Installing / configuring printer ports

Here's a great one to get you all thinking!
I have just built a computer for a friend - using an Athlon 3500 CPU, SATA drives x 2, 256Mb video, 2Gb of DDR400 RAM and Windows XP Pro SP2. It's a real go-er! :rolleyes: (if I do say so myself!) Anyway, he runs quite a number of business apps on it. Initially, I loaded some fax software on it, but he said he didn't need / want it, so I took it off. Additionally, he's installed the Adobe Creative Suite Premiere (which includes Acrobat 6 Professional), Freehand MX, Corel 10, and a number of other printing-industry type programs / utils. The problem he has come up against is two-fold: 1) He can't print to the image-setter attached to his computer and 2) He can't PDF properly. I am deeply suspicious of the "File" printer port. Reason: when I have a look at how it is configured, a message window comes up saying something about Fax software and that the port is routed to COM2! Not a good look. He's tried to allocate both of the "File" printer ports to his imagesetter, but all files that he "prints" to that port just vanish into the ether. The same goes for PDFing. I tried to check how my "File" ports were configured on my machine, but every time I try to get info on them, my Printer Spooler crashes and won't let me see!! I hope I haven't done anything to corrupt either system, but at least I can still PDF from mine (admittedly, using a different program, but still a similar sort of method).
Basically, I'm looking for help in 2 forms: 1) A pointer to somewhere on the net that has some good info on configuring / diagnosing printer ports and related topics 2) Someone in the DTP / Graphic Arts / Printing industry who has a similar setup and may have some hints. I have set this sort of thing up on Apple computer many times, and it is a breeze. This is my first try at a PC environment - I have to say that it seems needlessly hard and confusing!
Help please!!! :confused:

Try repairing/installing/reinstalling?

If that doesn't work try patching Acrobat 6 to version .1, .2 ect..

Typically when the adobe printer port go wacky a reinstall does the trick

Hi - thanks for your commnets. I've already done all those things. The info I require is of a more in-depth nature. Anybody else out there ever had to re-create the "File" ports on their Win XP system? Surely someone must have come across this? :confused:

Had a similar situtation with Acrobat but I never got to the bottom of it. Ended up reimaging the machine I think.

Yep acrobat is notorious for loosing printer ports especially for the pdf creation functions, as well as the distiller (allows other users to create pdfs by sending docs to the virtual PDF printer)...

Your best bet might be to run through add printer wizard, but do a local printer, and create a new port, select standard TCP/IP port and enter ip of network printer, else just select local port, and select RAW format. this should then use default windows drivers... hopefully your printer supports it ;)