Question

Setting Default Printers

Asked by: gbargsley

Hello all...

I have another duzy for you.

I just finished an imaging project where all my computers in the field now have the same image.  I found out today that we have gotten approval to buy new printers.

My current image is setup to find our current printer, an HP Deskjet 845c.

I knew the printers where coming so I put the drivers on the image, but I did not have time to install the printer so that the system would know where to get the drivers.

So my question is as follows:

1.)  Can I with a script of some sorts delete the HP Deskjet 845c out of Printers and Faxes
2.)  Install the HP 1020 without the user having to do anything
3.)  Set the HP 1020 as the default

I have very non-technical users and what we are going to do is ship them the printer via internal delivery and then have them attempt to unplug the old printer and plug in the new one.  I think we will get 40% success rate with that....

I want it to be as easy for them as possible if they get it plugged in and recognized by the operating system.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks
Garry B

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2005-07-26 at 16:54:46ID21505407
Tags

1020

,

hp

Topic

Operating Systems Miscellaneous

Participating Experts
3
Points
50
Comments
9

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. deskjet on linux
    I've searched far and wide, and have not found any concrete answer on how to get an HP Deskjet 500 printer to print from linux. The most obivous problem being the stairstepping of text. I know I need a filter of some type, but have no idea where to find one. Any helo would...
  2. Conflict between HP printers Deskjet color 1220C and H…
    I'm currently using at home an HP portable deskjet and would like to use at the office an HP deskjet color 1220C. If I installed the driver of HP deskjet 1220C, I'm not anymore able to get any good result when printing at home with HP portable deskjet. The only way I found w...
  3. Fax as a printer
    I have windows 95 , and a fax machine Poly Focus model PF2200, the question is : Can i use this fax machine as printer? If so, how?
  4. HP Deskjet 400
    All, I have a HP Deskjet 400 and it worked great till... One day I went to print and the ink cartridge slid to the center position and the ink cartridge change light was blinking. What I just described is exactly what happens when you push the ink cartridge change button an...
  5. Windows XP Changing Printer Default From Fax To Printer
    Our computer has the "fax" coming up as the default printer. How do I change it to our HP Deskjet printer?

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: nhuismanPosted on 2005-07-26 at 17:12:20ID: 14532843

Hi Garry,

This microsoft article explains how to use scripts to add and remove printers.  When I looked up the help for the command I found that the /y switch will mark the printer as the default printer.  The help command is documented on the website.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314486

Adding a printer.

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /ia /c\\server /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3" /h
"Intel" /v "Windows 2000" /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf

Deleting a printer.

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /dl /n "Test Printer" /c\\SERVER

 

by: nezyPosted on 2005-07-26 at 17:15:56ID: 14532856

What I would do is write a reg file to remove the registry entries for the deskjet 845c that should effectively remove the old one.
Install the new printer on a pc and track its registry entries then add these to the reg file mentioned above to input those entries onto a new PC. The UNC names will not be the same but if you ommit these it should recreate them.
Write a batch file to copy the driver file to the system32 directory, then call the reg file at the end of the batch file. Distribute these files (reg file, driver file(s), and batch file) to users and tell them to run the batch file. Or put them in an exe or msi.

Have no idea if that will work or not though .... ???

 

by: nezyPosted on 2005-07-26 at 17:40:14ID: 14532940

i like his answer better :P

 

by: KlintanPosted on 2005-07-27 at 06:30:20ID: 14536382

Using a logon script

if using a vbs file
-----
Dim WshNetwork
Dim newPrinter
newPrinter = "\\printserver\hp1020"
oldprinter = "\\printserver\hp845c"
Set WshNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network")

' Install new printer
WshNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection newPrinter, "HP 1020"
' Set default printer
WshNetwork.SetDefaultPrinter & newPrinter
' Remove old printer
WshNetwork.RemovePrinterConnection oldPrinter, True, True
-----

 

by: gbargsleyPosted on 2005-07-27 at 06:33:12ID: 14536418

These are locally attached USB printers.

So I am not sure if your idea will work.

 

by: KlintanPosted on 2005-07-27 at 06:35:32ID: 14536451

Then you should go with Garrys solution.
Need more examples, look here http://www.robvanderwoude.com/2kprintcontrol.html

 

by: KlintanPosted on 2005-07-27 at 06:40:18ID: 14536497

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...