Terminal server 2003 won't log people on properly... print spooler issue

Guru · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:01

Hi all,

I've got a very busy terminal server 2003 box dozens of users use all day every day.

For some reason every so often people can't log in properly. They just get a blank desktop with the background colour and nothing else.

Bizarrely if I restart the print spooler it sorts it out for everyone and they can go about their business.

Any one come across this before? It's very irritating and any advice would bem uch appreciated.

Thanks,

G

Showboat · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:06

Could be an issue with a print driver.

You could schedule a job to restart the spooler every night at 3am or even reboot the server while no-one is on it.

Saundie · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:08

As Showboat said, it's probably an issue with one of your printer drivers. We had a customer who had a similar issue whereby if there was an alert shown on the desktop nobody could log on until we logged in as an administrator and acknowledged the alert. I don't remember if it was the spooler that was causing the problem, but it seems reasonable to look into that avenue first seeing as restarting the spooler clears the issue.

Guru · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:17

I have setup a scheduled task already (thanks for the advice though

) but I'm only putting a plaster on the issue with that and I was looking to find a way to determine exactly what is causing the issue and put in a more permanent solution.

Cheers,

G

Saundie · 6 Mar 2012 at 10:12

How many printers do you have on the server? If you have only a few, it may be worth using a tool in the Server 2003 Resource kit called "cleanspl.exe" to clean up the spooler, then download and install the latest drivers for each printer. At least then you'd have a clean slate to work from. Otherwise it'll be quite time consuming to determine which driver is causing the problem.

Guru · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:10

Saundie said:
How many printers do you have on the server? If you have only a few, it may be worth using a tool in the Server 2003 Resource kit called "cleanspl.exe" to clean up the spooler, then download and install the latest drivers for each printer. At least then you'd have a clean slate to work from. Otherwise it'll be quite time consuming to determine which driver is causing the problem.

Shed loads of printers, dozens and dozens

Sp00n · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:25

Ah, the joys of terminal server

EvilFranky · 7 Mar 2012 at 15:56

Yep defo driver issue here matey. It sounds similar to what was happening at the NHS when I worked for them.

Basically someone had installed Deskjet drivers on one of the terminal servers but included the software which provided feedback on the status of the ink etc. Something to do with the printer talking back to the terminal server and it caused 100% CPU load so made logging into the servers practically impossible. I bet if you left it long enough that blank background would turn into a desktop

Needless to say deskjets were banned from Server 2003 based terminal servers and a new 2008 terminal server was set up which uses a completely different way of providing print services, see the link:-

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753853(v=ws.10).aspx

SourChipmunk · 12 Mar 2012 at 17:26

With the users TS clients, be sure they have Local Resources > Printers disabled in the Remote Desktop/Terminal Services properties. Someone might be causing a conflict from that.

darrenbe · 15 Mar 2012 at 05:55

I would only ever go with sanitised printer drivers on a terminal server, same goes for Citrix.
Standardise on hp only printers and use the hp universal print drivers for pcl. It will save you a ton of bother. You need to manage the environment proactively, set some standards and don't deviate from them.

Guru · 15 Mar 2012 at 07:32

EvilFranky said:
Yep defo driver issue here matey. It sounds similar to what was happening at the NHS when I worked for them.

Basically someone had installed Deskjet drivers on one of the terminal servers but included the software which provided feedback on the status of the ink etc. Something to do with the printer talking back to the terminal server and it caused 100% CPU load so made logging into the servers practically impossible. I bet if you left it long enough that blank background would turn into a desktop

Needless to say deskjets were banned from Server 2003 based terminal servers and a new 2008 terminal server was set up which uses a completely different way of providing print services, see the link:-

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753853(v=ws.10).aspx

I think if you disable advanced printing features on the printer it stops that behaviour. I might try that.