Configure IT Quick: Fixprnsv.exe can resolve printer driver incompatibility

by Del "Smith CCNA, CCA, MCSE" | Nov 05, 2002 8:00:00 AM

Takeaway: Use Fixprnsv.exe utility to reduce many of the compatibility issues experienced with printing in an organization with Windows NT 4.0 Workstations and Windows 2000 Professional clients.

It is not uncommon to find a mix of Windows NT 4.0 Workstations and Windows 2000 Professional clients in an organization undergoing an upgrade or migration to Windows 2000 Server. Because network printing involves the rendering of print jobs using both client and server driver functions, printing in such an environment can present undesired challenges and results. Fortunately, Microsoft’s Fixprnsv.exe utility can reduce many of the compatibility issues experienced with printing in these types of mixed environments.

Fixprnsv.exe overview
Located on the Windows 2000 Server CD under the PRINTERS directory, Fixprnsv.exe is an essential tool for working with printer driver issues on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 print servers. You can run this utility directly from the CD or you can copy the FIXPRNSV folder to the hard disk of the appropriate system(s), and run it from there.

Printing problems can occur when the printer model names in the .inf files included in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later do not match with those in Windows 2000. Fixprnsv.exe automatically adds the appropriate Windows 2000 drivers from the Windows 2000 CD, allowing Windows 2000 clients to connect to and use the NT 4.0 print server. If run on a Windows 2000 print server, Fixprnsv.exe will replace all non-NT 4 compatible printer drivers with compatible ones, allowing NT 4 clients to connect and print. If no replacement driver is available on the Windows CD, the utility prompts you to obtain an updated driver from the printer manufacturer.

Printing differences
The printing subsystem of Windows 2000 has greatly improved over previous versions of Windows NT. In Windows NT 4.0, printer drivers, referred to as version 2 drivers, ran in the kernel mode of the operating system. With a kernel-mode driver, an error could crash the entire server. No doubt many veteran Windows administrators have experienced this.

With Windows 2000, Microsoft moved to user-mode drivers, called version 3 drivers. Realizing the coexistence of NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, the folks at Microsoft wisely maintained kernel-mode drivers in Windows 2000 for backward compatibility. The result is a more reliable and stable printing system since print driver errors are restricted to the process the driver runs in, which is typically the print spooler. Now a corrupt or incompatible printer driver simply results in a stoppage of the spooler, thus eliminating the need to reboot the entire server.

In a network environment where Windows NT 4.0 serves as the print server to both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 clients, all clients must use the Windows NT 4.0 driver. In environments where Windows 2000 is the print server to both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 clients, the appropriate NT 4.0 print driver must exist on the Windows 2000 print server for point-and-print functionality.

Running Fixprnsv.exe
Running Fixprnsv.exe prior to the upgrade from NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 will identify problematic printer drivers that need to be removed in advance. A list of printer drivers that have been verified to cause system problems are maintained in the Printupg.inf file of the Fixprnsv folder on the Windows 2000 Server CD. Drivers in this list are not upgraded during an NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 operating system upgrade. Printers identified on the “problem” list will require a compatible Windows 2000 version of the driver provided by the specific hardware vendor or you must use an alternate driver selected from the list of Microsoft drivers.

Running Fixprnsv.exe at the command line with the /diag switch on either an NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 server checks for incompatible drivers but does not replace any, as shown in Figure A. This switch is useful for determining whether the driver you require is on the Windows 2000 CD or will need to be tracked down from the manufacturer.

Figure A

Run Fixprnsv.exe with the /diag switch.

Remember that when running Fixprnsv.exe on an NT 4.0 machine, Windows 2000 drivers will be installed, allowing Windows 2000 clients to connect and use the print server. This is done by running the command with the /fix switch. Running the utility on a Windows 2000-based computer replaces any incompatible Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers. Figure B provides an example.

Figure B

Run Fixprnsv.exe with the /fix switch to execute the needed changes.

You can obtain additional command-line help for running Fixprnsv.exe by using the /? switch. A Fixprnsv.log file is recorded in the root of the system directory for review. It is important to note that there is no rollback option available for this utility. Any adverse results or actions will require manually replacing the driver for each print queue. Also, Fixprnsv.exe obviously won't install drivers for printers that are not already configured on the print server, so you may need to run it again periodically.

Summary
Fixprnsv.exe is a powerful tool that can resolve common printer driver incompatibility issues associated with NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 printer drivers. Organizations that need to maintain down-level printing during a Windows 2000 upgrade or migration can take advantage of this utility to prevent sudden printing disruptions.

10 comment(s)