Win98 printer share is perpetually offline after rebooting Vista

  • Thread starter Thread starter SlickRCBD
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SlickRCBD

For years, I've had an HP DeskJet 812C connected to the parallel port
on my Win98SE computer. The printer is shared, and I've had no
problems printing from Windows XP.

Enter Windows Vista. I set up Vista to use client-side rendering by
adding a local printer and having it point to the port for the
printer. Everything works fine when I set it up, until I reboot the
Vista computer. When that happens, Vista lists the printer as
"offline" and NOTHING I do will allow it to print again. The only
thing I can do is add another printer, have it point to the same port,
and delete the old printer.

How do I fix this problem, or alternately, how do work around the
problem by making a script to automatically add a local printer set to
print to the shared port on bootup and delete it on shutdown? I have
no idea how to make such a script or if it is even possible.

I'm using Vista 64-bit home premium.

I should mention that this is definitely a Vista problem, because I
have Virtual PC installed on that same computer to run Windows XP Pro
(32-bit) and the virtual machine on the same hardware with the
troublesome Vista as the host OS has absolutely NO problem with the
printer or file shares as far as the Win98SE computer is concerned.
As a consequence I'm resorting to doing all my Office Suite work with
Virtual PC as I don't want the hassle of forgetting to reinstall the
damn printer every time I want to print.
 
SlickRCBD said:
For years, I've had an HP DeskJet 812C connected to the parallel port
on my Win98SE computer. The printer is shared, and I've had no
problems printing from Windows XP.

Enter Windows Vista. I set up Vista to use client-side rendering by
adding a local printer and having it point to the port for the
printer. Everything works fine when I set it up, until I reboot the
Vista computer. When that happens, Vista lists the printer as
"offline" and NOTHING I do will allow it to print again. The only
thing I can do is add another printer, have it point to the same port,
and delete the old printer.

How do I fix this problem, or alternately, how do work around the
problem by making a script to automatically add a local printer set to
print to the shared port on bootup and delete it on shutdown? I have
no idea how to make such a script or if it is even possible.

I'm using Vista 64-bit home premium.

I should mention that this is definitely a Vista problem, because I
have Virtual PC installed on that same computer to run Windows XP Pro
(32-bit) and the virtual machine on the same hardware with the
troublesome Vista as the host OS has absolutely NO problem with the
printer or file shares as far as the Win98SE computer is concerned.
As a consequence I'm resorting to doing all my Office Suite work with
Virtual PC as I don't want the hassle of forgetting to reinstall the
damn printer every time I want to print.
Click to expand...


Although it doesn't say specifically Vista, the command is available...

How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q189105/

More extensive list of printui.dll commands
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/2kprintcontrol.php

To delete network printer

rundll32 printui.dll,printuientry /dn /n"\\user-pc\HP DeskJet 812C"


To add network printer

rundll32 printui.dll,printuientry /in /q /n"\\user-pc\HP DeskJet 812C"


I only played with it a little bit. Add network printer maybe missing port
information. I couldn't quite get it to work, but it should get you
started.

Let me know how you get it to work.
 
Although it doesn't say specifically Vista, the command is available...

How to add printers with no user interaction in Windowshttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/q189105/

More extensive list of printui.dll commandshttp://www.robvanderwoude.com/2kprintcontrol.php

To delete network printer

rundll32 printui.dll,printuientry /dn /n"\\user-pc\HP DeskJet 812C"

To add network printer

rundll32 printui.dll,printuientry /in /q /n"\\user-pc\HP DeskJet 812C"

I only played with it a little bit.  Add network printer maybe missing port
information.  I couldn't quite get it to work, but it should get you
started.

Let me know how you get it to work.
Click to expand...

Ok, I got the add printer part to work so far.
The Vista computer is named Gateway, which reflects the brand rather
than it being used as an internet gateway.
The Win98SE computer is named Slickswintel, which reflects my attitude
at the time being forced to ditch my Mac in favor of a Wintel because
I needed to run Visual Studio 6 and Excel for school.

The printer is shared as hp812c and hp812g, one for color & one for
B&W.
Here's how I got the command to work:
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /if /b "HP DeskJet 812C" /c\
\GATEWAY /f "%windir%inf\ntprint.inf" /r "\\slickswintel\hp812c" /m
"HP DeskJet 812C"

I'm going to try seeing if sticking it in my startup folder will make
me able to printer after I shut down and turn the computers back on.
The only problem I can see is if I don't have the win98 machine booted
up when I turn the Vista comptuer on, since oddly enough Vista tends
to boot slightly faster.
 
SlickRCBD said:
Ok, I got the add printer part to work so far.
The Vista computer is named Gateway, which reflects the brand rather
than it being used as an internet gateway.
The Win98SE computer is named Slickswintel, which reflects my attitude
at the time being forced to ditch my Mac in favor of a Wintel because
I needed to run Visual Studio 6 and Excel for school.

The printer is shared as hp812c and hp812g, one for color & one for
B&W.
Here's how I got the command to work:
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /if /b "HP DeskJet 812C" /c\
\GATEWAY /f "%windir%inf\ntprint.inf" /r "\\slickswintel\hp812c" /m
"HP DeskJet 812C"

I'm going to try seeing if sticking it in my startup folder will make
me able to printer after I shut down and turn the computers back on.
The only problem I can see is if I don't have the win98 machine booted
up when I turn the Vista comptuer on, since oddly enough Vista tends
to boot slightly faster.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks!
 
Cool, thanks!
Click to expand...

Here's the final version of the batch file. The Win98 computer is
named Slickswintel, the Vista computer is gateway because I found that
slicksgateway was too long and causing problems, and the printer is
shared as hp812c. The local driver used is called HP DeskJet 812C".

Here's a question, what is the "proper" way to stick things in the
startup folder for all users under Vista Home Premium? I had a hard
time finding the correct folder and it seems I was doing things the
hard way and UAC went nuts asking me to confirm about 5 times. I miss
the "start menu programs" option under Windows 98.
 
Here's the final version of the batch file. The Win98 computer is
named Slickswintel, the Vista computer is gateway because I found that
slicksgateway was too long and causing problems, and the printer is
shared as hp812c. The local driver used is called HP DeskJet 812C".

Here's a question, what is the "proper" way to stick things in the
startup folder for all users under Vista Home Premium? I had a hard
time finding the correct folder and it seems I was doing things the
hard way and UAC went nuts asking me to confirm about 5 times. I miss
the "start menu programs" option under Windows 98.
Click to expand...

I don't know why the paste-in didn't show up. It is only two lines.
I'll try again. Sorry I took so long, I don't normally read my own
posts.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /dl /n "hp812c" /c\\GATEWAY
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /if /b "HP812c" /c\\GATEWAY /f
"%windir%\inf\ntprint.inf" /r "\\Slickswintel\hp812c" /m "HP DeskJet
812C"
 
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