File and Print Sharing Problems

Check your event logs.  On the domain controller, check the security event logs to see why the shares are no longer active or what's wrong with the computer accounts.  If the shares are on another computer, check the event logs there too.

is your server hosting the printer server and also the file that you are sharring..  if you are sharing the file from a workstation (xp pro,, or 2000 pr)  then this problem is true.. it will disconnnect

net use x: \\fileserverName\fileshare password /user:domain\username /persistent:yes

I had an issue with sharing printers and Vista.  every month or so I would have to remove and add the printer back to the client.  The machine serving the printer was an xp box so my problem was on the Vista side.  

mttyd,

can you setup ip on the printer (or buy some switch that act like a print server) install the server on your server then point everyone to that.. instead of using the workstation ..  that way the work station can be shutdown once in a while..

dkwymer,

how big of a company do you work for. and how many user do you have to manually do that script..  it might be just wise to write a batch (script) to install the printer everytime the user start the computer

-------
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\sever\printername

I think your ""'s should be around the whole UNC.

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /ga /c\\HPComputer /n"\\server1\HP LaserJet 4100N"

You can also set the printer as default by using this:
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n \\server\printername
-------

i hope you know how to write some simple batch file..  if not we more problem!! hehehe

let us know if you need more assistant

yea we could have set it up to be a network printer but that would have meant extra $.  The printer we were sharing was a local desktop printer for one of our techs and while the setup wasn't optimal it worked (atleast till the problems in vista).

Another thought with this question...  Check to see if your printer is using DHCP.  Perhaps something funky is going on when it renews it address.  You might want to set a perminant IP and then reserve that IP on your server.  Just another idea...

Updates?

How about the firewall? File and print sharing is enabled and TCP port 445 is enabled. Is there anything else on the firewall end that could cause this?

Did you check your event logs?

if you are thinking about firewall.. just disable it and try doing what you need to do and if it doesn't work then you know it's not the firewall....

just write the script and put it on the startup of the user, so everytime they start the printer will install....

or atlest conferm it.. it wil notify you if it is already there....    

or just write a script to when it start up just remove the server and reinstall using the same script

like if you are sharing network drives

net use j: /delete
net use j: \\server\fileshare


you know what i mean.. just try that out and see if it will work for you, else just buy a small printer server switch.. that's going to cost $50.. that's a long time fix.. atleast you won't have to worry about sharing the printer from workstation.. you can put them somewhere else if you have to, to make them more centralize....   have fun man.. cheerrrssss

I found out what the problem is.  We have a group policy that controls our windows firewall. The group policy is set to allow file and print sharing on port 445 (TCP) with a scope of any but for some reason it's not being pushed out to all users. I noticied the users who had this problem, the file and print sharing group policy setting was set to a scope of custom. I think this is the culprit. It's a group policy firewall issue. The group policy isn't set up to have a customized scope it's just the policy isn't being pushed out properly. I tried doing a gpupdate /force command and it worked for one user, however I could never get it to go on the other computer. I just need to figure out why the policy won't push down to this computer. Any suggestions?

Here's a couple of guides to help you troubleshoot your group policy problem:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/dfe7b84d-8727-4561-9767-ccb47a5bf9ba1033.mspx?mfr=true

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/02/Troubleshooting/default.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=b24bf2d5-0d7a-4fc5-a14d-e91d211c21b2&displaylang=en