# Windows NT Server 4.0 Administration Notes
Module 7: Setting up a Network Printer Introduction to Windows NT Printing Windows NT Printing Requires: Print Server running Windows NT Server or WS. The printer is installed on the print server.
In Windows NT, a printer is the software interface between the application and the print device. A Print device is the actual hardware device that produces printed output.
> Local print device = print device attached locally to the print server. Network interface print device = print device plus network card directly attached to the network. Users can print from computers in NT network that are running the following operating systems:
> Windows NT Windows 95 Windows for Workgroups Windows 3.1 MS DOS | LAN Manager 2.x OS/2 Netware Unix Macintosh
There are four levels of printer permissions:
No Access Print (default) Manage Documents Full Control These are the capabilities of the four levels of permissions:
Capabilities | No Access | Print (Default) | Manage Documents | Full Control
Print documents |  |  |  |
Pause, resume, restart and cancel the user's own document |  |  |  |
Connect to a printer |  |  |  |
Control job settings for ALL documents |  |  |  |
Pause, restart and delete (purge) all documents |  |  |  |
Share a printer |  |  |  |
Change printer properties |  |  |  |
Delete Printers |  |  |  |
Change printer permissions |  |  |  |
Setting up a network printer
Verify that print device is on the Windows NT Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). Log on as a user with Administrator privileges. Members of these groups can add or share a printer They have also Full Control print permission and can administer printers.
A member of this group | Can administer a printer
Administrators | On any computer in domain running Windows NT
Print Operators | On any domain controller
Server Operators | On any domain controller
Power Users | On any local computer in the domain on which the group exists
Add a printer -- this installs the printer driver on the print server Share a printer By default the permission assigned is EVERYONE PRINT
Adding and Sharing a New Printer:
> Options which must be defined during setup:
> My computer | The computer designated as the print server
> Available ports | specify the local part attached to the print device
> Manufacturers/Printers | install correct print drivers
> Printer name | name printer
> Default printer | designate default so user doesn't have to. This is automatic if it is the first printer on the print server
> Shared | makes it possible to connect over the network
> Share name | name users see in nethood
> Operating Systems | identify types of clients that will use printer; then appropriate print devices will be installed on print server
> Test page | prints test page
Printer properties 6 tabs, which are: General Ports Scheduling (Permissions, Auditing, Ownership) Sharing Security Device settings Again, by default the group Everyone is assigned the Print permission.
Here's the General Tab
This is the dialog box seen by default when you click the Print Processor button:
Here's the Ports Tab
Here's the Sharing Tab
Here's the Security Tab
This is the dialog box seen by default when you click the Permissions button:
Setting up a Network Client:
There are 3 classes of network clients: Windows 95 and Windows NT based clients. Once you shared a printer you don't need to do anything further. The user only needs to connect to the printer. Other Microsoft based clients a driver needs to be installed locally on the client computer MS-DOS OS/2 (with LAN Manager Client 2.2 c installed) LAN Manager 2.x Windows 3.1 Windows for Workgroups Non Microsoft-based clients You have to you 2 things: Install a service Install the printer driver on the client computer The print server must have a service installed on it:
UNIX | TCP/IP Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Service
NetWare | File and Print Services for Netware (FPNW)
Macintosh | Services for Macintosh
Then a printer driver must be locally installed on the client computer
Accessing a Network Printer
Clients running Windows NT and Windows 95 Each time a Windows NT based client reconnects, if driver is not current, a copy of the new driver is downloaded. This automatically keeps the driver current. Printer driver in Windows 95 based clients is not automatically kept current. It must be manually installed every time the print device is updated on the server. Other Clients To connect to a printer use commands specific to the client
The Client... | The Command to use...
LAN Manager clients running MS-DOS or OS/2 use the Net use command | net use lptx \\server_name\sharename
NetWare clients configured with a Monolithic IPX and NetWare VLM use the NetWare Capture command | capture queuename
UNIX clients running TCP/IP, use the LPR utility | lpr -Sserver-name -Psharename filename
Apple MacIntosh | Chooser
Creating a printer pool:
A printer pool is one printer connected to multiple print devices through multiple ports of the print server. A printer pool decreases the time that documents wait in the print queue. They are also easier to manage because there is one printer, not multiple printers for multiple print devices The user prints a document without having to find out which print device is available because the printer checks for an available port.
NOTE the printer checks the ports ini the order that they are added, so add the port for the quickest print device first When using printers in a pool, they ALL MUST be using the same print driver
Scheduling tab includes three areas
Set available printing times. -- Large documents print after hours Set priorities between printers.-- Critical documents print first Change how the printer processes documents -- Larger documents start printing before print process is completely finished
Setting priorities between printers:
Lowest Priority - 1....................................Highest Priority - 99 This makes it possible for you to set priorities between groups of documents. This requires that you do the following: Connect two or more printers to the same print device. These printers must: Be on the same printer. Use the same port to connect to the print device (port can be either a physical port on the print server or the UNC name of a network printer) Set a different priority for each printer connected to the print device. Then, for example, executives can print to the higher priority printer.
Options | Description
Spool print documents so program finishes printing faster | Either this option OR the Print directly to the printer option is selected. If you choose this option, the documents will spool. This option has two choices
Start printing after last page is spooled | document won't print until completely spooled - the application that is printing is unavailable during the spooling
Start printing immediately | document starts to print before it spools completely, which means it prints sooner the application that is printing is available sooner
Print directly to the printer | document doesn't spool - decreases printing time select this option only for a NON shared printer
Hold mismatched documents | documents that don't match the configuration of the printer will not print
Print spooled documents first | a spooled document prints before a partially spooled document
Keep documents after they have printed | documents remain in the print spooler after printing and can be quickly resubmitted for printing
NOTE: in Windows NT printing, there is a SPOOLER on the print server. The spooler processes and schedules documents. Spooling is the process of storing documents on the hard disk, and then sending them to the printer.
Device Settings tab:
If a print device has multiple trays that hold different types of forms, you can assign a form to a paper tray. "Form" refers to the paper size and type the default form setting for a paper tray is NOT AVAILABLE
Setting a separator page has two functions:
To access dialog box, click Separator Page on the General Tab To identify and separate printed documents. To switch print devices between the different print modes, as shown in the following table. Print modes process documents into a format that the print device understands. Windows NT includes three separator page files (LOCATED IN: Winnt\System32): Sysprint.sep: prints a page before each document. Compatible with PostScript printing devices. Pcl.sep: Switches the printing mode to PCL for HP-series printing devices and prints a page before each document. Pscript.sep: Switches the printing mode to PostScript for HP-series printing devices, but doesn't print a page before each document.
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Comments and suggestions? E-mail me at grantwil@sk.sympatico.ca
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 | Grant Wilson, Tisdale, SK. Canada