Knowledge Base

Making Printers Available to All Users

Windows 2000, XP and 2003 all have the capability to install a printer and have it globally available to all users (Similar to the way printers worked in the old Windows 95/98 days). Unfortunately the Add Printer wizard does not expose this functionality and only adds the printer for the current user. The command-line needs to be used to install and expose a printer globally. The process is as follows:

1.Log on to the workstation as an Administrator
2.Start->Run and enter “cmd” then press OK
3.Type rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /ga /n\\server\printer where server and printer make up the correct UNC path to the printer.
4.Restart the spooler service with the commands: 
 
        net stop spooler
        net start spooler
5.The printer should now be listed and available to all users that log onto the workstation.

Also see: Automating printer management in a school, university or education environment for more examples.

Categories: Administration, Printers

Page last modified on April 27, 2007, at 10:24 AM