After installing KB956391 and some later IE hot fixes, users that try to print reports in CRM (or any SSRS report) will get an error that says they are “Unable to load the client print control”.  The reason for this is that the original ActiveX control that shipped with SSRS 2000 / 2005 and 2008 had a pretty dangerous GDI+ bug in it.  Microsoft later issued a “Kill Bit” to disable this control from loading any more and thus the error “unable to load client print control”.  The fix is to update your SSRS server with a fixed version of the ActiveX control, so users can download and use the “safe” version.  Last October, CustomerEffective made a great post on a how to fix this issue. 

To save others some time and frustration, I want to point a few things out:

1. This control is an ActiveX control and as such users need the permissions and policies to install and use ActiveX controls.  I have seen some environments where even after “fixing” the issue, this error still happens, this is because something else blocked the ActiveX controls ability to install.
   
2. This is a sneaky one, Microsoft actually has TWO versions of the SSRS 2005 Report Viewer Control SP1 on their site, one with the fix and one without.  When “fixing” this issue, be sure to use the correct one:
   
   Microsoft Report Viewer Control SP1 with GDI+ Fix (9/2008)
   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=82833f27-081d-4b72-83ef-2836360a904d&DisplayLang=en
   
   FAIL - Microsoft Report Viewer Control SP1 without the GDI+ Fix (3/2007)
   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E7D661BA-DC95-4EB3-8916-3E31340DDC2C&displaylang=en
   
3. If you want to learn more about this, the following blog post is an excellent read:
   http://blogs.msdn.com/brianhartman/archive/2008/11/05/client-print-fails-to-load-after-microsoft-update-956391.aspx

Cheers,

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.