Vista - Vista 64 installs printers, won't print

After multiple calls to Microsoft Vista's service pack 1 support line.... I found a "fix". I have no idea how, but the printer was able to scan back to the computer. I was able to determine the Port used by the printer was "DOT001" I changed the port for the printer to that port and it started to work again.

Microsoft support was horrilbe. All they did was unload and reload the drivers a number of times. Then they said I had to contact the OEM of the computer to get a set of discs with Microsoft Vista and reload the entire system.

"hbarnum" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:68561aabbdd64f54c71b93b352ee9ea1@xxxxxx-gateway.com:
What printer do you have? Where did you get the driver? How is the
printer connected? It is probably not a Microsoft issue, the drivers are
typically supplied by the printer manufacturer.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Mr. Bob Headrick, please review the previous posts from me, 'ddlnick', which
describes a problem we can duplicate on an brand new HP 64 bit tablet pc.
Not all our customers with Vista 64 bit computers have the problem.
Probably fewer than 1 in 10. But when the problem occurs, it is
re-producible.

In summary, we traced the call to API function DocumentProperties() which is
used to retrieve properties of a selected printer. There are two calls. The
first call is a simple request for the size of the DEVMODE structure that
the printer driver will need to fill with that printer's properties. The
application uses the size to allocate memory for the properties which are
filled in by a second call to DocumentProperties().

It is the first call that fails, no matter which printer is selected. It is
a very simple request, and one 32 bit integer value should be returned in
the range of 500 to 5000 or so. A -1 is returned, when the bug manifests
itself. A call to 'GetLastError()' does not indicate any error.

Microsoft also provides a 'PrintDlg()' method in a comdlg32.dll which
provides a convenient 'wrapper' for the 'OpenPrinter()' and
'DocumentProperties()' and other printer management functions. Using
PrintDlg(), the error returned from CommDlgExtendedError() is
CDERR_MEMLOCKFAILURE 0x0000000a which seems to indicate that a 'lock' on
allocated memory of -1 size (-1 is also 0xffffffff a very large number) is
failing.

In our case, we develop 32 bit software that runs fine on all versions of
Windows starting with Windows 95. The printing interface used is provided
in the official Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). We use Visual C++ 6.0
(getting a little 'old' perhaps, but works fine for our purposes).

We have found an Intuit forum and describes similar problems for some users
of Intuit's Quicken 2008.
Quicken Community - Solution to Printing Problems Vista 64 Quicken 2008

MSDN forum has more technical details
On Vista x64, DocumentProperties fails from UAC-elevated process : Security for Applications in Windows Vista : Software Development for Windows Vista : MSDN Forums

One of our posts on MSDN:
The call to OpenPrinter() returns a printer 'handle' value, and I would
presume it is ok. It is the next rather uncomplicated call to
DocumentProperties that fails in 64bit VISTA for some applications on some
computers. We have also confirmed that lowering execution 'elevation' down
from 'administator', the 'bug' 'goes away'. This is clearly a Windows
issue and not application program trying to print. To remind everyone, when
the 'bug' appears, it affects all printers on that computer - LaserJet,
Canon InkJet, CutePDF virtual printer, Microsoft FAX, and Word XPS Document
Writer in my case.

//
// 12 Nov 2008
// Call windows API.
//
int nResult = :: OpenPrinter(
pPrinter, // LPTSTR printer name 0 terminated string - NOT unicode.
&hPrinter, // LPHANDLE returned - looks ok
NULL // LPRINTER_DEFAULTS
);
.
.
//
// A zero for last param fMode returns the size of buffer needed for the
// information to be returned.
//
long lSizeDevMode = :: DocumentProperties(
NULL, // HWND hWndParent
hPrinter, // handle to printer object
pPrinter, // LPCTSTR printer name
NULL, // PDEVMODE output
NULL, // PDEVMODE input
0 // DWORD fMode
);
ASSERT(lSizeDevMode >= 0);

lSizeDevMode is -1 and GetLastError() does not return any error.

I have a similar problem
Vista 64 Bit Prints a test page to my remote Samsung SCX-4100 connected to a Windows 2000 box as a print server and even prints all files from the Mandriva Linux 2009 Open Office software on the same machine (dual boot). But will not print from any word processor or office software in Vista premium 64bit other than a test page from the Jobs window. So it definitely is the 64 bit Vista.

We agree that there is a Vista64 printing problem, and it only affects a small percent of Vista64 users, but if you are one of the few, it is very annoying and frustrating, and Microsoft does not seem to care.

Anyway, make sure you have a 64bit printer driver installed on your Vista64 system. You might 'get lucky' and become one of the many that do not have a printing problem. We did NOT 'get lucky' using official 64 bit printer drivers.

Our analysis of the API calls to 'DocumentProperties' documented in previous posts.

I have tried the Windows XP 64bit drivers provided by Samsung as well as the standard Vista drivers for both Printer and Scanner. With the standard MS Works sees both functions correctly but won't print, as does Open Office, The Gimp and Arcsoft (provided with my Canon Rebel camera) at all times, with the Windows XP_64 bit driver it saw it when setting up then disappeared on the reboot. From the win 2000 box I followed the suggests from another forum/post and tried to locate the printer drivers on the AMD64 box with no result - couldn't see a printer installed.

I know that this is a Vista forum but I'm going to try another Linux OS and see if there is greater compatibility as Mandriva 2009 doesn't see the Scanner. I'll let you know.

Hi all,
I don't know if this helps the techies in this forum, but I remembered I had a US RObotics Max G 5461 Wireless router kicking about (it was shelved because Linux was not cooperating with it). So I exchanged my Buffaloe Airstation for it. The USRobotics has a USB port so's it can act as a print server without going through a Win2K box. Well after a couple of hours of experimentation I have the AMD64 with Vista Premium 64 bit printing everything I throw at it from SeaMonkey, Google Chrome or my word processors.

You have to configure the Vista 64 printing setup as a 'Local printer' on the Vista box though.
Is this of any help to you?

I had exactly these same problems and this link to the Quickbooks forum solved my problem instantly. Give it a try.

http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com...rticle/1007856

David Dewhurst

I am having a similar problem with my brand new Dell XPS running Windows Vista 64bit. The computer is networked and will not print on any of the installed printers. The machine is directly connected to an HP OfficeJet G85 and networked to an HP Photosmart 6180. I am unable to print MS Word documents, MS Windows Mail, or any other software program. When I check the Printer Status window the document appears there with a status "Error - Printing". I've tried the Quicken solution above but was unable to Edit the Permissions for Users, so that did not work for me. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thus far I have found the Vista 64bit OS has not been backwardly compatible with my old 32bit products. I had a heck of a time getting my machine to connect to my wireless router (over six hours on the phone with MS & Linksys Tech Support) and ended up tossing out a relatively new Linksys USB wireless for a 64bit compatible plug-in. I suspect this is simply another 64bit compatibility issue but hope I'm wrong. The OS does me little good if I have to change out all my other hardware to get it to work.

I had a similar problem with my Lexmark C524 not printing with the 64 bit
version of Vista. I ended up going to the live chat with a help tech from
the Lexmark support webpage. Since you are using an HP printer I suggest
using HP's live chat support. The Lexmark tech used remote access to find
and fix the problem. Maybe HP can do the same for you.

Good luck,

Scott