Connecting lab printers through GPO Preferences

Problem Description : 

New (improved?) method for connecting to lab printers using GPO preferences instead of a .bat login script.

 Resolution : 

PC must have the Group Policy Preference Client Side Extensions for Windows XP (KB943729) loaded. This was setup to be pushed out by the WSUS server.

1. On a Windows Server 2008 domain controller such as Eagle, open Group Policy Manager by going to Start->Administrative Tools->Group Policy Management

2. Locate the desired OU in left panel to set the printer capture assignment for and click on the OU folder to show the policy in right panel.

3. Right click the policy and select Edit to open the policy editor.

4. Expand the User Configuration->Preferences->Control Panel Settings in the left panel and click on the Printers option.

5. Right click on Printers and select New->Shared Printer.

6. First set a Delete action to delete ALL Shared Printers.

7. Second set a Create action to add the desired printer and set as default.

8. If needed, comment out any line in the existing .bat file on V: drive that calls con2prt and add a comment line stating "date - print capture moved to GPO preferences" to document the update.

 Revision Date : 6/7/2010