Hello,I've added a Windows 7 machine to a 2003 AD Domain. Everything appears to be working ok except network printers - when I try to install a printer from the server I get a 'could not connect'/0x00000002 error. I've tried installing the driver locally but that doesn't complete (HP2100tn/PCL5e).Anyone else had a similar issue?Thanksbananasaregreen

HiYou can install Vista driver if you have not w7 driver

Hi and thanks,I've connected to a network printer using the Vista driver - but - when I search for network printers as part of the install I see only a selection of our network printers; not the one I need to connect to.Some of our printers have been renamed from their original installation but, other than that, I don't know why it won't list all available printers.At least I can print to one to get up and running and can try to resolve the other issue next.bananasaregreen

Printer must be installed first on pc to that it is connected as local printerin order to see it on network and secont time must be installed on remote machine as remote printerto be able to print from remote pcBut this is not w7 issue but general issue

If windows 7 is like win vista if you have UAC turned off you have to jump through hoopsconnecting a network printer. if you have it turned off try turning UAC back on. then install the printer then turn UAC back off.

Lead3 said: It is not neccessary to install a network printer on the PC first inorder to have it function as a network printer. It can be installed byselecting add printer and local printer, create a new port and then entering the printer share name(e.g. \\share name\lp1). from there a driver can be selected and the printer installed.It is not true

Zandor said: If windows 7 is like win vista if you have UAC turned off you have to jump through hoopsconnecting a network printer. if you have it turned off try turning UAC back on. then install the printer then turn UAC back off.UAC must be always on

You seem like such a knowledgeable person, it is hard for me to believe that you think what I said is untrue. I have been installing network printers for years without first connecting them to each PC. Can you imagine the nightmare it would be if an IT administrator would have to take each PC around to every printer on a network to get them installed? I must not understand what you are saying.

Ok how can have function of network printer if have not network printer attached?What will hat will happen if press print?I think final goal is printed peace of pater, why else to install printer?Andtake in consideration that someone that ask such a question is not professional

Bananasaregreen :: Can you browse to the server which manages the printer .(In XP, Start | Run then the UNC name of the server, like \ \myserver then hit return.)In Win7, you can type that into an IE address bar, as well... you should be able to see all the printers being advertised by the server. Click on the one you want. That should at least "map" the printer to the Win7 box, to the point where you can update the drivers, if necessary. (BTW: can a Vista box successfully use the printer, driver-wise... ? more typically, the drivers for various OS's are loaded on the server, and served down to the client... 32 vs. 64 bit might also come into play.) It is unfortunate that "Print server" has a few different connotations... in one scenario, it refers to a server, which "serves" the printer to the network. Driver negotiation is done between the server and client. (Although client-box driver installs aren't prohibited, but are usually unnecessary.) In a separate scenario, there are hardware devices, (Linksys, Netgear, etc...) which allow network sharing of printers. These products usually do not handle driver installation, and, as such, sometimes do require client-side installation of print drivers and associated software, as if the printer were a local-box printer.

The printer must be attached to the network and the PC must be attached to the same network, yes. Anyway, I have given my comments to the OP and I stand by them.

I work in the IT department so sorry for misleading everyone.I can browse to the server ok and see the full list of printers, as I would from a Vista machine, but when I double-click on a printer I get 'operation failed' with error 0x00000002. There is no difference with UAC turned off (it was on). We can install these printers ok from Vista (32 bit).I had tried a local install of an XP driver with no luck then tried the Vista version as suggested here and that gave me the option to select from a list of available printers but this list was not as full as the one via UNC path and the one I wanted was not on it (there are quite a few that don't show up on this list). I was able to select a printer in a different room and can print to it ok.Update - thought I'd try more via UNC path to server and I can install all HP printers, and a Konica that I couldn't install yesterday, but not the one in this room so it must relate to this printer specifically. I think I got the same error with all printers at first but can't be 100% sure so it may be that it's now working for other printers because;I've installed a local driver.Turning UAC off temporarilly allowed something to change.I didn't know what I was doing in the first place. (Probably this one. :)) bananasaregreen

I have the exact same problem described here. I have Window 7 Ultimate installed on a desktop and Windows 7 Professional installed on a Lenovo ThinkPad T60. The notebook is wirelessly connected to the Network. A HP LaserJet 1012 and a Epson R380 are connected to the desktop and file and printer sharing is enabled. The notebook sees both the HP and Epson printers. The Epson is working, however, when I try to connect to the HP, I get 'operation failed' with error 0x00000002. I have run thru the solution identified by Alexandriyski up to 'set remote PC. I do not understand how to install the HP as a remote printer on my notebook. BTW, the HP printer was working with Win7 installed on the desktop and Vista Business installed on the notebook. I did a clean install of Windows 7 and that is when my problems began. The Epson printer worked immediately. I had to 'add printer' to get the notebook to see the HP printer.

