clicking Find Printer shows error "The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable" i am on a home network

I also had the problem of my W7x64 system suddenly refusing to print Word documents, this I beleive began after the Office 2010 suit updates of about 10 days ago. As I dug around to find the solution I found the printer responded normaly to print instructions from email (hotmail) and all other sources. The printer was shown as the default printer etc, adding it had no effect. I did find the "Active directory domain services is currently unavailable" message coming up as the only automated  help.

When reading this thread the reference to Comodo caught my eye as I have this installed with Defence + set at safe mode. I turned Defence + off and printing from Word returned as normal. I tried Defence + at clean mode level and  Protected COM monitoring off and Word printing continues to work normally. It seems to me that the Office updates made changes that trigger blocking by Comodo defence+.

In my case Winword .exe was entered as a trusted file so cannot be entered again.

Many thanks to all you guys who have shared your insights on the forum. Thanks to you I still have a few handsful of hair that has not been torn out.

bonjour

I moved Defense + Security Level from Safe Mode to Clean PC Mode and added Winword.exe as a trusted site. It now works fine even with Comodo running.

Thankyou Asif, for trying to help.  Unfortunately this does not help either, although I did go into services again to check the settings.  If the pop up message about domain directory is related to the inability to print, it is going to be a very complex problem to fix.  It is certainly not something the average user should be expected to understand, so I hope microsoft will pay attention to the problem.  I have been all over the forums and tried just about every suggestion. Because it might be a permissions issue, last night I deleted my daughters' user accounts, then did the Level3 cleanup with services and startups disabled.  I also ran malware and antivirus complete scans.  I have the same problem  after reinstalling the printer for the 15th time.  There most definitely is nothing mechanically wrong with the  printer or the USB cable.  It's got to be a software issue, but whether or MS or HP, I still don't know.  

I will continue monitoring forums because I don't expect to solve the problem by buying a new printer or computer any time soon.  I will have to use the library for printing my resumes.  If I find the fix, you better believe the solution will be posted all over the internet.

Thanks, this fixed my problem. I was able to turn off the defense+ and the printer showed up. I then found out that if you go into the Comodo interface and click on "Defense+" tab at the top, then click Defense+ settings at bottom right, click on the tab "Monitoring Settings" when that window pops up, and click off Protected COM interfaces. and OK. This will allow you to keep running the Defense+ but the printer should still work. It just doesn't monitor any of the COM interfaces. Thanks again for the help.