I have been having issues with a new terminal server. The server is a VM (VMWare 5.1) running server 2008 R2 (8GB memory 8 CPUs). My client called in a week or so ago complaining that local printers were not redirecting to the terminal server. When I looked into the issue I found the following event log that correlates with this issue:
Log Name: System Source: Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-Printers Date: 5/9/2013 1:09:58 PM Event ID: 1103 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: XXXTERM04.XXX.local Description: An internal communication error occurred. Redirected printing will no longer function for a single user session. Check the status of the Remote Desktop Device Redirector in the System folder of Device Manager.
I found the following technet article on this event log: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee890928(v=ws.10).aspx
I then confirmed that the Remote Desktop Device Redirector Bus was enabled and working properly. The next step was to replace the Rdpdr.sys file with another copy. This was replaced with the Rdpdr.sys file on the other terminal server (same specs) that is working properly. We tried to do the registry portion of this fix as well, however the key did not exist on either TS. I did not reinstall Remote Desktop Session Host role as there are multiple applications that would need to be re-installed and reconfigured if this is done.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\RDPDR
After rebooting the server the problem went away for most of the next day, however it came back that afternoon. That evening I noticed they were using HP Universal Print drivers on 10 different printers. I set out to remove the UPD and install specific drivers for each of these printers. I completely removed the UPD, however none of these printers had 2008 or Windows 7 64 bit drivers available. Some of them had XP 64 bit drivers, however not all of them did. Since the UPD would need to be installed anyway I chose to simply reinstall the printers with the UPD. Originally they were installed directly on the terminal server via local install by IP address. This time I installed them through a share on the domain controller.
Since re-installing the UPD printers on the terminal server, printer redirection has continued to work. The problem I am having now is the amount of time that it takes for the printer to redirect. It seems to be taking 2-5 minutes after logon before the printers will show up. The original error in the event logs is not showing up anymore. I do see the following event occasionally in the application logs, however there are no errors in the system logs (where printer redirection errors typically show up).
Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service Date: 5/16/2013 8:51:06 AM Event ID: 1530 Task Category: None Level: Warning Keywords: User: SYSTEM Computer: XXXTERM04.XXX.local Description: Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards. DETAIL - 2 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-1867570836-3650305061-3335440531-1623: Process 12224 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\PrintIsolationHost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-1867570836-3650305061-3335440531-1623 Process 1260 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-1867570836-3650305061-3335440531-1623\Printers\DevModePerUser
My client is onto us to figure out what is taking so long to redirect the printers. This does not seem to happen on the other terminal server that has the exact specs and drivers installed on it. The only difference I can think of is the fact that the other terminal server is used primarily by internal users and the server that is having issues is used by external users (and used a bit more frequently). At this point I am not even convinced that the original problem will not return as it's one of those issues that works for a while when you make a change, then happens again in the next day or week. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.