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Print Ports and Drivers may not displayed on a computer that is running Windows 7


View products that this article applies to.

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

� You have a print server that is running Windows Server 2003,
� You try to print from a Windows 7 client to the print server

In this scenario, the print job may fail. When you check the Print Server Properties on the Windows 7 client, the Ports and Drivers are not displayed in the lists. Restarting the Print Spooler service alleviates the issue.

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Cause

By default, Windows 7 will try to communicate to the print server by using the Asynchronous RPC protocol.  This protocol is not supported by Windows Server 2003-based print servers. 

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Resolution

To work around this issue, disable Asynchronous RPC on the Windows 7 client by adding the following registry entry:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\EnabledProtocols
Type: DWORD
Data: 6

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More information

Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 print servers supports all of the following protocols: Async RPC, Normal RPC, and SMB.  Windows 2003 Server only supports normal RPC and SMB.

Windows 7 clients may not be able to print to Windows Server 2003 print server
http://blogs.technet.com/b/tnforum/archive/2010/12/02/windows-7-clients-may-not-be-able-to-print-to-windows-server-2003-print-server.aspx

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Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use for other considerations.

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Keywords: KB2020463

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Article Info
Article ID : 2020463
Revision : 5
Created on : 1/31/2011
Published on : 1/31/2011
Exists online : False
Views : 283