Thin Client Printing

Printing

Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services contains an exciting new feature: Terminal Services Easy Print, a driver-free solution to printer redirection!
Read WS2008: Terminal Services Printing.

But for a long time to come, there will be downlevel (Windows 2003 / 2000) Terminal Servers around, and thus the need to install a matching printer driver on the TS. If your Terminal Server is one of them, this information is for you.

One of the biggest challenges for Terminal Server Administrators is to provide remote users with the possibility to print to their local printers, whether these printers are attached to a local port on the client computer or shared on the local network.

If your client printers are not redirected in the TS sessions, check the EventLog on the Terminal Server for any printer-related events at the time the client connected to the TS.

1. no Events: redirection is not attempted at all
   Solution: check the configuration of printer redirection in the RDP client and on the Terminal Server, update the RDP client to the version that comes with Windows Server 2003 (located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\clients\tsclient\win32\msrdpcli.msi) or apply KB article 302361 to get support for redirection of non-standard local port names, including tcp/ip ports.
2. Event 1111, 1105 and 1106: redirection is attempted, but fails because the server doesn't have a driver for the printer.
   Solution: whatever you do, do not install a 3rd party printer driver on the Terminal Server, unless it is a Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signed driver. Many non-WHQL drivers are not TS-compatible, and some are known to crash your printer spooler or the whole server. In stead, map the printer to a native driver by creating a custom ntprintsubs.inf file, as described in KB article 239088.

• If you have a problem with a crashing spooler service, you can use the Spooler Cleaner utility from the Windows 2003 Resource Kit (cleanspl.exe). It will delete all printer drivers, printers, ports, port monitors, print processors, and print job spool files from the server.
• If you are running at least Windows 2003 SP1 on your Terminal Server and your printers support PCL or PS natively, you can configure a Fallback Printer Driver.
• If you are supporting Macintosh clients, you must use a PostScript driver, unless all Mac clients run the Beta version of the Mac RDC version 2.0 client, which supports all printers
• If you are running an x64-based version of Windows Server 2003 on your Terminal Server, you must use 64-bit printer drivers, as explained in KB article 895612.
• If you manage more than a handful of servers and more than a dozen of printer models, it will be worth it to invest in a 3rd party printer management solution. If you need to support Host based printers using Lightweight Imaging Device Interface Language (LIDIL), you must use a 3rd party Universal Printer Driver.

Documentation and Best Practice Guides

• Brian Madden's Terminal Server Printing: Design and Configuration
• Citrix Printing: Brush up on the basic best practices - by Kevin Buchaniec
• Terminal Services and Printing White Paper (2003)
• How Microsoft's Windows 2003 SP1 Fallback Printer Driver Works - by Stefan Vermeulen
• The Hunt for the Bad Printer Driver - by Stefan Vermeulen
• 911913 - How to redirect the default printer of a Terminal Services client to a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server session (applies to W2K as well)
• 331055 - Best Practices for Installing and Using Printer Drivers With Windows 2000 Terminal Services
• 895612 - How to find a compatible printer driver for a computer that is running a 64-bit version of Windows
• 135406 - Steps to Manually Remove and Reinstall a Printer Driver (W2K / XP)
• 286047 - How to Print to a Local Network Printer in Terminal Services (W2K)
• 305402 - HOW TO: Change Printing Preferences on Print Server for All Connected Users
• 189105 - How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows
• 291251 - Non-default printer properties are not reflected in a Terminal Services redirected printer
• 243942 - Terminal Services printer redirection not signaled on change to server-side Device Settings tab in Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003

Autocreation problems

• Terminal Server and Printer Redirection - troubleshooting steps
• Printer Redirection EventIDs
• 239088 - Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services server logs events 1111, 1105, and 1106
• Download Microsofts Printer Driver Redirection Wizard
• Printer Driver Matrix - by PrintingSupport
• 276532 - Windows 2000 Terminal Server Reports Event ID 1103 in the System Event Log
• Event 1103 - An internal communication error occurred. Redirected printing will no longer function
• 302361 - Printers That Use Ports That Do Not Begin With COM, LPT, or USB Are Not Redirected in a Remote Desktop or Terminal Services Session
• 329756 - Remote Desktop Connection Software May Cause an Access Violation If FilterQueueType Is Set
• 929270 - You cannot set a redirected printer as the default printer in a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server session
• 933996 - A user who is logged on to a Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Server cannot configure a printer as the default printer

