Install printer without admin rights with PushPrinterConnections.exe ?

[Pascal]

Hi,

I have read that it is possible to deploy printers from a user policy
thanks to PushPrinterConnections.exe.

Do you know if this means that users must be members of Power Users or
Administrative groups ?

Computers in the network are Windows 2000/XP

I am searching for a solution that let users installing printers while
they are traveling to a regional AD site.

Here
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/technologies/fileandprint.mspx),
I have read that :
"A user that is traveling to a remote office in their organization can
find a local printer that meets his or her needs by using Active
Directory and be printing within seconds, without ever having to
contact the helpdesk or administrator."

But actually users without admin rights can't install printers :/

Thank you for your advices.

Regards

[Florian Frommherz]

Howdie!

Post by Pascal
Here
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/technologies/fileandprint.mspx),
"A user that is traveling to a remote office in their organization can
find a local printer that meets his or her needs by using Active
Directory and be printing within seconds, without ever having to contact
the helpdesk or administrator."
But actually users without admin rights can't install printers :/

There is no need to _install_ the printer - you can roll out the
"printer connection" using Group Policy and have your users connect to
the remote printers in order to have them print with it. The users
therefore don't need to run with admin rights.

cheers,

Florian

[Pascal]

Post by Florian Frommherz
Howdie!

Post by Pascal
Here
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/technologies/fileandprint.mspx),
"A user that is traveling to a remote office in their organization can find
a local printer that meets his or her needs by using Active Directory and
be printing within seconds, without ever having to contact the helpdesk or
administrator."
But actually users without admin rights can't install printers :/

There is no need to _install_ the printer - you can roll out the "printer
connection" using Group Policy and have your users connect to the remote
printers in order to have them print with it. The users therefore don't need
to run with admin rights.
cheers,
Florian

Thank you for your answer.
Due to translation, I am not sure to understand.

Habitually a user needs to install or load a driver locally to print,
even if it is a network printer, no ?

If you have mode details on the solution, please let me know.

Thank you

[Florian Frommherz]

Howdie Pascal!

Post by Pascal
Thank you for your answer.
Due to translation, I am not sure to understand.

Oh well - that is no problem. Just tell me what you didn't understand.
I'll try to explain it another way...

Post by Pascal
Habitually a user needs to install or load a driver locally to print,
even if it is a network printer, no ?

That is true for local printers. But when messing around with network
printers, it's a little different. By default, all users on a machine
can add a network printer (on workstations! - and therefore install the
printer driver over the network when connecting).

The only article I found on this was:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/581.mspx?mfr=true
it is about a Group Policy setting that can be set, but describes
exactly what you wanted to know.

You therefore simply need to deploy the printer connection via
PushPrinterConnections.exe and the PMC and the user should be able work
with the printer right away.

cheers,

Florian

[Pascal]

is true for local printers. But when messing around with network printers,
it's a little different. By default, all users on a machine can add a network
printer (on workstations

Thank you for your answer but in Windows XP, I remember that I couldn't
install a network printer so it's for this reason i am quite surprised
! :D

[Mark Heitbrink [MVP]]

Hi,

Post by Pascal
Thank you for your answer but in Windows XP, I remember that I couldn't
install a network printer so it's for this reason i am quite surprised

You can´t install a network printer if you configure it locally with the
IP adress as a port. If this "IP Printer" is shared on a different system
you can connect to it (\\server\printer), because you do not need access to
the system configuration to create the IP port, whoch is only allowed to
admins.

Mark

[Pascal]

Post by Mark Heitbrink [MVP]
Hi,

Post by Pascal
Thank you for your answer but in Windows XP, I remember that I couldn't
install a network printer so it's for this reason i am quite surprised

You can´t install a network printer if you configure it locally with the
IP adress as a port. If this "IP Printer" is shared on a different system
you can connect to it (\\server\printer), because you do not need access to
the system configuration to create the IP port, whoch is only allowed to
admins.
Mark

Thanks Mark.

Your answer is valid for Windows XP and 2000 ?
I remember that in my last job I was not able to install a network
printer on XP box through the \\server\printers

[Mark Heitbrink [MVP]]

Hi,

Post by Pascal
Your answer is valid for Windows XP and 2000 ?

Absolutly.

Post by Pascal
I remember that in my last job I was not able to install a network
printer on XP box through the \\server\printers

... if it is not restricted by policy ... it should always work.

Mark

[Pascal]

Post by Mark Heitbrink [MVP]
Hi,

Post by Pascal
Your answer is valid for Windows XP and 2000 ?

Absolutly.

Post by Pascal
I remember that in my last job I was not able to install a network
printer on XP box through the \\server\printers

... if it is not restricted by policy ... it should always work.
Mark

Thanks again Mark ;-)

Which policy should restrict the network printers installation ?

[Mark Heitbrink [MVP]]

Hi,

Post by Pascal
Which policy should restrict the network printers installation ?

take a look at:
Userconfiguration\AdmTemplates\Control Panel\Printer

Mark

[ASCSSmith]

Mark, what about for local installs for remote users that use USB
printers???
Any idea how to get this to work?

we've been trying to accomplish this for awhile...

AL

Post by Mark Heitbrink [MVP]
Hi,

Post by Pascal
Which policy should restrict the network printers installation ?

Userconfiguration\AdmTemplates\Control Panel\Printer
Mark
--
Mark Heitbrink - MVP Windows Server - Group Policy
Homepage: www.gruppenrichtlinien.de - deutsch
Blog: gpupdate.spaces.live.com - english

[Mark Heitbrink [MVP]]

Hi,

Post by ASCSSmith
Mark, what about for local installs for remote users that use USB
printers???
Any idea how to get this to work?

Give them local admin rights ... the problem is most USB drivers want
to "talk" to the printer at installation time or install a new
"something_dot" port. This needs to be accomplished from an Admin, because
of direct hardware access or install of the new port.

If there is not a different drivers that allows a different behavior
you can´t do this in a user context and the "Load and unload driver"
permission in the security settings is not enough.

Mark