Windows 2000 Administration in a Nutshell

Name

printer

Synopsis

Add, configure clients for, configure permissions for, configure properties of, find, manage using a web browser, pause, redirect, share, and use a printer offline.

Procedures

Managing printers is much the same as it was in Windows NT, with a few additions and enhancements. Printers can be administered three ways:

• Using the Printers folder, which can be accessed on the local machine by Start → Settings → Printers. New printers can be created in this folder using Add Printer, while existing ones can be administered by right-clicking on the printer icon. If you are not physically located at the print server, don’t despair: as long as you are logged on with Administrator credentials (or as a user with Manage Printers permission for the printers on your network), you can manage shared printers on remote print servers located anywhere on your Windows 2000 network. First find the printer using any of the methods outlined in Section later in this article, and then right-click on its icon to select a task or open its property sheet.

• Using a web browser running on any computer. The functionality is more limited than using the Printers folder and uses a web-based interface instead of dialog boxes.

• Using the command line (very limited administrative capability this way).

While administering printers using the Printers folder is the faster and most familiar method, administration using a web browser has some advantages:

• Printers can be managed from any computer on the network ...