Cannot open Printers & Faxes (issue travelling around network)

On Wednesday I got a call about an XP Pro machine on Server 2003 network that wouldn't open Printers and Faxes.

Whether I went through control panel or just clicked on Printers & Faxes on the start menu nothing happened. I tried this as the user and also as the administrator.

The following is a list of the actions taken;

o Ran sfc /scannow & Dial a Fix with no positive results.
o Terminal Services works OK
o Internet access works OK
o CWShredder found nothing
o HiJackThis found nothing
o RemoveIT found nothing
o Ran CHKDSK /R
o Login as user & check
o Problem resolved.

Its now Friday and another machine on the same network has an identical problem.

I am in the middle of running CHKDSK /R on the second machine and will see if that fixes the issue.

What could be the cause of this issue and why would it be moving around the network. For CHKDSK /R to fix it it seems like some kind of file corruption but why would two different machines from two different manufacturers experience the same issue within the same week?

 

CHKDSK /R fixed the issue.

Would still like to know the root cause in case there is a bigger issue to be addressed.