F.A.Q.

Q. Why do I need this utility?

A. If you are a Network Administrator, you may already be aware that once you install a network printer \\servername\printershare, the printer is only available for the user who installed it. If another person comes in and uses that same computer, this new person will need to install the network printer again for it to show under their "Printers/Faxes". So, imagine if you had 10 or 100 users compound that with 10 or 100 computers, and you would realize it would be a waste of time to install the printer for each user. With this script, you run it once and then you forget it as all users will have the same printer. It's perfect for a lab or school environment.

Q. What happens if a user deletes the printer that is added by this utility?

A. Well, a user can not delete the printer because the computer will not allow him/her to do so, even if the user is a local admininstrator of the computer (unless the local admin knows the secret command to do so). There are two methods to remove the printer and the easiest is to run the Remove Printer script that you may download in addition to the Printer Install utility.

Q. How is this better than other methods?

A. The problem with other methods is that the printer is install on a user basis rather than in the context of the computer so if the user moves to a new location, then their printer mapping is pointed somewhere miles away rather than the one in the room.  You may try to workaround that problem by adding multiple printers but then when the end-users try to print something, they must select from a list of printers and may not know what to choose, especially if the printer queue naming convention isn't clear.  Our software avoids all this confusion.  Also, others try to use the net use lpt trick but that creates a printer queue on each computer which defeats the whole purpose of centrally managing a printer queue on the server and does not allow you to use Active Directory permissioning and just creates a mess of scattered printer queues everywhere.

Q. Does this program get installed or does it modify any system files?

A. This program will not change any system files and it is a run-time application which doesn't install anything on the computer. You may put the script on the server, usb flash drive or anywhere accessible and just double-click it to run it. If you no longer need it, you may delete it and there's no trace of it left behind.

Q. How can I get a demo of this?

A. Register and create an account to download the demo.

Q. Is there a way to install the printer without manually typing in the server name and printer share?

A. Yes, it would involve me re-compiling the source code for you so that the two variables are placed into the source code and you will get a pair of executable (the printer install and remove) and when these are executed, it will install the printer automatically without any prompts and new users and existing users will get the printer set as their default printer. Since this involves time, I am happy to provide this service for $5 per printer. Watch the following video to see how easy it is: