Installing Remote Printers with Point and Print

Point and Print allows users to install a printer over a network by providing printer driver information. A user "points" to a print server, that is, opens its print queue by using Network Neighborhood, by typing its path name in the Run dialog box on the Start menu, or by starting the Add Printer wizard. Windows 95 retrieves printer-specific information from the server. The type of information retrieved depends on the type of print server to which you connect, and can include the following:

• Printer driver files
• The name of the server on which printer driver files are stored
• Printer model information, which specifies which printer driver to retrieve from the Windows directory on a local computer or on the network

Windows 95 print server.

A computer running Windows 95 can function as a print server by providing printer drivers and settings (paper size, memory, page orientation, and so on) to another computer running Windows 95. You must share the printer, enabling File and Print Sharing services for either Microsoft networks or NetWare networks. You can apply user-level security to the shared printer. For information, see Chapter 11, "Logon, Browsing, and Resource Sharing"and Chapter 14, "Security."

Windows NT print server.

A computer running Windows 95 can connect to a Windows NT 3.1 or 3.5 server to retrieve Point and Print information. The printer model name on the Windows NT server must have the same printer model name in the Windows 95 INF files. If the printer model names are the same, Windows 95 installs the printer driver files from the directory on the local computer or network location from which Windows 95 was installed. If the names are not the same, Windows 95 prompts you for the printer model. Printer settings are not retrievable on a Windows NT print server, so you need to adjust printer settings such as paper size on the computer running Windows 95.

Notice that a Microsoft Windows NT Client Access License is required if the computer will be connecting to servers running Windows NT Server. For information, see Chapter 8, "Windows 95 on Microsoft Networks" or contact your Microsoft reseller.

NetWare print server.

A computer running Windows 95 can connect to an appropriately configured NetWare server to retrieve printer driver files. You can configure a NetWare print server to store printer driver files in the NetWare bindery or store references in the bindery to other servers that store the printer drivers. To configure the NetWare printer server, you must have Supervisor privileges on the server, and the client computer must be running Client for NetWare Networks.

When requested, the NetWare server automatically copies the printer drivers to the specified path on the computer running Windows 95. Notice that you should specify the driver path before you specify a model name. Because printer settings are not retrievable on a NetWare print server, you need to adjust printer settings, such as paper size, on the computer running Windows 95.

To configure the NetWare server to store Point and Print information

1. Right-click Network Neighborhood, and then click Find Computer.
2. In the Find Computer dialog box, type the name of the print server. When it is found, double-click its icon in the name list box.
3. In the server's dialog box, double-click the icon for the printer. The print queue for that printer appears.
4. Select the print queue, click the File menu, and then click Point And Print Setup.
5. In the context menu, click Set Driver Path.
6. Type the UNC path (in the form \\server\volume\directory) for the driver files. For example:

• \\NOVSVR\SYS\DRIVERS\EPSON24

1. Copy the appropriate files (as specified in MSPRINT.INF) to the printer path.
2. In the context menu, click Set Printer Model.
3. In the Select dialog box, click the printer manufacturer in the Manufacturers list, and the printer in the Models list. Click OK.

To use Point and Print to connect to a NetWare printer

1. In Network Neighborhood, double-click the NetWare server icon.
2. Drag and drop the print queue from the NetWare server window to your Printer Folders window.
3. Follow the online instructions. The Add Printer wizard prompts you to type a name for this printer.

   Windows 95 automatically copies the files for the printer driver (including .DRV, .DLL, .HLP, and other files, as needed) to the Windows SYSTEM directory.

If the print server you're using doesn't support Point and Print, you can use the Add Printer wizard to select the printer driver you want to install.

For information about installing printers using custom setup scripts, see Appendix D, "MSBATCH.INF Parameters."

Note

Some printers take advantage of the built-in bidirectional communication ability (as described in "Bidirectional Communication Support" later in this chapter) and initially configure device driver settings, such as available fonts and the amount of installed memory, without any user intervention.