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I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster environmental that is having some issues with the print server application. I recently changed it's preferred node from one to the other, and with this change a handful of XP machines, never any of my Windows 7 boxes, began to encounter errors when printing to two specific printers.

The error changes from application to application but most of the time it seems to be a connection error. I temporary fixed it previously by removing the printer and re-adding it. This only worked until a node was rebooted after an update and the application was moved to the other node. Since there is only a small number of users affected, I would really rather not remove and add printers back that encounter this issue every time there is an update or other reason to reboot the machine.

Thanks in advance.

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Do both nodes of the failover cluster have the same versions of the printer drivers installed and shared out? I could imagine that clients might get confused if the virtual printer spool that the cluster offered suddenly started "speaking with a funny accent".. ( PCL versus PS, etc.) (I use failover clusters for SQL, not print services, so this is a bit of a shot in the dark)

Also - Are there any 32-bit / 64-bit troubles going on? Are drivers for both architectures shared to clients? I know my cow-orkers sometimes forget that 2K8 R2 is 64 only.

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  • When you set up a print server in Windows Failover Manager it keeps the drivers on both nodes in check. Also, I've installed both 32 and 64-bit versions to make setup as easy as possible for the users. Thanks for the suggestions though.
    – mlapida
    Jan 26, 2011 at 20:13

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