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  • #2310124

    Install network printer for all XP users

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    by pshriner ·

    We have school labs with Windows XP Professional PCs that are used by many students throughout the year. Each PC accumulates dozens of user accounts as different students log in.

    Occasionally, we need to add a new network printer to all XP PCs ina particular lab. We currently do this on each PC in the lab via the following procedure:

    1. Log in as Administrator.
    2. Select all of the student user accounts (in Windows Explorer) and delete them.
    3. Log in as a test user.
    4. Add the network printer to the test user account.
    5. Copy the test user account over as the Default User account.
    6. Students log in, and their newly-created user account acquires the new network printer (from the Default User account).

    We need to speed this up. The slowest part is Step #2: deleting all the student user accounts on each XP PC. This can take 20-30 minutes for each PC, and may take a few hours to do all of the PCs in one lab (even if we have all PCs running at the same time).

    My questions:

    – Do we have to delete all existing student user accounts on each PC?

    – If existing user accounts do *not* have to be deleted, how do you make the new network printer available to all users? Can we log in as Administrator, add the new network printer, and somehow apply it to all existing user accounts?

    – If existing user accounts *must* be deleted, is there a faster way to delete them? Can they be deleted simultaneously (as a group), instead of waiting for Explorer to delete each user account sequentially? Would it be faster to delete user accounts from a command line (using CMD.EXE), or by using a script?

    Thanks,

    Peter Shriner
    pshriner@lpsd.k12.co.us

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    • #3462664

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by sgt_shultz ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      this works great in windows 2000, might work in XP, embarrassed to say i can’t tell you for sure…
      anyhow, any printer installed as a local printer (not network) gets automatically installed for all users. so, when installing the new printer, just’cheat’ and tell windows it is a local printer. (naturally, don’t bother with the test page). after completing the install, go into the printer properties and change the port to the network printer port. poof. all users have access to the printer. hope this helps…

      • #3468901

        Install network printer for all XP users

        by pshriner ·

        In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

        Sgt

        Installing the network printer locally and creating a new standard TCP/IP port for it (using the printer’s fixed IP address) worked great. All users can see and use the printer normally. This could also takes a load off our print server, since the users are communicating directly with the printer.

        Thanks!

    • #3462386

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by pshriner ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      Sgt,

      I found another reference to your suggestion in a Windows Annoyances forum. Note the problem described by “Manoj”, and the answer posted by “dneeley”:

      Annoyances.Org
      Network Printer Problem
      Thread #1022569264
      http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win2000/t1022569264

      There is also a command line method (using “rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry”) for installing printers. Note the posts by “Brian Sanderson” in the following newsgroup search:

      Google Groups
      http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&q=%22bruce+sanderson%22+%22rundll32+printui%2Edll%2CPrintUIEntry%22

      Sounds promising…

    • #3464807

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by magetower ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      Seems your life would be easier if you were able to use roaming profiles with mandatory settings. This way you could modify the mandatory profile and have it reflect across all student accounts. Of course this is entirely dependent on the network operating system in use.

    • #3464489

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by mike jones ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      You need to select local printer instead of network printer and then point this to the network queue via the port.

      The only downside to this is you have to install the printer driver and configure it on each PC.

    • #3452933

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by bsj_molena ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      Peter,

      I have the exact same situation you have. I work at a high school in Georgia as the Technology Specialist. Do you have a server that all the network useres log in as? We do, and what we have done is made a single login for every student. The username is “student” and we tell all the students the password. If the teachers wants to save to the network, we create a folder for them, and give the students read/write permission. This is just a suggestion. It makes life a lot eaiser for me. All I have to do is log on as Administrator, either local or domain, and install the printer. Then every user that logs in on that computer has access to the printer. If you have any questions please contact me.

    • #3468900

      Install network printer for all XP users

      by pshriner ·

      In reply to Install network printer for all XP users

      This question was closed by the author

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