Question

How can I delete printers via login script?

Asked by: GTKINC

I'm in need of deleting printer(s) via login script.  I know nothing of VBS and I've always used simple DOS commands to make things happen.  I've tried using net use \\servername\printername /delete but this doesn't work.  

Ideally what I'd like to do is delete all printers at the beginning of the script and install the ones I want.  Thanks in advance.

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
2009-07-14 at 11:00:50ID24569661
Topics

Windows Batch Scripting

,

Windows 2003 Server

,

Printers

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
23

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. VBSccript: Printer Adding
    When adding printers using VBS, how can I check if they first exist already. See in the startup of every computer I have a vbs script which adds printers. Dim net Set net = CreateObject("WScript.Network") net.AddWindowsPrinterConnection "\\ServerName\Printer...
  2. Login script for printers
    Can I add a script to log, perhaps a policy or something, that maps all the users who log in to the printers in the office. Instead of manually going to each computer and mapping the computers, it would be nice to have a policy that does this automatically. Can this be done, ...
  3. Printers Remapping via login script (bat, vbs, or kixtart)
    Hello, We are running Windows 2003 Active Directory envionment. Our printer server will be retired soon. There are a hand full of printers shared on that server. What I'm looking for is a script that would loop through each printer on the client machine, change the UNC pa...
  4. Changing Printer ServerName with VB script
    Hi I'm having trouble trying to change the printer ServerName(Win32_Printer.ServerName) with a VB script, here goes; strComputer = "." Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colPrinters = objWMISe...

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: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 11:10:16ID: 24852396

Do you want to delete all printers or specific printers ?

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 11:14:16ID: 24852435

cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x

That should delete all printers...

 

by: opnjPosted on 2009-07-14 at 11:14:58ID: 24852445

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /gd /c\\machine /n\\machine\printer

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-14 at 11:29:01ID: 24852577

I would like to delete all printers at the beginning of the script and install all printers needed.  I have this in the script for drive mappings but not for printers.  I'm not familiar with the sytax needed.

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 11:35:20ID: 24852634

prnmngr.vbs is built in to windows for this purpose.....
'Delete All Printers
cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x

'install printers...
cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -ac \\servername\printername

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-14 at 11:53:19ID: 24852822

I placed cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x and it said Input Error: Can not find script file "C:\windows\system32\prnmngr.vbs".  

This is a SBS 2K3 network with Vista workstations.

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 11:59:50ID: 24852891

For Vista try just using "prnmngr.vbs" without the path...
I think it's actually located here:  \windows\system32\printing_admin-scripts\en-us\prnmngr.vbs

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-14 at 12:13:42ID: 24853043

Sorry to not get it but I don't know what to change.  

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 12:20:15ID: 24853114

Just take out the path to the script...

Try it like this:   cscript prnmngr.vbs -x

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-14 at 12:56:46ID: 24853441

The first post (cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x) works great on XP.  I'll try the other on a Vista box in a moment.  As for the deleting and the installation of printers, is there any advantage to using the vbs to install the printers?

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 13:02:46ID: 24853496

There's not really an advantage per se..... except that the vbs file has more options for scripting drivers and port configurations.  That doesn't really apply to you if all of the printers are on a print server....  "net use" would do exactly the same thing for installing..

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-14 at 13:03:44ID: 24853500

I think if you do this...
cscript prnmngr.vbs -x

instead of this...
cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x
.....
It would work for both xp and vista...

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-14 at 13:04:56ID: 24853515

The script deletes all of my local printers also.  I only need it to delete the network printers.  Can we do this?

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-15 at 10:49:09ID: 24862006

What can I add or take away from the script so that all of my printers aren't deleted?  I only need to delete the network printers.

 

by: pnrhaitPosted on 2009-07-15 at 10:54:27ID: 24862067

to delete printer:

objNetwork.RemovePrinterConnection "\\server\sharename"

Add printer via security groups:

If IsAMemberOf
(objNetwork.UserDomain,objNetwork.UserName,"adsecuritygroupname") Then AddPrinterConnection "\\server\sharename"

 

by: pnrhaitPosted on 2009-07-15 at 10:58:44ID: 24862123

sorry forget to just add a network printer:

WshNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection "\\server\sharename"

make sure to have the remove before the add

 

by: pnrhaitPosted on 2009-07-15 at 11:00:06ID: 24862142

could you please attach your script for me and I can modify it for you.

 

by: xuserx2000Posted on 2009-07-15 at 11:05:09ID: 24862208

This will delete networked printers...

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /gn /c\\targetmachine /n\\server\printershare



 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-15 at 11:05:58ID: 24862220

At present I don't have anything in my script other than one drive mapping and a printer to start.

net use * /delete /yes
net use x: \\servername\billing

rem cscript "%systemroot%\system32\prnmngr.vbs" -x
(this was the first script I had and it deletes all of my installed printers.)


start \\servername\P4014n

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-15 at 11:07:14ID: 24862241

Do I have to name the specific printer in the script or can I set it to delete any network printers?  

 

by: pnrhaitPosted on 2009-07-15 at 11:38:40ID: 24862608

Give this a try.. it will map your X: you just need to add each printer unfortunately that you want to remove and add.. just put in you server name in each spot, and the printer sharename where it stats sharename

 

by: pnrhaitPosted on 2009-07-15 at 11:39:18ID: 24862621

On Error Resume Next
Dim objFSO,objFILE,objShell,objNetwork,objProcessEnvironment,objOS,ActiveDHCPIPAddress
set objFSO=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
set objShell=CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
set objNetwork=CreateObject("Wscript.Network")

'Map network drives

Set wshNetwork = CreateObject("WScript.Network")
wshNetwork.MapNetworkDrive "X:","\\server\billings"

'remove network printers

objNetwork.RemovePrinterConnection "\\server\sharename"

'add network printers

WshNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection "\\server\sharename"

 

by: GTKINCPosted on 2009-07-21 at 09:29:40ID: 31603392

Thanks for your efforts.  Both solutions worked great for me.  

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...