Solved
Setting Printers for all users
Posted on 2006-10-27
Hello,
I have the following situation. I have a number of computers that are used by different people as our reception staff is rotated from area to area. That is on a given day there is usually only a single user of each computer, but this week it may be user1 and next week user2. All computers are running Windows XP Pro and connected to a Windows Domain. The Domain Users group has administrative rights to the local computers.
Here's my problem. When user1 is on the computer we set the printers up, There is a plain paper printer, a label printer and a printer with pre-printed forms. Each of these needs to have the correct settings for paper size, tray and other options set. This is not a problem we get everything setup and it works fine. The following week User 2 is at this computer and now we have to go through all of the setup again. The Printers may or may not be in User 2's profile, however the preferences are not set right until we set them for the user. This works fine until another user uses the computer.
We only have to setup once for each user, but as we move people around a lot and have new people from time to time, and this happens in several work areas this becomes a big hassle, especially when we are adding a new printer into the mix, or making adjustments to the way we print. For example we are currently setting up each of the systems to print a report that needs duplex printing. This means we need to have all of the users of all of these computers set to use their printer in duplex mode.
I know we can get the settings the way we want for a specific user and then copy that user's profile to the default user profile, but that doesn't help with users who already have a profile unless I delete their profiles, something I do not want to do. Also, company policy won't allow me to have all of the users at a given desk use the same login (reception for example)
So finally, the question. Is there a way to set up a printer for all users and have changes to that printers preferences also distributed to all users?
Thanks,
Neal