remote desktop printing windows7 to windows server 2003

This fix usually works on the computer that has the printer attached. It allows the sharing of all printers and not specific ones. We always run it first before doing more troubleshooting.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302361

When i went to site it detected that i have windows7 and not xp.  Is this just for fixing xp?  Do i have to access the site when i am logged into remote desktop session within windows 2003 server first?  I actually can see the printer which is an hp laserjet 2015 and tried to print test page but nothing comes out.  It works however when i print without going into a remote desktop session.  

Also, when i checked printer properties within the remote session, it said the port it was using was an inactive ts port.  Does this sound correct or should i delete that port and add another one and which port should i create?  Isnt there also a way to print directly to port so doesnt require drivers at all?  I seem to remember there was a microsoft fix for this for terminal server which helped us one time print to printer directly to port and so bypass drivers

Oh yeah, that was for the comment about it not showing up. This can be trickey but possible. The issue will be getting the windows 7 drivers to install on the server 2003.

From the windows 7 computer, type the server go to Run and type \\theservername\   . This should bring up all shared folders and the printer folder as well. Find the printer and right click and properties it. Go to sharing and click the "additional Drivers" button. From there you can try to install the drivers. With HP i have problems instlaling the drivers from an EXE, you usually need the extracted zip file with the INI files.

You may be able to install the win7 drivers on the win7 machine which may create an install directory. From there you would have access to the INI files.

If you want to try those steps I will look a little more into it from here.

Well what i  did was look at sharename of printer while logged on locally to windows7 machine and noticed it read hplaserjet 2015 pcl6 but when i am logged into remote desktop of windows 2003 server the printer reads hplaserjet 2015 pcl5.  Since name should match sharename on windows7 where it is attached locally, it should be exact same name when logge into remote desktop so i have a feeling whoever set this up might have chosen wrong printer.  If i add this printer again wont and select network printer, shouldnt it locate it when i select browse..?  thanks

pcl5 and 6 are the same printers, just different variations of the drivers itself.

When you share the printer from a computer using the share tab, you have the option of of listing it in the directory. That allows you to browse to it. Although that should not be needed. The actual installation takes place through the remote connection and I don't think they should have to install it by browsing, etc.

How is this remote using connecting in? Is he on the same network and just connecting to the 2003 computer with remote desktop? If so, a workaround would be to share the computer on the Win7 computer, then through sharing install it on the 2003. When he remotes in he will see his printer.

If it is a network printer (not usb or parallel) then it doesnt need shared, just installed directly on the 2003 server.

Hi, just to update you, I actually deleted that printer but what was strange was that when i asked the remote user to turn power off on printer it still showed up as online which i thought would show as offline but anyway i installed the  printer using local instead of network option within the 2003 server remote desktop session.  I created a new port and just called it usb virtual port and i installed drivers for hp laserjet 2015 pcl6.  When i checked the ports properties in the printer, i noticed now there were a few available ts ports that identified the name of the dell pc that the printer was attached to locally on the remote site.  The port that was being used before when not working was inactive ts port as i mentioned and so after checking off the new ts port which was active, i printed 2 test pages and saw they printed in event viewer as i cannot confirm they actually printed since nobody is in office yet for 3 more hours.  Pretty sure it worked since i can see it in event viewer and this was not showing up yesterday.  I logged off session and will log in again to make sure the printer shows up still and it can still hold that active port setting.  Will let you know if it works but wanted to know if in general, when you add a new printer in remote session, are you supposed to select local if it is indeed attached via usb to pc as opposed to network option?  It worked but wanna know what correct procedure is for future reference.  thanks

Yes, the very first link to the MS fixit site talked a little about that. By default, it will only share COM, LPT, or USB port printers. The reason for the fix on that site is to share some other printers, like some HP printers, when using the driver install, instealls it as HPsomething port instead of USB, so it doesn't get shared. Networked printers work the same way, although I don't know what all port types that fix actually works on, it just says "other printer types".

ok i logged back in to remote desktop and printer port now reads inactive ts port again however when i went to print document again it says completed in event viewer so my question is does the inactive port matter or does it have to stay on an active port.  In other words, if it prints then i dont care but if it doesnt work on subsequent logins, how do you keep a port as a permanent connection with the hp printer or does every time a remote session gets logged into the 2003 server it creates a new ts port?  And why would it say inactive port and still be able to print?  Thanks.

Hi, turns out they said nothing printed out from the 3 pages i printed this morning.  I guess the problem really lies with the fact that the usb connection is causing printer not to be recognized.  I have to find a way where the printer shows up or gets auto detected upon remote desktop login.  If i just add the printer without it being recognized i dont thinks its gonna work.  Is the first method you sent about disocovering all printers only for xp or is it something i can install on the 2003 server and  then it will recognize the hp printer?  thanks

Hi  sorry didnt post for a while, was really caught up with something else but where i am at is that i installed an older brother 5140 laserjet to my windows 7 laptop and immediately it was recognized when i logged into win2003 server via remote desktop.  I never had to install win7 drivers on 2003 server but i noticed they had the exact same name driver of the model 5140 which is why it works.  I know it has to match exactly the driver name that is but i cant do the same for the hp p2015.  If i try and install win7 drivers of hp on 2003 it always gives error at end of install that its not correct drivers for the o/s.  So final question is how does one go about making the names match when you cant even install the same drivers?  thanks.

Hi again
finally solved this issue.  The key as i mentioned is to get the driver names to match exactly on both the client side and server side.  When i installed the brother 5140 it worked right off the bat since by coincidence the driver from a few years ago installed on win2003 just happened to match in name exactly.  You cannot install win7 x64 drivers on win2003 server.  It simply will reject it on the install even if you try to fool it.  The key was to get a file called NTPRINTSUBS.INF in c:\windows\system32\TSPDRW directory and mapp a name for the client driver to server driver so it knows what to look for when client session logs in.  Once i did this the hp 2015 printer was immediately recognized.  I did this for 2 other printers including a networked printer which wasnt even attached locally to win7 pc and all printed perfectly!  Hope this helps someone else.  The key was this mapping in the file mentioned and this is how they do it within citrix as well when a printer doesnt get autocreated.   thanks again for the help leading up to this great discovery.