Windows 7 / Getting Started

The Print Management Console

Print Management displays a root node and three main subnodes. You expose the functionality of these different nodes in the Action pane (or by right-clicking a node). They can be summarized as follows:

  • Print Management (root) node Adds or removes print servers to/from the console and launches the Printer Migration Wizard to export or import printer configurations.
  • Custom Filters node Displays all custom filters, including four default filters:
    • All Printers Displays all printers on all print servers and allows administrators to open the printer queue for a selected printer, pause or resume printing, print a test page from a printer, configure printer properties, and deploy a printer connection using Group Policy.
    • All Drivers Displays all printer drivers for all printers and allows administrators to view driver properties and remove driver packages from the driver store.
    • Printers Not Ready Displays all print queues that are in a Not Ready state for any reason.
    • Printers With Jobs Displays all print queues that currently have jobs pending in them.
    When you create a new custom filter using the New Printer Filter Wizard, you can configure an e-mail notification for troubleshooting purposes to alert administrators when a printer matches the filter conditions. You can also configure a script action so that a specified script can be run when a printer matches the condition-for example, a script to restart the Print Spooler service on a print server.
    In addition, the Show Extended View option (available by right-clicking a custom filter) displays jobs pending on the print queue and-if supported by the print device-the Web page from which the printer can be managed.
  • Print Servers node Displays all print servers being managed by Print Management, together with a manageable view of their drivers, forms, ports, and print queues. You can also use this node to export/import print queues and printer drivers, configure e-mail notifications or script actions during times when the spooler or server is down, and launch the Network Printer Installation Wizard to add new printers manually or automatically search for TCP/IP and WSD printers and add them to the list of printers being managed by Print Management.
  • Deployed Printers node Displays printer connections that have been deployed using Group Policy. For more information, see the section titled "Deploying Printers Using Group Policy" later in this tutorial.

Note Print Management also lets you view print queues on both a UNIX or Linux server running Samba and on Apple Macintosh computers. You can view these queues and also monitor these print servers by receiving notifications when they go down, but you cannot use Print Management to add or remove printers to such servers. To view print queues on UNIX or Linux servers, you must authenticate to \\server_name\ipc$ before you can add the server to the list of print servers you want to monitor.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Printing
  2. Enhancements to Printing in Windows 7
  3. Printing Enhancements Previously Introduced in Windows Vista
  4. Additional Printing Enhancements in Windows 7
  5. How Printing Works in Windows 7
  6. Understanding XPS
  7. Understanding the Windows Printing Subsystem
  8. Understanding Printer Driver Isolation
  9. Understanding the Print Management Console
  10. Enhancements to the Print Management Console in Windows 7
  11. The Print Management Console
  12. Adding and Removing Print Servers
  13. Configuring Default Security for Print Servers
  14. Adding Printers Using the Network Printer Installation Wizard
  15. Creating and Using Printer Filters
  16. Creating and Using Driver Filters
  17. Managing Printers Using Print Management
  18. Configuring Properties of Printers
  19. Publishing Printers in AD DS
  20. Managing Printer Drivers
  21. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode
  22. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode Using the Print Management Console
  23. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode Using Group Policy
  24. Troubleshooting Driver Isolation
  25. Exporting and Importing Print Server Configurations
  26. Printer Export Files
  27. Performing Bulk Actions Using Print Management
  28. Client-Side Management of Printers
  29. Installing Printers Using the Add Printers Wizard
  30. Searching for Printers
  31. Installing Printers Using Point and Print
  32. Using Devices And Printers
  33. Using the Color Management CPL
  34. Managing Client-Side Printer Experience Using Group Policy
  35. Configuring the Add Printer Wizard
  36. Disable Client-Side Printer Rendering
  37. Configuring Package Point and Print Restrictions
  38. Extending Point and Print Using Windows Update
  39. Deploying Printers Using Group Policy
  40. Preparing to Deploy Printers
  41. Deploying a Printer Connection
  42. Limitations of Deploying Printers Using Group Policy
  43. Migrating Print Servers
  44. Migrate Print Servers Using Print Management
  45. Migrating Print Servers Using PrintBRM
  46. Monitoring and Troubleshooting Printers
  47. Configuring E-Mail Notifications
  48. Configuring Print Server Notifications
  49. Configuring Script Actions
  50. Configuring Detailed Event Logging