Non-hardware printer goes offline after reboot with no port

[charlie]

Update: Without changing anything on the Windows 7 box, I moved the
Windows XP system with the printer to another hardware platform
performing an identical installation (using PC Move). Printer setup was
the same with the HP DeskJet on LPT1: . Now Windows 7 could connect
properly as a network printer and the problem is solved!

However, the problem remains on Windows 7 that any local printer port
that is added (whether through the print manager, adding a local port,
or program installation), even FILE: or NUL: disappear on reboot or
spooler restart although they are there in the registry. I wonder if
someone who has a Windows 7 64 bit platform could try adding a local
port (e.g. Print Server Properties/Ports), reboot and see if it's still
there.

in message

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit - I have a local printer (DB25 to
USB) that runs just fine. But when I try and add a printer connected to a
Windows XP system, every time I restart the spooler or reboot, the printer
goes offline and the port vanishes (although it's still in the registry
just
fine). To get it back, I need to remove the printer and add it back.
Here's what I do:

1) Click "Add printer"
2) Pick local port
3) Pick new
4) Type \\prtsrv\prtname for the name
5) Pick the appropriate device driver

Everything looks fine, the printer is attached to a port with the UNC name,
the printer is in the "Ready" state and I can print just fine.

However, when I restart the print spooler or reboot, the following happens

1) The printer is now offline
2) Print jobs just stay in the queue (not surprising)
3) An examinations of the port tab shows the port is missing and no port is
selected
4) An examination of the registry shows the port is present the same way as
before (I could find no difference). The port is defined and the printer
has the port in its definition.
5) If I try and add the port back in manually, I get a "Port already
exists"
error, not surprisingly.

Rebooting multiple times has no affect. The only way I know of to get the
printer back is to delete it and add it back in.

I would be so grateful for any tips in addressing this problem - this is
very frustrating.

Try using the "real"administrator account to setup the ports, etc
Another method may be to use run as administrator if you can figure out
how to do so with the setup tasks involved.

 

[JohnA]

Update: Without changing anything on the Windows 7 box, I moved the Windows
However, the problem remains on Windows 7 that any local printer port that
is added (whether through the print manager, adding a local port, or program
installation), even FILE: or NUL: disappear on reboot or spooler restart
although they are there in the registry. I wonder if someone who has a
Windows 7 64 bit platform could try adding a local port (e.g. Print Server
Properties/Ports), reboot and see if it's still there.

It appears that whatever local ports I add manually disappear when the spool service restarts. The ports are added correctly to the registry but when the spooler starts up, it seems to disregard them thus effectively deleting them. However, the registry contains them. I tried deleting them from the registry and adding them again from the printer management console - the ports go into the registry just fine, they just disappear when spooler service is restarted. I cannot even add FILE: or nul: to the list without them disappearing. Looking at procmon, I can see the spoolsv process reading the registry ports just fine including FILE: and nul: but then for some inexplicable reason rejects them. I don't see any hint in procmon of what that could be. Any ideas?