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re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 6:19 pm Posted by C K (6910 messages posted) It's not a mapping problem if the printer attempts to print from the LPT port. If a test print from Windows does the same thing, it is suspicious of a hardware failure in the printer even though a printer intialized test print may print correctly. (See the printer manual for the test print options for that printer) I've seen it happen dozens of times (hardware failure, especially on lasers). More rare would be a motherboard issue with the port. (I'm assuming there is no mechanical printer switch in the line as these will blow out the interface?) If you are able, try the printer on another computer after loading the driver. If it still doesn't work, then you have a failed printer interface (in the printer). Also check the Event Viewer for errors.. If it is corruption in W2K, you may end up reinstalling the operating system. A repair install usually doesn't clear some of these types of issues in my experience. On Friday, January 18, 2008 at 5:11 pm, Michael Roback wrote: >I currently run a small visual basic program on a stand alone pc running 2000 pro. > It is hooked via parallel to a stand alone laser printer. i went to print something >the other day and out came spitting giberish, lots of printer control and detail >information. I have looked everywhere and have gotten various suggestions that have >turned out to be useless. I have removed the driver with the printer d/c. I even >removed the driver from the registry. When I go to reinstall the driver the machine >says it is still there and wants to know if I want to replace it? I have hooked >up a couple of different printers to the pc and they are not auto detected. In fact, >what comes up offers me choices as to what has been detected ... no printers. No >matter what I do gibberish now spits out of the printer. It is not program specific >as any program, word, etc. will produce the same results. Do you have any idea what >might be going on? One person from MSFT said it might be a LP1 mapping problem and >that I can run net use from the run menu but it only brings a screen us for > seconds and I cannot read it! I have turned the spooler off and on with no luck. > If you have any ideas, or anyone I can talk to that is knowledgeable about printer >issues with 2000 Pro I would greatly appreciate it. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 6:21 pm Posted by Jim O'Calaghan (264 messages posted) Look in Device Manager and see if it's installed....if the yellow question mark is there, and I suspect it is, power off, plug in the printer and let the Wizard pick it up. If this doesn't work then post back. Good luck Jim [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 8:13 pm Posted by DEX (11847 messages posted) Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites Click Here I would suggest checking the cables by using the Generic print driver,, all printers will and can use the generic driver,,, If you don't get it to print, replace the cables..if it prints then the cables are ok and the driver is in error.. get a updated one and let windows reinstall it.. Then try it one more time.. ============= Are you a wood worker ?,if so Click Here On Friday, January 18, 2008 at 5:11 pm, Michael Roback wrote: >I currently run a small visual basic program on a stand alone pc running 2000 pro. > It is hooked via parallel to a stand alone laser printer. i went to print something >the other day and out came spitting giberish, lots of printer control and detail >information. I have looked everywhere and have gotten various suggestions that have >turned out to be useless. I have removed the driver with the printer d/c. I even >removed the driver from the registry. When I go to reinstall the driver the machine >says it is still there and wants to know if I want to replace it? I have hooked >up a couple of different printers to the pc and they are not auto detected. In fact, >what comes up offers me choices as to what has been detected ... no printers. No >matter what I do gibberish now spits out of the printer. It is not program specific >as any program, word, etc. will produce the same results. Do you have any idea what >might be going on? One person from MSFT said it might be a LP1 mapping problem and >that I can run net use from the run menu but it only brings a screen us for > seconds and I cannot read it! I have turned the spooler off and on with no luck. > If you have any ideas, or anyone I can talk to that is knowledgeable about printer >issues with 2000 Pro I would greatly appreciate it. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:14 pm Posted by Michael Roback (3 messages posted) Update on my printer situation. Okay, I found the self-test documentation on the printer and ran it twice, with no problem. So, I guess it is not the printer. I also went to device manager, and the printer shows as installed with no yellow question mark, except that in the device manager is shows up asECP Printer Port (LP1). What I do not understand is why when I delete the driver and try to reinstall a new driver, it says that the driver still exists and asks me if I want to replace it? Also, the fact that I can plug any new device into the USB port and it will not auto detect the device. For example, I plugged in a newer printer and it brought up various options of something detected, none related to a printer??? Seems as though there is a OS problem with respect to how the LPT port is communicating??? Any further help would be appreciated as I am stumped. Thanks everyone. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:42 pm Posted by Michael Roback (3 messages posted) I found the following info in the Msft knowledge base in terms of cleanly removing all print drivers and associated fragments, but I do not know how to get to these directories. Can they only be accessed via DOS? Any help would be appreciated! "Remove the printer using the Printers folder in Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 or Print Manager in Windows NT 3.5x. In Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0, in Control Panel, double-click Services, and then stop the Spooler service. In Windows 2000, in Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, double-click Services, and then stop the Spooler service. Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and go to the following subkey (note that this is all one path, which has been wrapped for readability): HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\ Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-x\ NOTE: Version-1 is for Windows NT 3.51, Version-2 is for Windows NT 4.0, Version-3 is Windows 2000, and is the name of the printer you are removing. Note the values on the right and write down the file names. With the printer driver key selected, click Delete on the Edit menu. Go to the following directory and delete the printer driver files noted in step 4: %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\ NOTE: is Intel, MIPS, Alpha, or PPC. See the following table to match the folder with the version of Windows for which you installed the printer driver: w32x86\0 : Intel Windows NT 3.1 printer drivers w32x86\1 : Intel Windows NT 3.5x printer drivers w32x86\2 : Intel Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers w32x86\3 : Intel Windows 2000 printer drivers Win40\0 : Windows 95 printer drivers NOTE: If you are unable to delete the files and folders in the above directory structure after stopping the spooler service because of an error message that the files are in use (such as, Rasddui.dll), set the startup type for the Spooler service to Disabled, restart your computer, and then attempt to delete the files and folders again. After deleting the files, restore the Spooler startup to Automatic. In Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0, in Control Panel, double-click Services, and then start the Spooler service. In Windows 2000, in Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, double-click Services, and then start the Spooler service. Shut down and restart Windows NT. Stopping and restarting the Spooler service is not sufficient. Reinstall the printer using the Printers folder in Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 or Print Manager in Windows NT 3.5x. NOTE: In addition to the steps listed above, it may be necessary to delete the printer's associated unidriver (Rasdd.dll, Pscript.dll, or Plotter.dll). If printing has been initialized or if a process is using this file, it will be locked open and cannot be deleted. The file can be renamed or the system can be restarted to free up the driver. Refer to the Printer.inf file to see which unidriver is used by a particular printer." [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Win 2000 Pro Printing Nightmare Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:51 pm Posted by the ber (78 messages posted) I think that you cannot get to "administrative tools/services" in the control panel unless you are logged in with administrator rights. at least it works that way on my pc. another way to get to "services" is to right-click on the taskbar, select "properties", select "advanced", and check off "display administrative tools". afterwards the administrative tools should be in the "start/programs" window. but as i said, it only works for me when i log in with an administrator account. as for regedt32: you have to click "start/run", and then type in "regedt32". you should then see 5 explorer-type windows, one of which is Local Machine. be careful. On Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:42 pm, Michael Roback wrote: >I found the following info in the Msft knowledge base in terms of cleanly removing >all print drivers and associated fragments, but I do not know how to get to these >directories. Can they only be accessed via DOS? Any help would be appreciated! > >"Remove the printer using the Printers folder in Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 or Print >Manager in Windows NT 3.5x. >In Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0, in Control Panel, double-click Services, and then stop >the Spooler service. In Windows 2000, in Control Panel, double-click Administrative >Tools, double-click Services, and then stop the Spooler service. >Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and go to the following subkey (note that this >is all one path, which has been wrapped for readability): >HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\ >Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-x\ > >NOTE: Version-1 is for Windows NT 3.51, Version-2 is for Windows NT 4.0, Version-3 >is Windows 2000, and is the name of the printer you are removing. > > > >Note the values on the right and write down the file names. >With the printer driver key selected, click Delete on the Edit menu. >Go to the following directory and delete the printer driver files noted in step 4: >%SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\ > >NOTE: is Intel, MIPS, Alpha, or PPC. See the following table to match >the folder with the version of Windows for which you installed the printer driver: > >w32x86\0 : Intel Windows NT 3.1 printer drivers >w32x86\1 : Intel Windows NT 3.5x printer drivers >w32x86\2 : Intel Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers >w32x86\3 : Intel Windows 2000 printer drivers >Win40\0 : Windows 95 printer drivers > >NOTE: If you are unable to delete the files and folders in the above directory structure >after stopping the spooler service because of an error message that the files are >in use (such as, Rasddui.dll), set the startup type for the Spooler service to Disabled, >restart your computer, and then attempt to delete the files and folders again. After >deleting the files, restore the Spooler startup to Automatic. > > > >In Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0, in Control Panel, double-click Services, and then start >the Spooler service. In Windows 2000, in Control Panel, double-click Administrative >Tools, double-click Services, and then start the Spooler service. >Shut down and restart Windows NT. Stopping and restarting the Spooler service is >not sufficient. >Reinstall the printer using the Printers folder in Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000 or >Print Manager in Windows NT 3.5x. >NOTE: In addition to the steps listed above, it may be necessary to delete the printer's >associated unidriver (Rasdd.dll, Pscript.dll, or Plotter.dll). If printing has been >initialized or if a process is using this file, it will be locked open and cannot >be deleted. The file can be renamed or the system can be restarted to free up the >driver. Refer to the Printer.inf file to see which unidriver is used by a particular >printer." 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