Best Practices for Installing and Using Printer Drivers With Windows 2000 Terminal Services

This article describes best practices for installing and using printer drivers with Windows 2000 Terminal Services. In Windows 2000 and later, the architecture of printer drivers was changed to unify the interface and add reliability to the server.

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Printer Drivers

If you upgrade a server from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, remove the existing Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers before the upgrade, and then install the equivalent Windows 2000 printer drivers after the upgrade. If you cannot remove an extensive printer configuration before the upgrade, perform the upgrade and then update any Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers that remain after the upgrade to the Windows 2000 versions.

To determine if Windows NT 4.0 printer drivers are installed on a Windows 2000 Server, use the Printers tool in Control Panel. To do this:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. On the File menu, click Server Properties.
3. Click the Drivers tab.
4. Under Installed printer drivers, select any driver that is labeled as a Windows NT 4.0 printer driver, then click Remove.
5. After you remove the Windows NT 4.0 printer driver, use the Printers tool to install a Windows 2000 version of the printer driver.

Microsoft recommends that you use the printer drivers that are included with Windows 2000. These printer drivers have been extensively tested in the Terminal Services environment. If the drivers that are included with Windows 2000 do not provide the functionality that you need and you must install a third-party printer driver, contact the vendor to determine if their version of the printer driver support the Terminal Services environment before you install the driver. Do not install a printer driver that is not designed for the Terminal Services environment in a Windows 2000 Terminal Services environment.

If a Windows 2000 version of the driver for your printer is not included with Windows 2000, you can create an .inf file to install different printer drivers. For additional information about how to configure the computer to use different printer drivers, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Printing Policies

Change the "Prevent users from installing printer drivers" policy setting to allow members of the Users group to install printer drivers or to prevent members of the Users group from installing new printer drivers. To do this:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type gpedit.msc and then click OK.
3. In the left pane, expand the Computer Configuration branch, expand the Windows Settings branch, expand the Security Settings branch, expand the Local Policies branch, and then click the Security Options folder.
4. In the right pane, double-click the Prevent users from installing printer drivers policy.
5. To prevent members of the Users group from installing new printer drivers on the local computer, turn on the Prevent users from installing printer drivers policy. To do this, click Enabled, and then click OK.
   
   To allow members of the Users group to install new printer drivers on the local computer, turn off the Prevent users from installing printer drivers policy. To do this, click Disabled, and then click OK.

Service Packs and Hotfixes

Make sure that the latest Windows 2000 service pack and hotfixes are installed on the Windows 2000 Terminal Services server computer. Microsoft creates hotfixes for known problems as they are discovered. Collections of hotfixes are then rolled up into service packs, which undergo extensive testing. For more information about service packs, see the following Microsoft Web page:

Windows 2000 Service Pack Download page (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/2000/bb735341.aspx)

For additional information about printer drivers in Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

More information about printer drivers in Windows 2000 is available on the following Microsoft Web pages:

Third-Party Printer Driver Information

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html)

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.