Thanks for the response. I need some clarification 1) I'm connecting a Win7 machine, not a XP machine. 2) I see the HP 1012 printer and I see the Epson R380 printer. I can print to the Epson printer over my wireless network. I cannot print from my notebook to the HP. 3) When you suggest 'on network browsing on your Windows 7 machine ensure you can 'see' the printer share' are you speaking of the host machine which the printer is connected to (desktop) or the remote (my notebook). I see the printer in both places. 4)do I install the new 'local printer (Step 3) on my desktop or my notebook.Thanks for your assistance

hi - we're having a similar issue - we have 3 Xerox Apeos Port printers - the driver installs fine on a Win7 Client initially, then a few days or weeks after working successfully print jobs stop getting through to our Win2003 Printer Server while jobs from other Win7 Clients and WinXP clients still work fine.Only workaround so far has been remove all network printers off the offending Win7 Client, reboot, add them back in.[If I attempt to add a printer without restarting, I will get the 'could not connect'/0x00000002' error.]Most of the time this fix only has to be done once, then the client is fine. In the last few days however it is happening quite frequently for 1 or 2 users.any tips?friends don't let friends do instant

No tips, I think this topic needs to be reopened under a new title. I appears to be solved, so it not getting responses from people that have knowledge as to how to solve this problem. However, I am going to try what you are suggesting here - removing all network printers, rebooting and then adding them back.Thanks

WilljamYou should always note the status of the thread..this is marked answered.So yes a new one woudl have been in order.On to your issue, You can see the HP right?? Uninstall in on the laptop,Now browse to the shares on the desktop, highlite the printer, right click, click connect.Give it a few mins it should install the printer for you.Now go check control panel printers, is it installed and working now??I am of course ASSUMING you have setup sharing and given rights to the users.

I was running into this issue installing my HP software for my printer. I found the error to be related to Microsoft's continued totalitarian view of having Windows own your local files. To hack this, get a registry editor (you can google for it) to add a shortcut to your quick menu (when you right click on a file or folder) to Grant Full Admin rights to your admin or user account (if you are familiear with Vista or 7 then you know that your admin account does not have true admin rights). This will speed up taking back your folders/files from Microsoft. Run this on the following folder: C:\windows\system32\spool\printers. Once you have your rights back to this basic folder and sub-items you can then install your printer drivers and software without any of the 0x00000002 conection errors.

hi - we're having a similar issue - we have 3 Xerox Apeos Port printers - the driver installs fine on a Win7 Client initially, then a few days or weeks after working successfully print jobs stop getting through to our Win2003 Printer Server while jobs from other Win7 Clients and WinXP clients still work fine. Only workaround so far has been remove all network printers off the offending Win7 Client, reboot, add them back in. [If I attempt to add a printer without restarting, I will get the 'could not connect'/0x00000002' error.] Most of the time this fix only has to be done once, then the client is fine. In the last few days however it is happening quite frequently for 1 or 2 users. any tips? friends don't let friends do instant hi - solution in the end that worked as suspected was to migrate our print server to a windows 2008 server - works perfectly with windows7 printing on the network. Would've prefered Microsoft to fix this in server 2003 though! friends don't let friends do instant

Chrisng325, Thanks for that, connected my Epson home network printer in minutes, guide is clear and easy to follow.

Don't know who Mark Ferguson is, but he clearly marked something irrelevant to the question as the answer. Since I am searching for the real answer to the OP's question, that is somewhat annoying. Network and Systems Manager

Did the trick. Thanks for the tip.

method worked, its simple & easy ! Thnx for saving troubleshooting time.

Hi there, I don't understand why this is marked as answer because it is a wrong answer to the right question. What the original question asked is the problem that happened when a Win 7 CLIENT attempting to connect to a printer on a SERVER. Note that the question stated that it is an AD domain, which implied the server should be Windows Server rather than a Win 7 PC acting as a server. What the answer answers is how to connect to a win 7 that acting as a server, which is completely not relevant to the question. Johnmen

After hours of frustration, the solution from Lead 3 worked for me. Thanx!

It is not neccessary to install a network printer on the PC first inorder to have it function as a network printer. It can be installed by selecting add printer and local printer, create a new port and then entering the printer share name(e.g. \\share name\lp1). from there a driver can be selected and the printer installed. Omg, thank you so much this totally worked after 2 hours! Four days ago I was printing totally fine.....I dont know WHAT happened but this 'fix' solved my problem. THank you kindly for your time!!!

