When you view the properties of a printer in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you notice one or more of the following:
- The Security tab is missing.
- A tab added by a 3rd-party printer driver is missing.
- The icon for the printer is shown as an unknown file type.
- Pressing Printing Preferences on the General tab does nothing.
- Pressing Printing Defaults on the Advanced tab does nothing.
These problem behaviors will occur if the printer is installed locally, AND the printer's display name starts with a reserved name followed by a period and is at least 7 characters long.
Examples of problem printer display names:
LPT1.JSICOM3.IJ
PRN.123
NOTE: The following are a sub-set of reserved names that will cause this problem behavior:
LPT1 through LPT9
COM1 through COM9
PRN
CON
NUL
To workaround this behavior, rename the printer so that the its' display name DOES NOT start with a reserved name.
NOTE: After you rename the printer, users of client computers must delete the old printer and reinstall it.
