By right-clicking on a print server and selecting Properties,
you can view or modify the print server’s properties. For example,
Figure 5 shows
the Security tab, which you use to configure permissions for
different groups and users in your environment to control such
things as whether they should be allowed to print to the server. For
example, if you want to restrict the use of printers on a particular
print server to users in a certain department, you could remove the
Everyone permissions entry that appears in the Group Or User Names
area and add a new entry for a security group to which users in that
department belong.
Other management tasks you can perform using the Properties
page of a print server include
-
Creating new forms for special print requirements—for
example, for printing to note cards or poster paper. -
Adding new printer ports, including both local ports and
standard TCP/IP ports. For example, before connecting a new
network printer, you should create a standard TCP/IP port for
it. -
Adding new printer drivers to the server—for example, when
you will be deploying new printers for which Windows Server 2012
has no in-box drivers. -
Changing the location of the spooler folder—for example,
if the volume the folder is currently on is almost full. -
Displaying or hiding informational notifications for
printers.
As shown in Figure 6, the Drivers
node beneath each print server node displays a list of the currently
installed printer drivers on the server. Some of the tasks you can
perform with installed drivers include
-
Deleting the driver, which uninstalls the printer driver
but leaves the driver package in the driver store in case you
want to reinstall the driver at a later date. -
Removing the driver package, which uninstalls the printer
driver and completely removes the driver package from the driver
store. If later on you want to reinstall the driver, you will
need to supply the driver software. -
Displaying additional driver details on the Properties
page for the driver—for example, the driver type, driver path,
and names of the various driver files. -
Configuring driver isolation, which allows printer drivers
to run in processes that are separate from the process in which
the Print Spooler service runs. Drivers can run in isolation
mode only if they have been specifically designed to be able to
run in an isolated or shared process separate from the spooler
process. The available isolation modes include
-
Shared The driver runs
in a process shared with other printer drivers but separate
from the spooler process. -
Isolated The driver
runs in a process that is separate from other printer
drivers and from the spooler process. -
None The driver runs in
the spooler process.
You can also right-click on the Drivers node for a print
server and select one of the following options:
-
Add Driver Select this option to launch the Add Printer
Driver Wizard, which allows you to install new printer drivers
from installation media you provide. -
Manage Drivers Select this option to display the Drivers
tab of the print server’s Properties page, as shown in Figure 7, which you
use to display the name, processor, and type for each installed
printer driver on the server.
Note
Finding updated drivers
Before you go looking for updated printer drivers on the
vendor’s website, try clicking Windows Update on the Printer
Driver Selection page of the Add Printer Device Wizard. Doing this
will update the list of printer drivers available for installation
from your print server’s driver store.
Windows Server 2012 print servers support the installation of
two types of printer drivers:
-
v4 printer drivers This
type of printer driver is new in Windows Server 2012. These
drivers have a smaller disk footprint, can support multiple
devices, support driver isolation so that they won’t crash the
application doing the printing if the printer driver fails, and
do not require installing drivers that match the client
architecture. The v4 printer drivers come in two
subtypes:
-
Print-Class Drivers
These drivers support features for a broad set of devices
that use the same printer description language, such as PCL,
PS, or XPS. -
Model-Specific Drivers
These drivers are designed for specific printer
models.
-
v3 printer drivers This
type of driver was introduced in Windows 2000 and was used up
through Windows Server 2008 R2.
Note
Driver
sprawl
One thing that made managing print servers difficult in
previous versions of Windows Server was the v3 printer driver
model, which required separate drivers for each client
architecture (x64 or x86) and for each model of print device. As a
result, administrators of large enterprises often had to manage
hundreds, or even thousands, of different printer drivers for the
broad range of devices deployed throughout their
organization.
Beginning with Windows Server 2012, the new v4 printer
driver model now enables a single printer driver to support
multiple models of print devices for any client architecture. This
will eventually mean fewer printer drivers to manage across an
enterprise, though some vendors might not provide updated v4
drivers for some of their older printer devices, which means you
might still need to install some v3 drivers on your Windows Server
2012 print servers.
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