2. That depends on what the objective is. If the objective is to have
drivers for different platforms (e.g. x64, x86, Itanium) then definitely the
Alternate Drivers (from the Properties, Sharing tab) is the way to do that.
However, if the objective is to provide drivers with different NAMES (e.g.
PCL5e vs PCL6 vs PS), the Alternate Drivers feature won't do it. All the
drivers installed using Alternate Drivers will have exactly the same Driver
Name - this is a fundamental concept in the Point and Print architecture -
the client driver must have exactly the same Driver Name as that on the
print server for a given "printer" defined on the print server. Also, only
one driver per platform can be "installed" (associated with) each printer
object on the print server.
If, for some reason (e.g. special features, workaround certain types of
problems with drivers, special forms), then adding a second printer on the
print server assigned to the same Port, with the desired driver specified is
the technique to use. An example might be for a printer used to print
cheques, that is also used for "normal" printing (whether or not a driver
with a different name is required). A second printer object can be created
that is normally "paused". The cheques can be "printed" from the
application to the "cheque printing printer". When the time comes to
actually print the cheques, the "normal" printer can be paused, the special
cheque forms put into the printer's tray and the "cheque printing printer"
"resumed:". After the cheques are printed, the procedure can be reversed to
allow "normal" printing.
3. Perhaps I didn't make myself as clear as I could have. Using a locally
installed printer, redirected to a shared printer, is essentially, a
technique of last choice. I would not recommend it as a generic solution
where there are a lot of users that require different drivers (i.e. drivers
with different names) for some peculiar reason. However, in some
situations, it is the only method that will work. If there is a special
case for a particular user, then using a local printer redirected to the
shared printer may be the method to use.
In some cases, it is not possible to add Alternate Drivers for some
platforms for drivers with specific names. For example, the driver name for
the HP Color LaserJet 4500:
on Windows Server 2003 R2 32 bit the driver name is HP Color LaserJet 4500
on Vista 64 bit the driver names available are HP Color LaserJet 4500 PCL
5 and HP Color LaserJet 4500 PCL6
This means that you can not add an Alternate Driver on a Windows Server 2003
R2 32 bit print server that can be used by a Vista 64 bit client (unless you
happen to have the installation CD for Windows Server 2003 R2 64 bit - then
you can work around this problem).
I built the pages at
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/AddDrivertoOldOS.htm
and
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/NetPrinterNoPP.htm precisely because of
problems that I and others encountered with printer drivers from various
manufacturers that don't work together using the standard Point and Print
technology. They were a result of experience with Windows XP clients and
Windows NT 4 print servers, but the same solutions have been found necessary
with other combinations of platforms, or in some cases the same platform,
for certain printers as well. Unfortunately not all printer driver builders
provide installation packages that conform to the Point and Print
architecture, although the situation is definitly better today than it was
when Windows XP was new.
The newsgroups:
microsoft.public.windows.vista.print_fax_scan and
microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax
are a better place to discuss printing issues - there's quite a few
knowledgeable people that post there frequently.
--
Bruce Sanderson
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders
It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.
"eager" wrote in message
news:PVoyj.32190$w94.8102@pd7urf2no...
"Bruce Sanderson" wrote in message
...
To expand on what Marcin said:
1. usually, the printer on the print server is configured so that "users"
do not have the "Manage Printers" permission on the printers. This means
that they can not change the Printer Driver that is defined for the
printer.
I agree
2. When different drivers are required for some reason, create two
printers on the print server, one for each driver, share them both and
instruct the user to select the appropriate one based on need.
I disagree. Creating different logical printers for the same printer is
related to the priorities and special features that some of the users
need. You do not need to create different logical printers when different
drivers are required. Use the additional drivers tab for this purpose.
3. an alternative, which might be viable for small environments or a
small number of users with very special requirements, is to add the
printer locally on the workstation and re-direct it to the printer shared
from the print server. See the numbered steps at
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/NetPrinterNoPP.htm.
I disagree on this one too. Local logical printers are recomended in
workgroup environment, but if you use a logical printer on the server you
do not need to. You might need to change the spool folder ....
--
Bruce Sanderson
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders
It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.
"Eric" wrote in message
...
After a printer is installed and published in Active Directory, is
there a way to let an end user change the driver?
If I were to install 2 drivers for the same printer is there a way we
could set it up so the user could choose what driver they wanted to
use?
Thanks
Eric