Unable to Rename Friendly Name of Remote Network Printer (281344)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q281344

SUMMARY

You may not be able to rename the friendly name of a remote network printer.

MORE INFORMATION

Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000-based computers use the friendly printer name that is stored on the print server and because of this, these clients cannot rename the printer name on the print server. This differs from the Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98 print architecture, which supports the renaming of local and network printers. If you need to rename a network printer on the Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 print server, please contact your administrator. This is not a security issue, but it is not recommended because this can lead to the inability to print with the existing driver errors.

WARNING: Renaming the network printer can cause the existing print driver to stop responding (hang) on the clients, generating the following error message:
Printer \\server\printerx does not exist on the computer. You either entered a printer name that was incorrect or the specified printer is no longer connected to the server. Click Help for more information.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/25/2006
Keywords:kbprint KB281344
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.