Printer Drivers on a Server

Question

It's a query more than a problem. As we know Windows Update houses lots of drivers for Printers by default, and when adding a local printer, you can merely select from that list, point it to an TCP/IP and your network printer is setup.

What however in this scenario:

32Bit Server OS with a 32bit Printer installed. There are no manual drivers available on the manufactuer site since apparently "They are all available on Windows Update".

But obviously when you go to Additional Drivers for 64bit when sharing out the printer you can't point it to a driver that apparently exists in Windows Update.

Any ideas?

Cheers!

Answer 1

The typical way to resolve this is using this method.

In short, install the printer on a 32-bit system, and get the drivers for it loaded on that system (via Windows Update or any other means), and then connect to the printer on the 64-bit print-server-to-be. It will then add 32-bit drivers to its archive, and you can then serve them out by checking the appropriate archetecture box in the printer properties on the server.

As a side note, Windows Server 2008R2 makes this process a little bit more manageable (though still something of a hassle) with its Print Management console, which is pretty intuitive and gives you an interface to manage installed drivers without necessarily having them associated with printers. It might be available on Windows 7 as well, this Technet article seems to think so.