Unable to install shared printer. the handle is invalid

[felyoubi]

Hi,

A college took a printer home, connected it using USB and shared in the network. This configuration cannot be changed due to company policy. On the printer server #2 running Windows Server 2012 R2, I added a printer and used local port to point to the shared local printer, when it comes to the drivers, I've used the HP Color LaserJet Pro M478f-9f PCL-6 (V4) -same as on the local computer- but as soon as I hit next, I get an error message saying "Unable to install Printer. The Handle is invalid".

Why am I getting this error knowing that I previously installed the same printer on print server #1 without issues.

Please help

[felyoubi]

I resumed working on this and found out that I was able to install the PostScript version of the HP Universal driver but it in order for it to work, the client machines have to switch to the PS driver as well which is a lot of work. I still think I can install the printer PCL V4 driver on Server #1, I just need to know what may trigger the invalid handle error message.

Whenever I get the invalid handle error, the PrintService on the Event Viewer throws an exception that gets caught under Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService -> Admin which says : The print spooler failed to load a plug-in module , error code 0x57. See the event user data for context information.

Since this is a production server, I can't boot in safe mode or even can't keep rebooting it. I will have to find a way to remove the drivers entirely and try again.

[felyoubi · Accepted solution]

I could not install the V4 Print Driver for whatever reason but was able to install the V3 which is still good option because it uses XPS/Winprint to render print jobs. It worked out perfectly, our printing is now faster than ever, under 5s vs 30min to sometime hours which was ridiculous. Just make sure you much the Print Processor between the 2 printers and you should be good to go.

I hope this would help someone in my shoes.