Members of the Power Users group and of the Print Operators group cannot install local printers on a Windows Server 2003-based member server

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SYMPTOMS

Members of the Power Users group and of the Print Operators group cannot install local printers on a Windows Server 2003-based member server.

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This issue occurs because of a change that was introduced in Windows Server 2003 that affects the Power Users group and the Print Operators group. By default, the members of these groups cannot install local printers.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

In the domain, create a domain global group for users who manage printers.
Add the users who manage printers to the domain global group.
Add the domain global group to the domain local Print Operators group and to the local Power Users group.
Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
Expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Windows Settings.
Expand Security Settings, and then expand Local Policies.
Click User Rights Assignment, and then double-click Load and unload device drivers.
Click Add User or Group, type Print Operators in the Enter the object names to select box, and then click Check Names to resolve the Print Operators group name.
Click OK two times.
Expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Windows Settings.
Expand Security Settings, and then expand Local Policies.
Click Security Options, and then double-click Devices: Prevent users from installing printer drivers.
Click Disabled, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit.

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REFERENCES

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

888046 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888046/ ) You receive an error message when you try to install a shared network printer on a Windows Server 2003-based or Windows XP Service Pack 1-based computer

891721 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891721/ ) You receive a "Printer Driver was not installed" error message when you try to remotely install the first printer on a Windows Server 2003-based domain controller

933996 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933996/ ) A user who is logged on to a Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Server cannot configure a printer as the default printer

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