Hopefully I can explain the issue properly here.....
We are using Windows Servers 2008 R2 at our stores, they are all the exact same 'base image' with some store specific changes after. I have noticed some different behavior between the servers even tho the setup after the image is deployed is the same. We are setting up several Lexmark printers and sharing them out so users can connect to the printers and print. all of the printers are installed the same and all use the 'Lexmark Universal V2 PS3' drivers.
This all works like intended (mostly, i will post another questions about this later). If one of the printers is not working we normally just go into the printer properties and change the port to another port so that the shared printer will still work it just prints to another printer. Sometimes when we do this the printer will still show up in the 'Control Panel - Devices and Printers' (like it did in other versions of Windows Server) and other times It will not be visible at all from the 'Control Panel - Devices and Printers' screen. I need to right click on the printer that is now sharing the port with the broken printer and i will see both printers listed as a sub menu for each of the menu options. i.e. 'Printing Preferences' will now have a sub menu with both the printers listed. I can select either printer and the correct printer properties page will open up.
I looks like both ways work and if I change the port back to what it should be the printer is back where it belongs. I am just curious why I see different behavior between the servers even tho they are the exact same image and the print queue setup is the same as well.
Thanks