Post #30,155
2/28/02 11:38:37 AM
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Where are my printers?
Several different people here have their Win98 boxes hozed up bad: primary symptom, besides things locking up, is that the Printers folder just ain't there no more.
Is there some new attack I haven't heard of?
I do notice that my own box isn't affected, at least not yet. And neither are our NT servers. One thing those three have in common is not running Outlook, although it is installed.
----
United we stand
Divided we dominate the planet without really trying
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Post #30,410
3/1/02 8:10:21 PM
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Policies?
At the old lawfirm, they used to use policies to remove icons and program menu items from the luser's workstations. Depending on their security, we could turn off the control panel, hide the printers settings, etc so they wouldn't hose them up.
If you are missing your control panel, your printer settings, and your Run command from your Start bar, talk to your Network Administrator and tell him/her to turn off your Peon-Access in policies. Or you could just remove the policies program, if you can still somehow access the Add/Remove programs, appwiz.cpl I think is the file it needs, unless a login script somehow deletes it?
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #30,449
3/2/02 8:26:46 AM
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Win9x loses network stuff.
At least in my experience.
I've got a Win95B box on a 100BT Ethernet network. Our "workgroup" has about 10 Win95, 98, NT and Win2K boxes. My Win98B box can only see 4 of the machines in my workgroup in Network Neighborhood even if all 10 of them are on.
I have a Win2K box in the same office hanging off the same hub that can't see each other, but they can see other Win9x machines in the same workgroup. (The Win2K box can see everything but my Win95B box. The Win95B problems started years before the Win2K box existed. The Win95B box has the problem even if the Win2K box is off.)
I've tried reinstalling Win95B multiple times (which was a disaster I recounted on ezIWeThey), rechecking (multiple times) network settings, replacing the ISA network card with a 3C905B, etc., etc. Nothing's helped.
I assume that something got mangled in the Registry (I tried to make sure it was gone, but possibly didn't get rid of it on my reinstall attempts) and/or some DLL conflict resulted from an update of Office97, or something similar. But something's obviously wrong with the software. :-(
I'd like to know if you ever find your printers again. But I suspect unless you're able to wipe everything on the hard disk, reinstall, reconfigure, etc., you may not be able to figure it out in a reasonable amount of time. And even then something may bite you - do it carefully.
Windows networking problems like these seem to be almost impossible to troubleshoot. :-(
[link|http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article07-018|This] link at Annoyances.org mentions that sometimes special folders like the Printers folder stop working properly (due to a corrupted or missing desktop.ini) and that TweakUI can fix it sometimes. (Link to TweakUI on the page.) Maybe that'll help.
Good luck, and please report back any successes.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #30,462
3/2/02 10:39:17 AM
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Could be hosed system files
Run "SFC" the system file checker. Do not replace the USER, GDI, or KERNEL, because usually if you do, it will hose it up more. But see what it says. 95 may not have it, but 98 and up should. If files are damaged, it will attempt to repair them.
Click on the Start button
Click on the "Run" command
Enter SFC on the pop-up Window that Run brings up.
Follow the instructions on the form.
See what it says, and again do not replace your USER, GDI, or KERNEL files if it asks you to. Instead, consider a RRR or Reinstall if these are hosed up.
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #30,577
3/4/02 9:45:34 AM
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Thanks, but no "SFC" on this Win95B box.
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Post #30,588
3/4/02 10:42:30 AM
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Did you try a reinstall?
Answer "yes" to replacing system files, and then right after it run the update for Windows 95 (and IE if you have it). I don't think that 95 had too many options to repair itself?
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #30,590
3/4/02 10:49:00 AM
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Many times, many ways. It's not an issue now (using new PC).
My story was just meant to illustrate that Win9x can develop problems with networking (and remote printers) which are seemingly insolvable by mere mortals in a reasonable period of time.
My particular problems have been resolved by using a newer PC - i.e. it wasn't worth fighting with any more. The cost in my time troubleshooting was more than the cost of buying and configuring a new machine.
Thanks for your help though. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #30,596
3/4/02 11:02:13 AM
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So what happens to the old PC?
You wipe the hard drive and sell it on Ebay? Or is it sitting in a closet somewhere? Older systems can run Linux very well, don'tchaknow? ;)
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #30,598
3/4/02 11:03:35 AM
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It'll probably be a print server or something...
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Post #30,464
3/2/02 11:09:19 AM
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Missing from all the usual spots?
ie. you can't see a printers folder icon in either control panel or my comupter? Have you got a printer you can attach directly to a box and do a little troubleshooting?
Maybe try the add new hardware thingy (a stretch, I know).
I haven't heard of any viruses/exploits that exhibit this as a symptom but it seems odd that you have several boxes showing this.
A search at MS technet using the terms "printers folder missing" turned up nothing applicable.
With this much manure around, there must be a pony somewhere.
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Post #30,467
3/2/02 11:56:53 AM
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It may be worth while running RegClean
(from microsoft) in case the Registry is screwed up somehow. If RegClean had founnd and fixed something on a pass, I'll often run it again. I have seen it not fix everything in one pass. It's worth a shot.
Alex
"Of course, you realize this means war." -B. Bunny
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