Today, someone had a printer problem, and when I checked the server (We use networked shared printers on a Server 2008 Release 1 machine, deployed with group policy). Sure enough the printer (along with 3-4 others) had been de-installed on the workstation andthe printer's properties "Remove from Directory/List in Directory" binary was reset to "List in Directory" which was why it couldn't be reinstalled.
And it occurred to me that it seems like random settings changes this happen all the time on this server, and of course, the settings changes get sent out to the printers on the workstations and every gets all kinds of screwed up.
For a long time I thought this was my imagination, but after doing some work on the server I am more sure that this is actually happening.
Seems like a longshot, but could this be some quirkiness with Server...