WinNT Spooler Service Verifies Printer Drivers Are Correct
Article ID: 165962
Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q165962
CAUSE
Windows NT printer drivers are stored in specific directories depending on
the hardware platform for which they were compiled. For example, drivers
for the Intel platform are stored in %Winnt%\System32\Spool\Drivers\W32x86.
Prior to Windows NT version 4.0 Service Pack 2, it was possible to install
a printer driver into a subdirectory for a specific hardware platform when
that printer driver was compiled for a different hardware platform.
Installing a printer driver for a hardware platform into the wrong
subdirectory in Windows NT now causes incorrect printer output.
RESOLUTION
When installing printer drivers in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2, Windows
NT Spooler service will verify the drivers are the correct architecture for
the platform that is running Windows NT.
Windows NT Spooler service will validate the architecture type after the
driver has been copied. If the architecture type does not match, the
Install dialog box will be displayed again.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0.
This problem was corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft
Windows NT version 4.0. For information on obtaining the Service Pack,
query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the
spaces):
Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbprint KB165962