Directory service is currently unavailable at change of printer

[tingleyd]

Running Office 2003 with all updates. Attempted to "Find Printer" through
FILE | PRINT... |. Message "Directory service is currently unavailable"
appears with "OK" as only option.

Search of KnowledgeBase finds nothing. Search of Google finds a similar
inquiry at a Windows/Office help web site but no responders.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

This error sometimes indicates that the wrong DNS is being used, i.e., an
external DNS rather than one that's specific to your network. I'm assuming
you are on a network...

Can you locate the target printer using Windows Explorer or My Network
Places?

 

[tingleyd]

From START | PRINTERS AND FAXES I can access two inkjet printers -- one of
which is hard-wired to my computer; the other is hard-wired to a second
computer on my wireless home network. In the MS Word issue about which I am
inquiring, the error message displayed over a second window titled "Find
Printers." Clicking OK on the error message closed both that message and the
"Find Printers" window behind it. I've just checked again and find exactly
the same events occurring.

:

This error sometimes indicates that the wrong DNS is being used, i.e., an
external DNS rather than one that's specific to your network. I'm assuming
you are on a network...

Can you locate the target printer using Windows Explorer or My Network Places?
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.
http://www.herbtyson.com
Running Office 2003 with all updates. Attempted to "Find Printer" through
FILE | PRINT... |. Message "Directory service is currently unavailable"
appears with "OK" as only option.

Search of KnowledgeBase finds nothing. Search of Google finds a similar
inquiry at a Windows/Office help web site but no responders.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Has this worked in the past? Or, is this the first time you've tried this?

If it's something that worked in the past but is suddenly not working, then
you need to find out what's changed. If it's the first time you've tried
this, then you need to look at settings.

What happens when you use Start | Printers and Faxes from the other
computer? Same error, or does it work okay that way?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I just managed to trigger the same error message here. In my case, I was
able to fix the problem by going into Start - Settings - Printers and
Faxes - Add Printer, and explicitly adding the printer there, rather than
using the Find Printers option when trying to print from Word. Following
that, I was able to use the printer across the network (from Word) just
fine.