;( I'm sure that i'm not the only one having problems with XP machines but i really need all the help i can get. Recently i've been connecting XP Pro's to network printers(HP & Lexmark) and at first they connect but then once i leave them for about 2 to 5 min or longer...the machine itself would state that the printer cannot be found on the server...unable to connect. Other Operating systems are connecting to these printers just fine and working. I've downloaded latest printers drivers as well as updates for XP's but still having the same problem. Will somebody please help me find out what is wrong or what am i doing wrong? All i know so far by word of mouth is that XP's are faulty. I appreciate all the help i can get and i thank you very much in advance...

Server OS? Service Pack Level?

Do the same symptons appear on the clients when directly connected to the printer as TCPIP printers, instead of mapped printers?

What type of HP printers? We have had numerous problems with the 2200DNs and have reverted back to the Laserjet4 driver.

The laserjet 4 driver is the most basic as stated by some of my HP reps, and any HP printer can use this driver. Switch it around to see if that helps.

Event logs show anything?

Server is running on Linux 7.1 and don't know about its service pack level yet. Same symptoms occur when i tried direct connection using its static ip. The Lexmark is a T622 model and the HP is a LaserJet 4MPlus. The event logs shows only warnings about windows messenger service being disabled but nothing related to printers. Thanks very much for your help....

When the XP machine suddenly stops connecting to the printers, try pinging the Linux server and/or the printers (if the printers themselves have IP addresses). Also check the cabling for the XP machine and make sure it's not halfway hanging out of the wall or something (no joke - this type of thing was happening at one of my customer sites for six months and it turned out the cable was slammed into the jack at an angle and stuck there). Lastly, try changing the port your XP machine's cable is plugged into on the hub or switch. Perhaps your port is going bad.