Misc. problems

Windows 2003

• 270005 - OEM Print Drivers Are Overwritten by Microsoft Drivers That Use Terminal Services Redirect Printing
• 888196 - The Print Spooler service stops frequently, Dr. Watson logs an error message, and Event ID 7031 is logged in Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 (with Citrix MF XP 1.0)
• 313733 - Spooled files may be printed in an incorrect Terminal Services session
• 317780 - Print Jobs That Are Sent to Terminal Services Redirected Printers May Print on Another Client's Printer
• 826026 - Documents from Terminal Server Users Who Map LPT1 to Different Printers Appear on the Same Printer
• 297883 - XL2000: You Can See Other Users' Printers in a Terminal Server Session
• 313683 - XL2002: Can See Other Users' Printers in Terminal Server Session
• 268065 - Terminal Services event messages 1100 or 1114 in Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003
• 817870 - Error Event 1109 Appears in the Event Log When Terminal Services Clients Disconnect
• 909906 - A print job is deleted without being printed on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1
• 301444 - An Error Message May Be Displayed When You Use Terminal Services and the Print to File Feature in Application Mode
• 279452 - Cannot Add Print Device Inside of a Terminal Services Session - AppleTalk or DLC-based network printer
• 870981 - Printer tray assignments on a print server may not transfer to the client computer when you install a network printer in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
• 911713 - Event ID: 20 may be logged frequently on a Windows Server 2003-based computer when you print to a shared network printer
• 900090 - Print spooling operation in Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Services (TS) computer is slow when Remote Desktop Connection thin clients use printer redirection
• 911028 - When you use a 32-bit program to print a document from a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows, you may receive a Stop error message, or objects on the page are omitted
• 840371 - High processor usage from the spooler occurs when a user logs off from a session on a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000
• 947477 - The printer spooler may crash randomly on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has an HP printer that is installed
• 951009 - An application may be unresponsive, documents may not print, and event IDs 6162 or 61 may be logged on a Windows Server 2003-based computer

Windows 2000

• 822143 - Printers Remain Installed on a Terminal Server After You Disconnect from the Terminal Server (W2K)
• 832219 - Users cannot print after you install a service pack, update rollup, or printer hotfix on a server in Windows 2000
• 918622 - You cannot print when you use Terminal Server after you apply Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• 843259 - A limited user can no longer print to a shared printer from a terminal server session after you restart the Spooler service in Windows 2000 - needs also 826026
• 831754 - You receive an error message when you try to print to a shared network printer in a terminal server session
• 908506 - You may be unable to print to a network printer after you install security update 896423 on a computer that is running Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4
• 822834 - Spooler Failure Causes High CPU Usage in the Winlogon.exe and Spoolsv.exe Processes on a Windows 2000 Terminal Server

Citrix specific issues

• CTX109374 - StressPrinters 1.2 for 32-bit and 64-bit Platforms - a tool to simulate multiple sessions autocreating printers using the same print driver
• CTX108004 - How to Give Access Permission to Administrators to Manage Autocreated Printers
• CTX884335 - How to Publish Print Manager on a Windows NT/2000/2003 Terminal Server
• CTX681954 - Troubleshooting Citrix ICA Printer Autocreation
• CTX107137 - Troubleshooting Printing Problems In Presentation Server 4.0
• Printing - TechNotes - a list of known Citrix PS 4.0 printing issues
• CTX104692 - Only Autocreate Client Default Printer... Option with Java Client 8.x and Later is Not Working
• CTX104375 - Default Printer is Not Mapped Properly Within an ICA Session
• CTX051476 - Troubleshooting the Deletion of AutoCreated Printers
• CTX105577 - Deletion of Print Drivers and Event Log Print Entries / Logging
• CTX626451 - Sample WTSUPRN.INF File for Use in Autocreation
• CTX107322 - Printers Supported by HP for use with Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 for Windows - including scanners and All-in-One printers

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3rd party printer driver information

• 952065 - You cannot install third-party printer drivers for cross-architecture support in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008
• bpl11245 - Print Jobs Hang in the Print Queue and Reprint When the PC Is Rebooted - HP LaserJet Series Printers
• HP Color LaserJet and LaserJet Printers - Print Driver Issues in Mixed Environments
• HP Color LaserJet, LaserJet, All-in-One, and Multi-Function Series Products - HP Printers Supported in Citrix MetaFrame Presentation and Terminal Server Environments
• HP Deskjet, HP Business Inkjet, and HP Color Inkjet Printers - Operating Systems and Printers Supported by Windows Terminal Server
• HP DeskJet 895, 970, 990, 5550, and 6120 Series Printers and W2K TS
• HP Designjet Printers - Windows Terminal Services Compatibility
• HP Universal Print Driver Series for Windows
• Lexmark Printers - Windows Server 2003 compatibility
• Brother MetaFrame Homepage
• 267896 - Adobe Acrobat .pdf Documents May Not Print Correctly in a Terminal Services Session
• Windows Print Migrator

3rd party printer management software and utilities

• Differences Between Several Universal Printer Solutions - by Wilco van Bragt
• ThinPrint's .print RDP Engine
• triCerat's ScrewDrivers
• Provision Networks' Print-IT
• INGENICA's UniPrint
• Net2Printer
• DEFSET - a freeware tool to set the default printer on a per user basis, by Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy