Cannot Add Printer on Earlier Server if Windows 2000 Domain Name and NetBIOS Domain Names Are Different (255496)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

This article was previously published under Q255496

SYMPTOMS

When you try to add a printer to Active Directory, you may receive the following error message if the printer exists on server that is running an earlier operating system:

A printer Q object for object \\server\share cannot be created because :
The system cannot find the file specified

This behavior occurs if the NetBIOS domain name is different from the Windows 2000 domain name.

CAUSE

The add printer function assumes that the Windows 2000 domain name is the same as the NetBIOS name.

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

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 1.

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	9/23/2005
Keywords:	kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbQFE kbWin2000SP1Fix KB255496