How can a printer be listed in the Active Directory?

When you share a printer you have the option to list it in the Active Directory which will enable users to search for it and find printers nearest to their location.

To share a printer in the Active Directory perform the following:

1. Right click on the printer you wish to list in the Active Directory and select Properties
2. Select the 'Sharing' tab
3. Check the 'List in the Directory' box
   
4. You can also select the General tab and enter details of location for the printer
5. Click Apply then OK

How can I check/replace incompatible Windows 2000 printer drivers?

On the Windows 2000 CD is a folder \Printers\Fixprnsv which contains a utility fixprnsv.exe which can be used to either replace NT 4.0 printer drivers with the Windows 2000 equivalent, or replace NT 4.0 drivers that are known to have problems.

If ran with the /fix switch on an NT 4.0 machine Windows 2000 drivers will be installed allowing Windows 2000 clients to connect and use the print server. If ran on a Windows 2000 server then it will replace all non-NT 4 compatible printer drivers with compatible ones allowing NT 4 client access.

Running with the /diag switch just checks for incompatible drivers but does not replace any.

For full instructions see Knowledge Base article http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q247/1/96.ASP.

How can I delete a print job from the command line?

You can delete a print job using the NET PRINT command but must first know its job id and this can be ascertained by typing

C:\> net print \\<server>\<print share>
<user> <job id> <size> <status>

Once you know the job ID to delete just type

C:\> net print \\<server> <job number> /delete (or /del)

How can I disable Windows 2000 Server's Web Printing feature?

By default, Win2K servers display printers on a Web page at http:///printers . To disable this Web-based display (and thus the Web Printing), perform the following steps:

1. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
   
2. Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers registry subkey.
   
3. From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
   
4. Enter the name DisableWebPrinting, then press Enter.
   
5. Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.
   
6. Exit the registry editor.
   
7. Restart the server for the change to take effect.
   

How can I get the system to add a default printer automatically when a new user logs on for the first time?

On Windows NT, printer connections are part of a user's profile and are stored in the file ntuser.dat. Therefore, you need to include a default printer in the default user profile. Perform the following steps:

1. Create a temporary domain user account named test.
2. Log on at a workstation as test.
3. Add the printer you want to be everyone's default.
4. Log off as test.
5. Copy the contents of folder c:winnt\profiles\test to a new folder on the netlogon share on the server. Call the new folder "default user."
6. Create a new user account, and log on with it at a workstation. Check to ensure that you have the default printer.

Thanks to Paul Foster for this tip.

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