Lesson 2:Managing Printers

Managing printers includes assigning forms to paper trays and setting a separator page. In addition, you can pause, resume, and cancel a document if a problem occurs on a printer. If a printer is faulty or you add printers to your network, you might need to redirect documents to a different printer. In addition, you might need to change which users have administrative responsibility for printers, which involves changing ownership.


After this lesson, you will be able to

  • Assign forms to paper trays
  • Set a separator page
  • Pause, resume, and cancel documents on a printer
  • Redirect documents to a different printer
  • Take ownership of a printer

Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes


Assigning Forms to Paper Trays

If a printer has multiple trays that regularly hold different paper sizes, you can assign a form to a specific tray. A form defines a paper size. Users can then select the paper size from within their application. When the user prints, Windows XP Professional automatically routes the print job to the paper tray that holds the correct form. Examples of forms include the following: Legal, A4, Envelopes #10, and Letter Small.

To assign a form to a paper tray, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In the Control Panel window, click Printers And Other Hardware, and then click Printers And Faxes.
  3. In the Printers And Faxes window, right-click the icon of the appropriate printer, and then click Properties.
  4. In the printer's Properties dialog box, click the Device Settings tab.
  5. In the box next to each paper tray, click the form for the paper type for the tray, as shown in Figure 7.3.
  6. Click OK.

Figure 7.3 Setting forms for a printer

After you have set up a paper tray, users specify the paper size from within applications. Windows XP Professional knows in which paper tray the form is located.

Setting a Separator Page

A separator page is a file that contains print device commands. Separator pages have two functions:

  • To identify and separate printed documents.
  • To switch print devices between print modes. Some print devices can switch between print modes that take advantage of different device features. You can use separator pages to specify the correct page description language. For example, you can specify PostScript or Printer Control Language (PCL) for a print device that can switch between different print modes but cannot automatically detect which language a print job uses.

Windows XP Professional includes four separator page files, which are located in the %systemroot%\System32 folder. Table 7.2 lists the filename and describes the function for each of the included separator page files.

Table 7.2 Separator Page Files

Filename Function

SYSPRINT.SEP

Prints a page before each document; compatible with PostScript print devices

PCL.SEP

Switches the print mode to PCL for HP-series print devices and prints a page before each document

PSCRIPT.SEP

Switches the print mode to PostScript for HP-series print devices but does not print a page before each document

SYSPRTJ.SEP

A version of SYSPRINT.SEP that uses Japanese characters

When you have decided to use a separator page and have chosen an appropriate one, use the Advanced tab in the printer's Properties dialog box to have the separator page printed at the beginning of each print job.

To set up a separator page, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Advanced tab in the Properties dialog box for the printer (see Figure 7.4), click Separator Page.

    Figure 7.4 The Advanced tab for a printer's Properties dialog box

  2. In the Separator Page dialog box, type the name of the separator page file.

    To browse for a separator file, click Browse.

  3. Click OK to close the Separator Page box, and then click OK again to close the printer's Properties dialog box.

Pausing, Resuming, and Canceling Documents

Pausing and resuming a printer or canceling all documents on a printer might be necessary if there is a printing problem.

To pause or cancel all documents, right-click the icon for the printer in the Printers And Faxes window, and then click the appropriate command. To resume printing on a printer, right-click the printer and click Resume Printing.

Table 7.3 describes the tasks that you might perform when you manage printers, how to perform the tasks, and examples of situations in which you might perform these tasks.

Table 7.3 Managing Printers Tasks

Task Action Example

To pause printing

Click Pause Printing. The Pause Printing command changes to Resume Printing.

Pause the printer if there is a problem with the printer until you fix the problem.

To resume printing

Click Resume Printing. The Resume Printing command changes to Pause Printing.

Resume printing after you fix a problem with a printer.

To cancel all documents

Click Cancel All Documents. All documents are deleted from the printer.

Cancel all documents when you need to clear a print queue after old documents that no longer need to print have accumulated.

You can also pause a printer by taking the printer offline. To take a printer offline, open the printer window, and on the Printer menu, click Use Printer Offline.

Redirecting Documents to a Different Printer

You can redirect documents to a different printer. For example, if a printer is not working, you should redirect the documents so that users do not need to resubmit them. You can redirect all print jobs for a printer, but you cannot redirect specific documents. The new printer must use the same printer driver as the current printer.

To redirect documents to a different printer, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Printers And Faxes window, right-click the printer, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Properties dialog box, click the Ports tab.
  3. Click Add Port.
  4. In the Available Port Types list, click Local Port, and then click New Port.
  5. In the Port Name dialog box, in the Enter A Port Name text box, type the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name for the printer to which you are redirecting documents (for example, \\prntsrv6\HPCLJ4550), as shown in Figure 7.5.

    Figure 7.5 Redirecting documents to another printer

  6. Click OK to accept the change and close the Port Name dialog box.
  7. Click Close to close the Printer Ports dialog box.
  8. Click OK to close the printer's Properties dialog box.

If another printer is available for the current print server, you can redirect the documents to that printer. To redirect documents to another local or network printer that uses the same printer driver, select the appropriate port on the print server and cancel the selection of the current port.

