Printing fails when you use a shared printer in Windows 7

Symptoms

Assume that you have a printer being shared on a printer server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2. When you try to print a file from a Windows 7 client to the shared printer, printing fails. Additionally, the following event is logged on the printer server:


Note The printer server may be running Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 R2 instead.

Cause

This issue occurs because, in the registry on the Windows 7 client, the DependentFiles registry key for the driver that is used by the printer is blank. The DependentFiles registry key is under the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\<architecture>\Drivers\Version-3\<drivername>

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Apply hotfix 3001232.

2. Apply hotfix 2896881.
   
   Note Even though the hotfix refers to a Windows Server 2008 R2 issue, the hotfix can also be applied to Windows 7-based computers that encounter this issue.

Workaround

To work around this issue, you can repair, remove and then reconnect the network printer.

Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

More Information

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

When the issue occurs, you can see event 372 is logged in the PrintService Admin log. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Event Viewer and then expand Applications and Services Logs.

2. Expand the Microsoft folder.

3. Expand the Windows folder.

4. Expand the PrintService folder and then click Admin.