Paul,
Let me get you up to speed by answering your questions.
INBOX DRIVERS: I guessed that "inbox driver" meant anything that came with
Windows but I wanted to be sure.
The HP LaserJet Plus and HP LaserJet Series II drivers I originally had
trouble with still show a note that says the driver is digitally signed.
Just
in case that didn't really mean what it implied, and that the drivers were
changed behind the curtain, I tried a generic driver.
The Text-Only driver is no test because I have one installed already, and
the Add Printer Wizard just picks up the existing driver. I don't want to
tell it to change the driver because then I might lose the Text-Only
printer
I already have.
I tried the Generic IBM Graphics printer and that failed the same way as
the
others. I also tried some other "inbox drivers"; they also failed the same
way. I really can't add any printer drivers I don't already have
installed.
SAFE MODE: I don't really have anything to add. A few sites on the web
(but
not Microsoft) answered questions about not being able to log on as
Administrator, pointing out that in XP Home (but not XP Pro) Administrator
can only log on in Safe Mode.
So I tried Safe Mode. I logged on as Administrator. I opened Printers and
Faxes. I clicked on Add Printer. I got a little pop-up that said Printer
Spooler wasn't running so I couldn't add any printers. I opened Services
and
tried to start the Print Spooler service. I got another message that the
spooler couldn't be started in Safe Mode. So I can't install printers as
Administrator.
ADMINISTRATOR: The account I always use is a member of the Administrators
group (if, technically, there is such a thing as a group in XP Home). I
also
created another account in the same group; that one can't install new
printer
drivers either. The point is, I was installing printers and a few minutes
later I couldn't.
"LOAD AND UNLOAD DRIVERS RIGHT": the funny thing is, I found that I could
delete printers but not install them. What kind of access control is that?
DOMAIN: My computer is not in a domain. MS Knowledge Base article 304718
says "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition-based computers cannot join
Microsoft
Windows NT 4.0-based, Windows 2000-based, or Windows Server 2003-based
domains."
ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS: Administrative Tools\Computer Management is on my
Start Menu, and I've been exploring it. Start, Properties, Customize,
check
(was not checked) Display Administrative Tools has no effect; either way,
Start\Programs\Accessories\Adminstrative Tools has six entries.
I went to the XP Pro system on my home network and didn't see
Admnistrative
Tools in the Accessories menu. I entered mmc in Run, loaded compmgmt.msc
and
connected to my XP Home system. It gave me the same set of snapins as on
the
Home system, but they all either just showed nothing, said access denied,
or
something vacuous like that. No help there, it seems, even if I could
access
the Home system. And Security Policies (secpol.msc) is only local (on the
Pro
machine); no option to connect to another system.
REMOTE ADMINISTRATION: I think that's a false lead. Article 304718 leads
me
to believe that the Administration Tools Pack is intended only to manage
systems with "server" in the Windows OS name, and Remote Desktop just
allows
a remote user to log on as though seated at the console, which wouldn't
help.
WHAT NEXT? I don't know what we can do from here.
The amazing part of it is that I can remove printer drivers but not
install
them. Maybe something that's needed in the process of installing printer
drivers (but not needed for removing them) is missing or corrupted. It
might
(or might not) have been messed up either when I added an additional
driver
to the shared printer, when I connected to it from a Win98 system, or when
I
removed the driver (without first disconnecting the Win98 system, I don't
remember). I think the devil is in the details of one or more of those
processes.
Paul Baker said:
Martin,
I am not sure about how to handle this either, but if everyone else is
going
to bail, I'll give it a shot.
When Alan says "inbox driver", he means a driver that came with Windows
XP
(I know because I asked him the same thing in another post!). If you
installed a printer driver for Windows 98 that you got elsewhere, it is
possible that it also updated the Windows XP version of the driver and
that
you no longer have an "inbox driver". In that case, it might just be
something quirky about the driver or driver installation that was not
tested
by Microsoft.
Did you try just installing the Generic / Text Only driver or one that
came
with Windows XP you know you haven't messed with?
I don't know what effect Safe Mode is supposed to have, but I'd like to
hear
more about what you were saying about that.
In Windows Vista, as Alan explained to me, anyone can add a printer or
"inbox driver". In Windows XP, however, you must be a member of the
Administrators or Power Users group and also be given the "Load and
unload
device drivers" right, which is given by default to Administrators
(except
that anyone can add a connection to a network printer).
Are you an Administrator? Is your computer part of a domain or not?
Shortcuts to Administrative Tools are in this folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative
Tools
You can add it to your Start Menu by right-clicking on the Start button,
choosing Properties, then Customize, then Advanced, then look at the
choices
for System Administrative Tools.
Computer Management:
From the root, choose Action > Connect to another computer to administer
remotely.
Look for log entries in System Tools\Event Viewer at the times where a
failure occurs.
System Tools\Local Users and Groups will show you users group membership.
Local Security Policy:
This will show you Local Policies\User Rights Assignment.
For other MMC-based tools, use Start/Run to run MMC, then File >
Add/Remove
Snap-in, then Add.
Group Policy Object Editor:
This lists group policies and can be used to administer remotely. I am
not
sure whether any of these are relevant here.
These instructions were intended for Windows XP Professional. It may be
different or unavailable in Windows XP Home Edition. But you can use the
remote option.
Paul
Martin Brilliant said:
I guess this is where I bail too. Linux, here I come!
:
I'm going to have to bail on this one. It looks like it's more than
just
a
spooler issue. Unsure how remote security administration is performed
--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];kbhowto
