SOLUTION: Win "...device does not exist..." error when mounting printer

[Charles Owens]

If this is old news, sorry... I don't follow the list closely.

For some time my users and myself have been annoyed by this pesky "The
device does not exist on the network" error that often occurs when
redirecting Windows LPT ports to printer shares via the "net use" command
(typically invoked from domain logon scripts).  I've been looking for a
solution to this for quite some time and today stumbled across an answer
in, of all places, the Microsoft online support database.

See this URL

	http://premium.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q154/4/95.asp

This is a Windows 95 specific solution, and from what I can tell, it does
indeed make the stop the problem!  I'm not sure what the analogous
fix for Windows for Workgroups is, where I've also seen this problem.

Here is an excerpt:


    RESOLUTION

    To resolve this issue, use the appropriate method to disable the Spool
MS-DOS Print Jobs option. 

    Individual Printer

    To disable the Spool MS-DOS Print Jobs option for an individual
printer, follow these steps: 

       1.Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click
Printers. 

       2.Use the right mouse button to click the printer, and then click
Properties on the menu that appears. 

       3.Click the Details tab, and then click Port Settings. 

       4.Click the Spool MS-DOS Print Jobs check box to clear it. 

    Multiple Printers

    WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems
that may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft
    cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of
Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own
    risk. 

    NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the
Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor
    (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry
files (System.dat and User.dat) before you edit the
    registry. 

    To disable the Spool MS-DOS Print Jobs option for all printers on a
Windows 95 workstation, add the two DWORD values 

       DOSSpoolMask
        PrintersMask


    to the following registry key: 

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\Print\Printers


    Set the value of the two new DWORD values to 0. 

    After you add these values, restart your computer. 


Hope its useful...
---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Charles N. Owens                               Email:  owensc at enc.edu
                                             http://www.enc.edu/~owensc
  Network & Systems Administrator
  Information Technology Services  "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's
  Eastern Nazarene College         best friend.  Inside of a dog it's 
                                   too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
-------------------------------------------------------------------------