Windows 7 : Troubleshooting Network Printers (part 1) - Using the Printer Troubleshooter, Monitoring Printer Events

1. Using the Printer Troubleshooter

Windows provides a built-in troubleshooting feature for diagnosing problems related to printers. The troubleshooter is designed to be easy enough for users to utilize, but it is also the best first step for systems administrators to take when diagnosing a printer problem.

If you are having a problem connecting to a shared printer, follow these steps to open the Printer Troubleshooter:

1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.

2. Click System And Security.

3. Under Action Center, click Troubleshoot Common Computer Problems.

4. Under Hardware And Sound, click Use A Printer.

5. The Printer Troubleshooter appears and attempts to diagnose the problem. Follow the steps that appear.

6. On the Troubleshoot And Help Prevent Computer Problems page, click Next.

7. On the Which Printer Would You Like To Troubleshoot? page, click My Printer Is Not Listed. Click Next.

8. Respond to the prompts that appear to troubleshoot your problem.

If you are having a problem printing to an existing printer, follow these steps to run the Printer Troubleshooter:

1. Click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Troubleshoot.

   The Printer Troubleshooter appears and attempts to diagnose the problem.

3. Respond to the prompts that appear.

The Printer Troubleshooter can detect the following problems:

• No physical printer is installed.

• A new printer hasn't yet been detected.

• The printer is not the default printer.

• The printer is not shared.

• The printer is out of paper.

• The printer is out of toner.

• The printer has a paper jam.

• The printer driver needs to be updated.

• The printer is turned off.

• A print job is preventing other print jobs from printing.

• The Print Spooler service is not running or has an error.

As shown in Figure 1 the Printer Troubleshooter can repair some configuration-related problems automatically (though Administrative privileges might be required).

2. Monitoring Printer Events

Windows 7 adds printer-related events to the Applications And Services Logs\Microsoft\Windows\PrintService\Admin event log. Common events include:

• Changing the default printer

• Errors related to initializing a new printer or driver

• Errors occurring when attempting to connect to a network printer

• Errors occurring when attempting to share a printer

Windows 7 can add events to the Security event log when users initially connect to a printer. To add an event when users connect, use Group Policy to enable success or failure auditing for the Audit Logon Events policy in the Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy node.

Figure 3-1. The Printer Troubleshooter can fix some problems automatically.

Windows 7 does not support auditing when users print or manage printers. However, Windows Server 2008 R2 does support object auditing for printers. First, enable success or failure auditing for the Audit Object Access policy in the Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy node. Then, follow these steps to enable auditing for the printer:

1. Click Start and then click Devices And Printers.

2. Right-click the printer and then click Printer Properties.

   The printer properties dialog box appears.

3. On the Security tab, click Advanced.

   The Advanced Security Settings dialog box appears.

4. On the Auditing tab, click Add.

   The Select User, Computer, Service Account, Or Group dialog box appears.

5. Type the name of the user or group that you want to audit, and then click OK.

   The Auditing Entry dialog box appears.

6. Select success or failure auditing for the different access types, as shown in Figure 2. Click OK three times.

Figure 2. Windows 7 does not support printer auditing, but Windows Server 2008 R2 does.

Now, Windows Server 2008 R2 adds events to the Security event log when users in the group that you specified perform the types of access that you specified.