Tip 4: Use Configuration-Specific Printers
Administrators are often frustrated trying to educate users about setting printer configuration options (accessed by clicking Properties after you select a printer in the Print dialog box) for specific print jobs. The most common problem is that users forget to change trays and print on the wrong paper. Sometimes they don't know what's in each tray and print a memo on checks.
The solution is to create a virtual printer for each printing configuration users need. Then, users can just choose the right printer (e.g., a printer named Letterhead or Checks) for their task.
Use the Add Printer Wizard in the Printers folder to create as many copies of the printer as you need. (These are local printers, of course, because you're working on a print server.) When prompted about using the current driver, select the option to keep the current driver. The wizard's Name The Printer window displays the same name as the first printer, with the notation (Copy 2), (Copy3), and so on. You can rename the printer to reflect its configuration now or later. The wizard also asks for a share name and offers a comment field. You have the same options: Enter the information now or do it later.
After all the printers exist in the Printers folder, you can configure each printer for its specific use. Turn off all options not related to that use. For example, one of my printers has letterhead in Tray 1 and checks in Tray 2. As Figure 2 shows, for the virtual printer named Letterhead, Tray 1 is configured for letter-sized paper, and I can mark the other tray as unavailable. The virtual printer named Checks has checks in Tray 2, and Tray 1 is unavailable.
Tip 5: Transfer Print Jobs from a Problem Printer
Sometimes a printer has a problem, such as a paper jam you can't fix immediately. If the printer's queue contains print jobs, most administrators just kill the jobs and notify users to resubmit the print jobs later. However, if you have another shared printer on the network and it uses the same printer driver, you can follow these steps to transfer print jobs:
- In the Printers folder, right-click the icon for the malfunctioning printer and select Properties.
- Go to the Ports tab.
- Click Add Port, select Local Port, then click New Port. Type the UNC of the alternative printer (i.e., \\Server\Printer_Sharename).
Tip 6: Print with Windows 98 Print Servers
As new desktops arrive, you can turn your Windows 98 computers into print servers. I have many printers, and each Win98 computer manages two printers with the inexpensive addition of a second parallel port. No users log on to these computers anymore, so their resources are dedicated to printing—a nifty solution.
I've had many email messages from administrators who report they received the error message Could not start print job when users accessed printers on Win98 computers. Most of them assumed they got the error because their Windows 2003, XP, or Windows 2000 computers couldn't print to a Win98 print server.
In fact, Win98 print servers work perfectly well unless you try to use the Win98 security feature, which involves creating a password for accessing the printer. The Win98 printer password is unique to the printer, and the logged-on user's Windows password won't work (unless, by an amazing coincidence, it matches the printer's password). Remove the password from the printer by deleting it from the Sharing tab of the printer's Properties dialog box.
Keep on Printing
Administering printers is largely a matter of thinking of anything that could go wrong and then configuring network printing services to prevent errors. Of course, that's easy to say; most of the time, you'll work on printer configuration options after a problem occurs. Using the tips in this article can help prevent some all-too-common printing problems and keep your Windows printer network rolling along.