Add Printer Wizard May Not Display List of Printers
Article ID: 158356
Article Last Modified on 2/27/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
This article was previously published under Q158356
SYMPTOMS
When you use the Add Printer Wizard to add a new local printer, the
Manufacturer and Printer lists may be empty.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if the Ntprint.inf file is missing or damaged.
RESOLUTION
Expand the Ntprint.inf file and run CHKDSK to check for inconsistencies on
the drive using the following steps:
- Rename Ntprint.inf found in the %SystemRoot%\Inf folder.
- Schedule a CHKDSK /F on the system partition using the following syntax
from the command prompt:
CHKDSK /F C:
NOTE: If the system partition is a large partition, this may take
several minutes up to several hours to complete.
- Shut down and restart the system.
- Expand the INF file using the following syntax from the command prompt:
expand <drive>\<platform>\ntprint.in_ %SystemRoot%\Inf\ntprint.inf
where <drive> is the CD-ROM drive and <platform> is the system
architecture that you have installed (that is, i386, MIPS, Alpha,
PPC).
- Verify that you now have a complete list of printers by using the Add
Printer Wizard.
Keywords: kbprint KB158356