Microsoft KB Archive/841142

Knowledge Base

The list of available printers takes a long time to appear on a Windows 2000-based client computer

Article ID: 841142

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

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SUMMARY

This article discusses why the list of available printers may take several minutes to appear on a client computer when you use the Add Printer Wizard to browse for a network printer. This article also describes how to use Group Policy settings to resolve this behavior in a Microsoft Windows 2000-based environment.

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Add Printer Wizard to browse for a network printer on a client computer that is connected to a domain or that is a member of a workgroup, the list of available printers does not appear as quickly as you expect. The list may take several minutes to appear.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur if your Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer is configured to use default settings.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Enable printer browsing for a workgroup

If your network is a workgroup, enable printer browsing in Group Policy. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On a print server or on a computer that has shared printers, click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
2. Under Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and then click Printers.
3. In the right pane, double-click Printer browsing.
4. Click Enabled, click OK, and then close Group Policy.
5. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
6. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

   secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce

7. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
8. Right-click Print Spooler, and then click Restart.

Method 2: Enable printer browsing for a domain

If your network is an Active Directory directory service domain, but not all clients support Active Directory printer publishing, enable printer browsing in Group Policy. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On a domain controller, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Right-click the organizational unit where you want to enable printer browsing, and then click Properties.
3. On the Group Policy tab, click Default Domain Policy or the policy that you want to modify, and then click Edit.
4. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and then click Printers.
5. In the right pane, double-click Printer browsing.
6. Click Enabled, click OK, and then close Group Policy.
7. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
8. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
   

   secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce

9. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
10. Right-click Print Spooler, and then click Restart.

Method 3: Disable printer browsing for a domain

If your network is an Active Directory domain, and all clients support Active Directory printer publishing, disable printer browsing in Group Policy. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On a domain controller, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Right-click the organizational unit where you want to disable printer browsing, and then click Properties.
3. On the Group Policy tab, click Default Domain Policy or the policy that you want to modify, and then click Edit.
4. Expand User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Control Panel, and then click Printers.
5. In the right pane, double-click Browse the network to find printers.
6. Click Disabled, and then click OK.
7. Close Group Policy.
8. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
9. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

   secedit /refreshpolicy user_policy /enforce

10. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
11. Right-click Print Spooler, and then click Restart.

REFERENCES

For additional information about how to use Group Policy to manage printers, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

234270 Using Group Policies to control printers in Active Directory

For additional information about the printer browsing mechanism in Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

161734 Windows NT and Windows 2000 print browsing architecture

Keywords: kbwinservperf kbfileprintservices kbprb KB841142

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