click Connect. Follow the steps to install a printer driver, if prompted to do so.
  4. Right-click the printer icon, and then click Properties.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/30/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbprint kbWin2000PreSP3Fix kbWin2000sp3fix KB317250
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