The suggestion from Lead3 as expanded by chrisng325 also worked for me (after MANY hours of frustration). Note when adding HP printers that call for downloading Universal Printer Drivers upd-PCL6-x64-5.2.5.9108 (from HP Drivers site), better operation results if you use Windows Updates and then select the printer from the list. Holocon

Since the original problem seemed to be about adding Win2003-shared printers to Windows 7 clients, I thought I'd mention this, as I was having the same problem. I didn't want to add more ports manually, as it seems to me Win2003 should be taking care of this... A registry edit solved the problem for me. Apparently Windows 7 may use different protocols for networked printing that are by default only supported in Windows 2008 Server, not Windows 2003. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2269469 You can use Group Policy Preferences to push out the registry modification to your Win7 clients. Another setting to check in Group Policy is Point and Print Restrictions. That might be preventing driver installation as well, depending on how it's configured. Just another option, Sir_Timbit

It is not neccessary to install a network printer on the PC first inorder to have it function as a network printer. It can be installed by selecting add printer and local printer, create a new port and then entering the printer share name(e.g. \\share name\lp1). from there a driver can be selected and the printer installed. Thank you I have been ripping my hair out for ages trying to fix this problem. This was the fix for me.

SCENARIO: Print Server Windows Server 2003 R2, station Windows 7 with 64-bit and HP LaserJet P4015n PROBLEM: Windows 7 64-bit stations can not add HP LaserJet P4015n from print server Windows Server 2003 R2 showing the error 0x000007e SOLUTION: In the print server, delete the registry key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers\[PrinterName]\CopyFiles\BIDI" CAUSE: The station of user was trying to access a path that the 64-bit operating systems do not recognize as valid: "spool\drivers\w32x86\3". This path is set in the printer settings on the Print Server.

This works so perfect thank you so much! I had this working at one time and after a system crash, I had to do a re-install and lost my notes. Thanks again!

Chrisng325, Thank you for your clear guidance. I had the same problem as Bananasaregreen (Canon Inkjet iP4600 series, and your solution worked perfectly for me. Thank you for making your contributino and ending my frustration!

I have the same issue with my lenovo laptops running windows 7 64bit pro. If i format and install ultimate i dont have the problem. My setup is Printserver: windows 2003 r2 client: windows 7 64bit pro (lenovo laptops)

When connecting a network printer, the following error was encountered on a Windows 7 64bit computer: Windows cannot connect to the printer. Operation failed with error: 0x00000002 This occurs after browsing to the machine with the shared printer, right clicking the printer, and selecting ‘connect’. Synopsis This issue relates to creating a port for the mapped printer, or the printer UNC. During trouble shooting, we did rename the printer to ensure that it follows “8.3” naming convention used on NetBIOS: that did not resolve the issue. Both computers, the client and sharer, were Windows 7 64bit. Resolution The solution is to create a new ‘Local Port’ using the UNC to the printer share as the name. For example, the printer is shared with the name ‘HPLJ5’ on computer ‘DESKTOP1’. The local port’s name should be ‘\\DESKTOP1\HPLJ5’. You may create a new port while doing the ‘Add Printer’ wizard from Devices and Printers in control panel. During this process, you will need to install the print driver as it will not pull the driver from the computer that shared the printer. Shawn Zernik Internetwork Consulting

Thank you chrisng325! That is the easiest, most-helpful answer and it worked perfect!

Hey man, you are a freakin' genius! I've been trying to install my networked printer (EPSON NX400) on my wife's Vista 32 box for a few months now. The printer is attached to a Windows 7 64 box (my gaming rig) and prints fine from the 4 other computers in the house (2 x XP boxes and another Win764 box). All the file sharing has worked fine, but I could never get the printer to install because I was trying to install the printer using the "Install a network printer" dialogue, which would not allow me to input the network share path. However, doing it the way you described, I was able to print a test page in about three minutes. The printer is showing up as it should, and is now set to the default. Thank you very, very much. You're a freakin' GENIUS! So simple. So effective. If you don't work for MicroSoft, they should hire you for about 10% of their yearly profits. You deserve it! :o) Tony

Thanks, you solved my problem. I had installed a printer on my Win7 computer to connect to a printer that was physically on my WinXP computer but it was not connecting properly. I then put the IP address in the IE address bar as you suggested with \\ in front of the IP address bar. This displayed a list of files and printers on the PC where the printer is. I right-clicked on the printer and left-clicked on "connect" and it then connected and created a new printer icon on my control Panel\Hardware and sound\Devices and Printers\ . Then I could print using that new printer icon.

chrisng325 proposed answer worked for me in Windows 7.

Cristiane_Dias -I'm still stunned as to why this has to be done but thank you thank you for solving this. It was hard enough to find someone who understood the environment and didn't involve home print issues or other non-business software/hardware scenarios. I've installed thousands of printers on network workstations and created dozens of network servers, using everything from DOS to 7 and all types of Windows server OS and never had this much difficulty. Assuming this will work for all my network printers thank you again.