Cannot Install Printers on Terminal Server with SP5 or SP6 Installed (262202)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition SP5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition SP6

This article was previously published under Q262202
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to install a printer in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server with Service Pack 5 (SP5) or Service Pack 6 (SP6) installed, you may receive the following error message:
Server on which the printer resides does not have a suitable Printer driver installed.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if you are attempting to install a new printer that does not have a driver in the trusted path. SP5 or SP6 makes changes to the registry that provide for the enhanced stability of Terminal Server by not allowing printer drivers to be installed from untrusted paths.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To install the printer, you must modify the registry:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate and click the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers

  3. Set the following registry values:

    Value Name: LoadTrustedDrivers
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Value: 0

    Value Name: EnablePrinterSecurity
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Value: 0

  4. Quit Registry Editor.
  5. Restart the server.
After you make this change, administrators can install new printer drivers. After the drivers are installed, users can add the new printers based on these drivers.

NOTE: Before you install a new printer driver, make sure that it is compatible with Terminal Server. You may want to install and test the driver in a test environment before you install the driver on a production server.

After you have installed the drivers you need, you should consider setting the registry back to its original settings:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers

Value Name: LoadTrustedDrivers
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Value Name: EnablePrinterSecurity
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Restart the server after making these changes.

In summary, when EnablePrinterSecurity is set to "0", then the client looks for drivers in TrustedDriverPath\2 folder. When it is set to "1", it looks for drivers under TrustedDriverPath.

Example:

Case 1: EnablePrinterSecurity is set to 0
------------------------------------------

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers]

"AddPrinterDrivers"=dword:00000000
"LoadTrustedDrivers"=dword:00000001
"EnablePrinterSecurity"=dword:00000000
"TrustedDriverPath"=REG_EXPAND_SZ:\\printserver\print$\W32%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%



In this case, the client pulls the driver from \\printserver\print$\w32x86\2

Make sure the drivers are in \\printserver\print$\w32x86\2

Case2: EnablePrinterSecurity is set to 1 (only admins can add the printer)
-------------------------------------------------------------------

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers]

"AddPrinterDrivers"=dword:00000000

"LoadTrustedDrivers"=dword:00000001

"EnablePrinterSecurity"=dword:00000001

"TrustedDriverPath"=REG_EXPAND_SZ:\\printserver\print$\W32%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%

In this case, the client pulls the driver from \\printserver\print$\w32x86

Make sure the drivers are in \\printserver\print$\w32x86 (note that it doesn't look for "2" folder)

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

239536 How to Load Printer Drivers from Trusted Source Only

238070 Computer May Hang if Multiple Terminal Server Users Connect to a Remote Printer and Print Simultaneously


Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/3/2003
Keywords:kbenv kberrmsg kbprb kbprint KB262202