Taking Ownership of a Printer

There might be times when the owner of a printer can no longer manage that printer and you need to take ownership. Taking ownership of a printer enables you to change administrative responsibility for it. By default, the user who installed the printer owns it. If that user can no longer administer the printer, you should take ownership of it-for example, if the current owner leaves the company.

The following users can take ownership of a printer:

  • A user or a member of a group who has the Manage Printers permission for the printer.
  • Members of the Administrators and Power Users groups. By default these groups have the Manage Printers permission, which allows them to take ownership.

To take ownership of a printer, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Properties dialog box for the printer, click the Security tab, and then click Advanced.
  2. In the Advanced Security Settings dialog box, click the Owner tab, and then click your user account under Change Owner To, as shown in Figure 7.6.

    Figure 7.6 Taking ownership of a printer

  3. Click OK to change ownership and to close the Advanced Security Settings dialog box.
  4. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box for the printer.

Practice: Managing Printers

In this practice you perform three tasks that are part of managing printers. In the first exercise, you assign forms to paper trays. In the second exercise, you set up a separator page. In the third exercise you learn how to take ownership of a printer.

Exercise 1: Assigning Forms to Paper Trays

In this exercise, you assign a paper type (form) to a paper tray so that when users print to a specified form, the print job is automatically routed to and adjusted for the correct tray.

To assign forms to paper trays

  1. Log on as the user you created during installation or any user that is a member of the Administrators group.
  2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  3. In the Control Panel window, click Printers And Other Hardware, and then click Printers And Faxes.
  4. Right-click the icon of your printer, and then click Properties.

    If you do not have a printer installed, see Exercise 1: Adding and Sharing a Printer in Chapter 6, "Setting Up, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Common Setup and Configuration Problems for Network Printers."

  5. In the Properties dialog box, click the Device Settings tab.

    Some of the selections might be labeled Not Available because they depend on options that are not installed.

  6. Click Tray 2, and then select Legal.

    Whenever a user prints on legal size paper, Windows XP Professional instructs the printer to use paper from Tray 2.

  7. Click Apply and leave the Properties dialog box open for the next exercise.

Exercise 2: Setting Up Separator Pages

In this exercise, you set up a separator page to print between documents. You use the SYSPRINT.SEP separator page that ships with Windows XP Professional. This separator page includes the user's name and the date and time that the document was printed.

To set up a separator page

  1. Click the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box.
  2. In the Advanced tab, click Separator Page.
  3. In the Separator Page dialog box, click Browse.

    Windows XP Professional displays a Separator Page dialog box that lists the contents of the System32 folder, which contains the separator pages that ship with Windows XP Professional. This dialog box also allows you to search in additional folders.

  4. Select SYSPRINT.SEP, and then click Open.

    Windows XP Professional displays the Separator Page dialog box with the full path to the SYSPRINT.SEP separator page specified.

  5. Click OK.

    Windows XP Professional is now set to print a separator page between print jobs.

  6. Leave the Properties dialog box open for the next exercise.

Exercise 3: Taking Ownership of a Printer

In this exercise, you practice taking ownership of a printer.

To take ownership of a printer

  1. Click the Security tab of the Properties dialog box.
  2. In the Security tab, click Advanced.

    The Advanced Security Settings For HP Color LaserJet 4550 dialog box is displayed.

  3. Click the Owner tab.
  4. To take ownership of the printer, select another user in the Name box.
  5. If you actually wanted to take ownership you would click Apply, but for the purposes of this exercise, click Cancel and leave the ownership unchanged.
  6. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
  7. Click File and then click Close to close the Printers And Faxes window.
  8. Log off Windows XP Professional.

Lesson Review

The following questions will help you determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next lesson. If you have difficulty answering these questions, review the material in this lesson before beginning the next lesson. The answers for these questions are in Appendix A, "Questions and Answers."

  1. If a printer has multiple trays that regularly hold different paper sizes, you can assign a form to a specific tray. How do you assign a form to a paper tray?
  2. A _______________________ is a file that contains print device commands that identify and separate printed documents.
  3. Which of the following tabs do you use to redirect documents to a different printer?
    1. Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    2. Security tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    3. Ports tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    4. Device Settings tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
  4. Which of the following tabs do you use to take ownership of a printer?
    1. Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    2. Security tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    3. Ports tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    4. Permissions tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
  5. Which of the following tabs do you use to set up a separator page?
    1. Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    2. Security tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    3. Ports tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer
    4. Permissions tab of the Properties dialog box for the printer

Lesson Summary

  • If a printer has multiple trays that regularly hold different paper sizes, you can assign a form to a specific tray. A form defines a paper size.
  • A separator page is a file that contains print device commands. Separator pages identify and separate printed documents, and they can be used to switch print devices between print modes.
  • To pause a printer, cancel all documents, or resume printing, right-click the icon for the printer in the Printers And Faxes window and then click the appropriate command.
  • You can redirect all print jobs for a printer, but you cannot redirect specific documents.
  • To take ownership of a printer, a user must have or be a member of a group that has the Manage Printers permission for the printer. By default, members of the Administrators and Power Users groups have the Manage Printers permission.


MCSE Microsoft Windows XP Professional
70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional (MCSE/MCSA Guides)
ISBN: 0619120312
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 128

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