Windows 10 version 21H2 has a single known issue for print servers

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Windows 10 version 21H2 comes with a single known issue for print servers

Microsoft has released Windows 10 version 21H2 to the general public, but there's a known issue you may want to know about.

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 10 version 21H2 today, and it comes with a handful of features specifically meant for business users. This includes support for new Wi-Fi security standards, new Windows Hello capabilities, and more. However, as with most Windows 10 releases, version 21H2 doesn't come without its known issues.

In this case, there's a single known issue, and it's related to print servers. Indeed, this isn't an issue that will affect most users, but Microsoft notes that some Windows clients may encounter errors when connecting to printers shared through print servers. Here's how Microsoft describes the issue:

Windows print clients might encounter the following errors when connecting to a remote printer shared on a Windows print server:

0x000006e4 (RPC_S_CANNOT_SUPPORT)

0x0000007c (ERROR_INVALID_LEVEL)

0x00000709 (ERROR_INVALID_PRINTER_NAME)

While this error might be encountered, Microsoft says it has already mitigated it. You can work around this problem, but for that, your print clients will need to have installed a Windows update after January 2021 before the print server itself has been installed. If you meet this requirement, you can then set your network security settings and VPN to allow RPC over TCP connections over the following ports:

Default start port: 49152
Default end port: 65535
Port Range: 16384 ports

Another step that might help alleviate this issue is enabling client-side rendering for print jobs. This setting can be enabled on the print server, but it may not work if the print clients have overrides blocking this setting.

While this mitigation allows you to work around the issue, Microsoft says it's working on a more definitive fix. This fix will allow print clients to establish RPC connections to servers over SMB instead of TCP.

It's also worth noting that this problem affects previous versions of Windows 10, as well as Windows 11. There are no known issues exclusive to Windows 10 version 21H2, which shouldn't be too surprising considering how little has changed from previous versions. If you want to install the latest Windows 10 feature update, check out our guide on how to get Windows 10 version 21H2 right now.