Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Share Print Services

The Print server has greatly evolved with the latest editions of Windows Sever. WS08 now supports version 3 print drivers. Version 3 drivers are designed to integrate more properly with the operating system to provide better fault tolerance. One of the great advantages of version 3, or user-mode, print drivers is that when the printer driver fails, it does not require a server restart, but only a print spooler restart. In fact, WS08 can automatically restart the print spooler on a failure, making the failure transparent to the majority of the users connected to the printer.

Drivers can be either user-mode or kernel-mode. In Windows NT, drivers were moved to kernel mode because kernel-mode drivers provided better performance. Kernel-mode drivers are version 2 drivers. But a faulty kernel-mode driver can crash the entire kernel, or rather, the entire server. To provide better performance and reliability, WS08 drivers are now moved to user mode. In Windows Server 2008, a default Group Policy blocks the installation of version 2 drivers.

In addition, user-mode drivers allow users to set their own printing preferences, something that was an issue in Windows NT. Since the drivers operated in kernel mode, they did not provide the ability to separate user printing preferences from default driver configurations, causing a lot of frustration in the Windows NT user market. WS08, like Windows 2000, offers the ability to set printing defaults for the shared printer, as well as printing preferences for each user of the shared resource.

Printing preferences are separate from the printer properties, but are derived from the defaults you set. For example, if you use a double-sided printer and you set its default properties to double-sided output, the user's default preferences will be double-sided printing, but the user now has the choice to modify the setting for their own personal environment to single-sided without affecting general settings for other users. It is surprising how many organizations use double-sided printers but set the default print spooler setting to single-sided, forcing conscientious users to manually reset their preferences. One of the most important aspects of a shared printer implementation in any organization is the establishment of an enterprise-level shared printer policy. This policy should include elements such as default settings for all printers. A sample shared printer policy is outlined in the sections that follow.

TIP: With the greening of today's datacenters, every printer should print double-sided and all of your default printer configurations should make use of this paper-saving technique.

WS08 Printer Drivers

WS08, like Windows 2000, uses three core printer drivers: the Unidriver, PostScript, and a Plotter driver. Each of these drivers provides the core printer protocol. Along with the core drivers, Windows Server 2008 calls upon a specific printer definition for each printer in your organization. This vastly simplifies the driver development process because all driver structures are standardized. These core drivers have been defined in conjunction with independent hardware vendors to ensure stability and robustness.

Another advantage of this shared development process is that drivers can be certified. A certified driver is a driver that conforms to the Microsoft "Designed for Windows" logo guidelines. Certified drivers are all version 3 drivers, which include a digital certificate that is used for code-signing purposes. Digitally signed drivers ensure their reliability. Your shared printer policy should be based on digitally signed and, therefore, certified drivers.

The Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) web site lists all of the products that have been certified as designed for Windows. You should use this site when selecting new printers or other hardware components for your organization. If you want little trouble with your shared printer pool, only use printers that include "Designed for Windows" drivers. When you install printer drivers, Windows will indicate if the driver is digitally signed or not. The Add Printer Wizard dialog box even includes a link to the HCL web site. If you are running the 64-bit versions of WS08, you'll have to have certified drivers.

TIP: The Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List web site is at www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx.

But if your current printer pool includes a number of older printers, it is obvious that you will not be able to include only certified drivers in your shared printer policy. Try your best to use only certified drivers (updated versions are included in WS08 and may be available from your vendor), but if you can't, then consider a printer obsolescence strategy that will gradually replace older printers with new engines that include better support for the Windows operating system.