Cannot Print to a File on a Terminal Services Server (319894)

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 Q319894

SYMPTOMS

If you configure a printer port as "FILE:" on a Terminal Services server, you are prompted to type a file name for the spool file when you print a document. If you specify a file on a drive letter that is mapped to a network share, the print job does not succeed if you are logged on to a Terminal Services server by using the Terminal Services Client software. The problem does not occur if you are logged on to the Terminal Services server at the console.

CAUSE

The print spooler runs in the System context and has no access to the drive mappings in the you user session.

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 version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version        Size     File name
   --------------------------------------------------------
   21-Mar-2002  23:35  5.0.2195.5225  114,448  Winspool.drv
   21-Mar-2002  23:35  5.0.2195.4967  54,032   Wlnotify.dll

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use an output file name in Universal Naming Convention UNC notation (such as \\Server\Share\Output.bin).

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.

MORE INFORMATION

You can specify a fully qualified file name for the printer port in the printer's properties. This causes all print jobs to be printed to the same file without any user intervention. This is not supported on a Windows 2000-based Terminal Services server if the file is located on a network share. For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265173 The Datacenter Program and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Product

For additional information about how to install multiple hotfixes with only one reboot, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296861 Use QChain.exe to Install Multiple Hotfixes with One Reboot

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	9/27/2005
Keywords:	kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbTermServ kbWin2000PreSP3Fix kbWin2000sp3fix KB319894