70-290 70-270, MCSE/MCSA Guide to Installing and Managing Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003
Chapter Ten
Implementing and Managing Network Printing
Objectives
Understand Windows printing terms and concepts Install and share printer resources Configure and manage installed printers
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Objectives (continued)
Publish printers in Active Directory Troubleshoot printer problems Configure fax support
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Windows Printing Concepts
Figure 10-1: Windows printing components
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Windows Printing Concepts (continued)
Print device: Hardware device that produces printed documents
Local print device: Connected directly to print server or workstation Network print device: Connects to print server via network
Printer: Controls connection to print device Print driver: Files containing info needed to convert print commands to printer's language
Specific driver needed for each combination of print device and OS
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Windows Printing Concepts (continued)
Print server: Computer where printers and print drivers located
Usually where shared printing system set up and configured Windows XP and Server 2003 can be print servers Server 2003 offers centralized printer management and support for more user connections
Print client: Computer where print job originates
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Windows Printing Concepts (continued)
Local Printers: Controlled and managed by a client computer
Directly Attached Print Devices:
Easily accessible to users Available when network down Cost and space requirements must be considered
Network-attached Print Devices:
Print device communicates with computer system via network cable Saves desk space and reduces printer costs Users don't know status of print device
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Windows Printing Concepts (continued)
Shared Printers: Best way to centrally manage printing on network system
Install local printers on Windows Server 2003 computers and then share them Can publish in Active Directory Can restrict access to certain printers or set printer priorities
Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Printers: TCP/IP standard that describes how print devices can use Internet to receive print jobs
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Understanding Network Printing
Hardware requirements to set up efficient network printing environment:
One or more computers to act as print servers Enough space on hard drive for print server Sufficient RAM beyond minimum Windows Server 2003 requirements
Print client and print server run specific processes to deliver print job to network printer:
Print client software generates print file Graphics device interface (GDI) performs rendering
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Understanding Network Printing (continued)
Delivering print job to network printer (continued):
Print file formatted with control codes
Spooler: Dynamic link libraries (DLLs), information files, and programs that process print jobs
Remote print provider at client makes remote procedure call to network print server Router directs print file to print provider Print provider works with print processor to ensure file formatted to use right data type while file spooled Print monitor pulls file from spooler's disk storage and sends it to printer
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources
Printers connected and installed first, then shared Adding a Printer as a Local Device:
Must have administrator privileges Use Add Printer Wizard
Activity 10-1: Installing a Local Printer
Objective: Use the Add Printer Wizard to install a local printer
Activity 10-2: Sharing a Local Printer for Network Access
Objective: Share an installed printer to allow network access
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources (continued)
Figure 10-3: Manually configuring a printer
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources (continued)
Figure 10-4: Configuring printer port settings
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources (continued)
Figure 10-5: Sharing an existing printer
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources (continued)
Adding a Printer as a Network Device:
Many corporate print devices use TCP/IP or other protocols to communicate over network Use Add Printer Wizard to add printers as network devices
Create TCP/IP port to facilitate communication
Activity 10-3: Installing a Network Printer
Objective: Install a network printer by using the Add Printer Wizard and by browsing the network
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Installing and Sharing Printer Resources (continued)
Figure 10-7: The Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard
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Configuring and Managing Printer Resources
Basic settings in Add Printer Wizard can create suitable configuration for allowing users to access shared printer resources Properties dialog box of installed printer provides access to many other configuration settings
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Configuring an Existing Printer
To modify sharing, permissions, and other advanced options, right-click printer icon and click Properties Activity 10-4: Exploring Printer Properties
Objective: Explore the configurable properties for an installed printer
Activity 10-5: Configuring Printer Permissions
Objective: Configure printer security permissions
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Configuring an Existing Printer (continued)
Table 10-1: Printer permissions
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Configuring an Existing Printer (continued)
Figure 10-10: The Security tab for a printer
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Configuring an Existing Printer (continued)
Figure 10-11: The Effective Permissions tab
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Configuring Printer Pools and Priorities
Printer pool: Consists of single printer connected to a number of print devices
Allows many physical print devices to function as single logical printer Better document distribution Reduces waiting time for documents to print
May need to set printer priorities for different groups of users
Install two printers on print server and connect both to same print device Set priority for each (1 to 99)
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Configuring Printer Pools and Priorities (continued)
Figure 10-12: Enabling printer pooling
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Configuring Printer Pools and Priorities (continued)
Figure 10-13: Printer priority settings
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Configuring Printer Pools and Priorities (continued)
Allow only certain users to print to specific printer
Use Security tab
Activity 10-6: Configuring Printer Pooling:
Objective: Configure two printers to use the printer pooling feature in Windows Server 2003
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Setting Up and Updating Client Computers
If mix of OSs throughout network, different version of print driver needed for each
Windows 2000, Server 2003, or XP clients automatically download print driver Can install additional print drivers for older OSs
Activity 10-7: Installing Additional Print Drivers
Objective: Install additional print drivers for the Windows 98 operating system
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Setting Up and Updating Client Computers (continued)
Figure 10-14: The Additional Drivers dialog box
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Managing Queues
Print Print jobs queued after sent to printer
Users with Print permission can pause, resume, restart, or cancel printing of own documents
Figure 10-15: Viewing the contents of a print queue
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Working with IPP Printing
Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) specification: Allows printers to be managed via a Web browser and print jobs to be submitted to a URL
Support built into Server 2003, but requires IIS Connect to/manage printers on Windows Server 2003 system using Web browser
Benefits:
Simplifies administration of printers Can print to other locations over the Internet
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Working with IPP Printing (continued)
Figure 10-17: Viewing a print queue using Web-based printer management
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Working with IPP Printing (continued)
Figure 10-18: Specifying a URL in the Add Printer Wizard
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Working with Printer Command-line Utilities
Windows Server 2003 offers built-in VBScript files for managing printers and related properties:
Prncnfg.vbs Prndrvr.vbs Prnjobs.vbs Prnmngr.vbs Prnport.vbs Prnqctl.vbs
Windows Script Host (WSH): Controller for ActiveX scripting engines
Used to run .vbs files
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Working with Printer Command-line Utilities (continued)
Figure 10-19: Listing the configuration of a local printer with the Prncnfg.vbs command
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Print Spooling
Print jobs spooled on print server's hard disk by default
On Windows Server 2003, spooling in Windows\System32\Spool\Printers by default
Not optimal for high-volume requirements
Microsoft recommends moving print spool folder to different partition
Preferably on disk with own controller
Activity 10-8: Changing the Location of the Spool Folder
Objective: Move the print spool folder to improve printing performance
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Publishing Printers in Active Directory
Windows Server 2003 printer installed on domain print server automatically published in Active Directory when shared
By default, published printer objects placed in Domain Controllers OU PreWindows 2000 print shares can be manually added to Active Directory
Activity 10-9: Publishing Printers in Active Directory
Objective: Configure printer publishing settings and publish printers manually in Active Directory
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Publishing Printers in Active Directory (continued)
Figure 10-21: Viewing published printers in Active Directory Users and Computers
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Troubleshooting Printing Problems
Problems can, and probably will, occur Print jobs managed through print queue
First place to look when printer problems occur Can pause, restart, or delete print jobs Can change notifications, change priorities, and restrict print times
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Jobs Do Not Print
Jobs may not print for a variety of reasons:
Print device offline Print device out of paper Cable problem Not enough hard disk space available to spool job
Moving spool file to different drive improves performance and helps eliminate possibility of system crashing When print service is not working, documents in print queue won't print can't be deleted
Restart print spooler service
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Jobs Do Not Print (continued)
If printer works only at certain times of day, check printer schedule Print device might not print due to paper jam, hardware failure, or stuck print job
Redirect documents to new print device
Make sure printer has not been set to "off-line"
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Users Cannot Find or Connect to Printers (continued)
Most common problems:
Access Denied message when attempting to print
Usually indicates incorrectly configured permissions
User can't find printer in Active Directory
Verify that printer still published
Windows 95/98/Me users can't connect to printer
Could be result of not installing print drivers for these OSs Drivers for Windows 95/98/Me not installed by default Make required drivers available in Sharing tab of printer's Properties dialog box
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Garbled Print Output
Usual source of problem is incorrect driver
Download correct drivers from manufacturer's Web site, and reinstall on print server
Activity 10-10: Configuring the Print Spooler Service
Objective: View and configure properties of the Print Spooler service
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Garbled Print Output (continued)
Figure 10-24: The Print Spooler Properties dialog box
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Configuring Fax Support
Windows XP Professional and Server 2003 support native fax features and operations
Not enabled by default Enable via Printers and Faxes applet
Setting up faxing support:
Windows XP Professional: Click Set up faxing in Printer Tasks list Windows Server 2003: Click File, Set Up Faxing from menu Must have fax-capable device installed By default, only sending faxes enabled
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Configuring Fax Support (continued)
Tabs in Properties dialog box for Fax icon:
General Sharing Fax Security Devices Tracking Archives
Send Fax Wizard walks you through sending a fax Activity 10-11: Setting up Fax Printing
Objective: Configure a Windows XP computer to answer incoming fax calls
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Configuring Fax Support (continued)
Figure 10-25: The Tracking tab
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Configuring Fax Support (continued)
Figure 10-26: The Sender Information window
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Configuring Fax Support (continued)
Troubleshooting fax problems:
Check physical connections of phone line from wall to computer's fax device Use Device Manager to verify driver installed correctly Check to make sure you have enabled send and/or receive capabilities for modem Check Receive options to make sure handling inbound faxes as intended
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Summary
Windows printing has its own unique terminology Printers are configurable objects that represent an interface to a print device For a printer to be made available to network users, it must be shared in a manner similar to a shared folder Printer permissions can be used to control user access to printers and the manner in which users can interact with a printer Windows printer systems can be configured with different priorities
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Summary (continued)
Printer pooling can be used to increase a printer's speed and availability Additional drivers can be installed in a printer's Properties dialog box so that clients running different OSs can access a printer IPP allows printers to be managed via a Web browser and allows users to print by using HTTP For best performance, the print spool folder should be located on its own dedicated partition
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Summary (continued)
Printer publishing allows users to query Active Directory for a list of available printers based on different criteria, such as a printer's capability to print in color Common printer problems on Windows systems include the print device being offline, misconfigured printer permissions, the Print Spooler service hanging, or incorrect drivers being installed Faxing has been thoroughly integrated with the Windows printing system and requires only a few easy configuration steps to enable faxing from any print-capable application
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