Event ID 2005 Message Occurs When You Print to a Line Printer (245033)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0
This article was previously published under Q245033

SYMPTOMS

If you use the line printing (LPR) utility to set up a line printer, when you try to print a document, you may receive the following error message in Microsoft Event Viewer:
Event ID: 2005
Description: LPR print monitor failed to open a temporary file while spooling output to port IP address: the system may be low on disk space or the Spool directory is write-protected.

CAUSE

This issue can occur in any of the following scenarios:
  • You do not have the appropriate permissions to the spool folder that is located at %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Printers by default.
  • You added a print component such as TCP/IP printing and did not reapply the service pack that the operating system is currently running on. In this case, the spooler files are mismatched.
  • The Everyone group does not have Read permissions.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue:
  1. On the Printers folder, click Server Properties on the File menu, and then click the Advanced tab to check the permissions on the spool folder.
  2. Configure default permission on the Printers folder and all folders below it. For additional information about the default NTFS spool permissions, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    148437 Default NTFS Permissions in Windows NT

  3. Confirm the permissions on the system root and volume root, and then make sure that the Everyone group has at least Read permissions. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    152763 File Delete Child Directory Permission in NTFS

  4. Run the following command to confirm that the destination LPR port that is created is actually a port to a valid Line Printer Daemon (LPD) server:

    lpq -s server IP address or host name -p print queue name

    For example, to test to see if a physical printer with the IP address of 192.168.1.15 and a queue name of RAW is available as an LPD, run the following command line:

    lpq -s 192.168.1.15 -p RAW

    Depending on the printer, when you run the command, either a blank line, or the following data is displayed:

    Windows 2000 LPD Server
    Printer \\192.168.1.15\RAW
    Owner Status Jobname Job-Id Size Pages Priority
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If the results of the command describe an error, correct the error so that the destination can be put back online.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/24/2004
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb kbprint KB245033
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