HOW TO: Use Network Printing in Windows 2000 When You Do Not Have the Correct Printer Driver (321838)

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article explains how you can use a Windows 2000 print server if your printer driver does not support Point and Print.

Point and Print permits users to initiate connections to a network printer without disks or other installation media. Point and Print automatically downloads and installs all of the necessary files and configuration information from the print server.

Many vendors provide printer drivers that support Point and Print, but some vendors do not. You may also use a printer driver that is outdated and does not support Point and Print. In either case, you can still take advantage of the features that a Windows 2000 print server offers your network by using the procedures that are presented in this article.

If network users print with a Windows 2000 print server, instead of printing to a local printer, they benefit from the following advantages:

• The print server manages the print queue settings, such as printer pooling, security settings, and the times that printing is permitted.
• Several users can print at the same time, and they do not receive "device busy" errors.
• A single print queue is displayed on every computer that is connected to the printer. This permits the users to see where their print jobs are in the print queue.
• Error messages are displayed on each computer, so that all users can see the status of the printer.
• Administrators can log and audit printer events in one location.

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Select or Create a Network Print Share

You must either select an existing network print share or create one. If you want to use an existing print share, determine the path of the print server and print share that you want to use. The path is similar to \\PrintServer\PrintShare, where PrintServer is the name of your print server and PrintShare is the name of your print share.

If you want to create a new print share, you must first create a print queue, and then share the print queue so that it is available to other users on the network. For additional information about how to add and then share a print queue, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: back to the top

Install the Printer Driver

Install the printer driver onto each workstation. Follow the suggested installation procedure for the printer driver, which typically requires that you run a Setup.exe file or an Install.Exe file.

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Add a Printer to Your Network

To add a printer to your network:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. Double-click Add Printer.
3. Click Next.
4. Click to clear the Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer check box, and then click Next.
5. In the Use the following port list, click LPT2.
   
   If LPT2 is already attached to a printer, click a different LPT port, and then click Next.
6. Click the printer and driver that you want to add, and then click Next.
   
   If you cannot find your printer in the list, click Have Disk, locate your printer driver, and then click OK.
7. If you are prompted to keep or replace your existing driver, replace the existing driver (unless there is a more recent driver already installed on the computer), and then click Next.
8. Name the printer, and then click Next.
9. Click Do not share this printer, and then click Next.
10. On the Print Test Page page, click No, and then click Next.
11. Verify that the printer configuration is accurate, and then click Finish.

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Map the LPT Port to the Network Print Share

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type the following
   
   net use LPT2: \\PrintServer\PrintShare /persistent:yes
   
   where LPT2 is the port that you configured in the "Add a Printer to a Network" section, PrintServer is the name of your print server, and PrintShare is the name of your print share.
   
   NOTE: Use the same print server and print share that you selected or created in the "Select or Create a Network Print Share" section. Also, it is important that you use the /persistent:yes switch on the net use command. If a user logs off the network, Windows restores the mapping of the LPT port to the network print share when the user logs on to the network.
3. Press ENTER to map the LPT port.

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Verify the Mapping and Print a Test Page

To verify that the LPT port is correctly mapped to the network print share:

1. Restart the computer that you mapped to the network print share, and then log on to the network.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
3. At the command prompt, type net use, and then press ENTER.
   
   NOTE: If the LPT port that you mapped to the network print share does not appear, repeat the steps in the "Map the LPT Port to the Network Print Share" section.

To print a test page by using the network print share:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. Right-click the printer that you added in the "Add a Printer to Your Network" section, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab, click Print Test Page.

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Notes

• In this article, LPT2 is used as an example of an LPT printer port that you can map to the network print share. Any LPT printer port from LPT2 through LPT9 can be mapped to a network print share. LPT1 is typically reserved for a locally attached printer. It is better to map a network print share to a printer port other than LPT1 so that a locally attached printer can be added in the future.
• Many vendors update their printer drivers to support Point and Print. Visit your vendor's Web site for more information about printer drivers and Point and Print.

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