Print server properties control the global settings for all printers on a server. You can access print server properties from the Printers And Faxes folder. In the Printers And Faxes window, select Server Properties from the File menu. Or right-click an open area of the Printers And Faxes window, and select Server Properties. If you want to configure a print server remotely, start Windows Explorer, expand My Network Places, and navigate to the Printers And Faxes folder of the remote print server.
Using the Print Server Properties dialog box, you can configure settings for all printers, including the following:
Forms
Ports
Drivers
Advanced settings
Forms are used by print servers to define the standard sizes for paper, envelopes, and transparencies. Print servers have many predefined forms from which you can choose, but you can also define your own forms.
To view the current settings for a printer form, right-click an open area of the Printers And Faxes window, and select Server Properties. Then click the Forms tab, as shown in Figure 29-27. Use the Forms On list to select the form you want to view. The form settings are shown in the Form Description (Measurements) area. You can't change or delete the default system forms.
To create a new form, follow these steps:
Access the Forms tab of the Print Server Properties dialog box. Use the Forms On list box to select the existing form on which you want to base the new form.
Select the Create A New Form option, and then enter a new name for the Form in the Form Description For field.
Use the fields in the Form Description (Measurements) area to set the paper size and margins. When you are finished, click the Save Form button to save the form.
Ports are used to define the interfaces and TCP/IP addresses to which the print server can connect. Using the Print Server Properties dialog box, you can view and manage all the ports configured for use on the printer server. This gives you one location for viewing, adding, deleting, and configuring ports.
To work with ports, right-click in an open area of the Printers And Faxes window, and select Server Properties. Then click the Ports tab, as shown in Figure 29-28. If you want to view or change a port's settings, select it in the Ports On This Server list and then click Configure Port. For details on configuring TCP/IP ports, see the section entitled "Changing Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor Settings" earlier in this chapter.
As discussed in the section entitled "Installing and Updating Print Drivers on Clients" later in this chapter, printer clients download print drivers the first time they access a printer and anytime the print drivers have been updated. Once you've configured each printer so that clients can download drivers, you can manage the installed printer drivers through the Print Server Properties dialog box. As with ports, the key here is convenience. Not only can you view all the print drivers that are available but you can add, remove, and reinstall drivers as well.
To work with drivers, right-click in an open area of the Printers And Faxes window and select Server Properties. Then click the Drivers tab. As shown in Figure 29-29, drivers are listed by
Name Typically, this is the manufacturer and model number of the printer.
Processor The chip architecture for the listed driver.
Version The operating systems with which a particular driver is compatible.
You can now do the following:
View driver properties and file associations If you select a driver and click Properties, you'll see detailed information on the driver, which includes all the files associated with the driver. This includes all related help, configuration, data, driver settings, and dependent files.
Add or update an existing print driver If you want to add or update an existing print driver, click Add to start the Add Printer Driver Wizard, and then follow these steps:
In the Add Printer Driver Wizard, click Next. On the Printer Driver Selection page, choose the manufacturer and model of the printer for which you are adding support. If the print device manufacturer and model you're using aren't displayed in the list or you have a newer driver from the manufacturer, click Have Disk to install a new driver. In either case, make sure the driver you use is digitally signed. This is indicated after you select a manufacturer and model and means that the driver is certified for use by Microsoft.
On the Processor And Operating System Selection page, choose all the Windows clients that will be connecting to this printer from the network. To install additional print drivers for clients, you need access to the installation files for the appropriate driver version either on the network or on CD.
When you click Next, Windows will install any available drivers and then prompt you to provide additional drivers as necessary. Click Finish when you are done.
Remove print drivers If you want to remove a driver, select it, and then click Remove. When prompted to confirm the action, click Yes.
Reinstall print drivers If you select a print driver and click Reinstall, Windows will reinstall the print driver. This is useful if you suspect a print driver or some of its files might have been corrupted.
Using the Advanced tab of the Print Server Properties dialog box, you can configure properties related to spooling. Not only can you change the location of the spool folder but you can also control event logging and notification actions related to the Print Spooler service.
To configure the print spool, logging, and notification settings, right-click in an open area of the Printers And Faxes window, and select Server Properties. Then click the Advanced tab. As shown in Figure 29-30, you can configure the following options:
Spool Folder Shows the current location of the print spool folder. To change the spool folder location, type a new folder path, click Apply, and then when prompted, click Yes.
Tip
Spooling changes immediately
The changes to the spool folder will occur immediately. This means the Print Spooler folder will look to this folder for documents to print and any previously spooled documents in the old spool folder will not print. Because of this, you should allow all current documents to print before changing the spool folder location.
Caution
The security on the selected folder will not be changed and this could affect spooling of files to the selected folder. For best results, you should set security permissions on the new folder so they are the same as the original spool folder. See the Troubleshooting sidebar "Check Permissions on the Spool Folder" earlier in this chapter.
Log Spooler Error Events Writes error events related to the Print Spool service to the event logs.
Log Spooler Warning Events Writes warning events related to the Print Spool service to the event logs.
Log Spooler Information Events Writes information events related to the Print Spool service to the event logs.
Beep On Errors Of Remote Documents Windows 2000 and Windows XP clients display a warning balloon in the notification area when a document has failed to print. This warning is displayed for 10 seconds or until clicked. Don't use this if you have earlier client versions, because they will actually get alerts.
Show Informational Notification For Local Printers Displays the status of all jobs sent to this print server on the computer of the user that submitted the print job.
Show Informational Notification For Network Printers Displays the status of print jobs sent by users on this computer to print services on other print servers.
Notify When Remote Documents Are Printed Notifies Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT users when a remote document is printed. This is minimally useful because the prompt can become annoying.
Notify Computer, Not User, When Remote Documents Are Printed For Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT clients, sends notification to the computer from which a document was printed rather than the particular user. Again, this is minimally useful because the prompt can become annoying.
