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Windows 2012 networked printers showing offline

I have a problem that is driving me nuts. We are in the process of replacing our Windows XP PCs with Windows 7 (64 bit). While doing this we also replaced the print server with a Windows 2012 server and migrated the printers (about 25). I received a call from one of our regional staff saying that their new Win7 users can't print. The printers show up on the PCs but all show up as being Offline. I've verified the printers are online and printed test pages from the server. Restarted the Spooler service, restarted the server but nothing corrects it. If you browse to the server from a PC and attempt to connect it says the Spooler service on the server isn't started. I did notice the firewall was on and turned it off for testing, but that did not resolve.

Any thoughts, this is effecting many users and of course they're not happy. The sooner I can get it fixed, the better.

Ratnesh Mishra

did you performed via migration tool or simply its been added to new windows 2012 server with print server role ?

Are users able to ping the print server ?
Are users able to share the files and folder from the print server ?

Please verify :-
1. Double click the offline printer to bring up the print queue
2. Select printer from the menu tab- Once you select the printer you will notice that may be offline function is checked. Click on it an the printer will come online.
3. Print a test page to see if the issue is resolved.

Do check the version of file mentioned in the hotfix and if its below the last number ,apply the hotfix ? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2713128

DTSC-OEIM

ASKER

Most of the new print queues were created manually. A few were migrated over through Print Management on the new server. All have been checked, none show as offline on the server. Client PCs can ping the server and access server shares and files.

I have printed test pages on several printers successfully.

I can connect to and print from my Win8 PC which is in our HQ office in another city.

I will test the hotfix on one of the Win7 PCs and see if that resolves.

Ratnesh Mishra

Thanks for the info.

Did you verified
1. Double click the offline printer to bring up the print queue
2. Select printer from the menu tab- Once you select the printer you will notice that may be offline function is checked. Click on it an the printer will come online.
3. Print a test page to see if the issue is resolved.

Is this happening with single user , few users or to all users . Did you check with profile corruption .

DTSC-OEIM

ASKER

Yes, checked all queues for offline status and test pages printed (from the server).

This is happening to several (maybe all) users who have new Win7 PCs. Since I'm in a different region I'm depending on the staff conveying the information to me and assume it to be correct. I would hate to think that all these people ended up with corrupted profiles the firs time they logged onto their PCs but will have the IT staff there check.

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Ratnesh Mishra

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DTSC-OEIM

ASKER

So I talk to the IT staff there this morning and she says that the users are reporting that they can print this morning. Absolutely nothing changed between yesterday and today, but I'll take it and keep an eye on it. For now we'll consider it solved. Thanks for your input.