Class 15, Chapter 9: Printing

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Class 15, Chapter 9 Printing Faxing
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Objectives

• Understand Windows XP print terminology and
  architecture
• Work with the Windows XP print subsystem
  architecture
• Work with printer driver software
• Print across the network and understand the
  printing process

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Objectives

• Install and manage printers
• Configure a printer and manage the print server
• Troubleshoot printing
• Configure Windows XP fax capabilities

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Terminology
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Windows XP Printing Terminology

• Microsoft uses unique terminology
• Important to know for certification exam
• Terms
• Creating a printer
• Direct-attached printer
• Network interface printer
• Print device
• Print Server services
• Printer (logical printer)

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Windows XP Printing Terminology (continued)

• Terms
• Printer driver
• Printer pool
• Rendering

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Windows XP Print Subsystem Architecture

• Several components that
• Turn print data into a printable file
• Transfer that file to a printer
• Manage multiple print jobs
• Components
• GDI
• Printer driver
• Print spooler

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Graphical Device Interface

• Begins the process of producing visual output
• Output goes to
• Screen
• Printer
• Makes WYSIWYG output possible
• Calls printer driver
• Provides information about data to be rendered

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Printer Driver

• Windows XP software component
• Application communicate with printer through IP
  Manager
• Executive Services module in the Windows XP
  kernel
• Subcomponents
• Printer graphics driver
• Printer interface driver
• Characterization data file

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Printer Driver (continued)

• Not compatible across hardware platforms
• Must make sure that necessary drivers are
  available for proper platforms
• Some Windows OS will download the driver from the
  print server automatically

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Print Spooler

• Spoolsv.exe
• Collection of DLLs and device drivers
• Print jobs are
• Received
• Processed
• Scheduled
• Distributed
• Part of the Spooler service

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Print Spooler (continued)

• Components
• Print router
• Local and remote print providers
• Print processors
• Print monitor
• Data types
• EMF
• RAW

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Print Router

• Sends print requests from clients to print server
• Requests are routed to appropriate print provider
• Remote procedure calls from clients print router
  (Winspool.drv) to the servers print router
  (Spoolss.dll)

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Print Provider

• Server-side software
• Sends print job to server in the format required
  by that server
• Print providers
• Windows XP print provider (Win32Spl.dll)
• NetWare print provider (Nwprovau.dll)
• Writes contents of the print job to spool file

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Print Processor

• Works with the printer driver to despool spool
  files during playback
• Makes needed changes to spool file according to
  its data type
• PostScript program
• Built-in Windows print processor understands
• EMF data files
• Three kinds of RAW data files
• Text files

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Print Monitor

• Two monitors
• Language monitor
• Used only if the print device is bidirectional
• Port monitor.
• Controls flow of information to the I/O port
• Supported port monitors
• Local port monitor (Localmon.dll)
• Hewlett-Packard network port monitor (Hpmon.dll)
• Line printer (LPR) port monitor (Lprmon.dll)

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Supported Port Monitors

• AppleTalk port monitor (Sfmmon.dll)
• DEC network port monitor (Decpsmon.dll)
• Lexmark Mark Vision port monitor (Lexmon.dll)
• NetWare port monitor (Nwmon.dll)
• Standard TCP/IP port monitor (SFM)
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) port monitor
• PJL monitor (Pjlmon.dll)

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Printer Driver Software

• Provides an interface between the client and the
  printer
• Print drivers
• Take application-specific file data
• Translate data into formats suitable for printing

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Printing Across the Network

• By far the most common print scenario on
  Microsoft networks
• Typical options
• Print to printer connected to print server
  through a parallel or serial port
• Print to printer connected directly to network

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The Printing Process

• Application calls GDI
• Print job passed to spooler
• Print router passes the job to the local print
  provider
• Local print provider polls the print processors,
  passing the job to the processor that recognizes
  the selected printer
• Print job is despooled to the print monitor

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The Printing Process
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Installing and Managing Printers

• Printers and Faxes window
• Create a printer
• Add a printer command in the Quick List
• Set properties
• Right-click printer
• Choose Properties from shortcut menu

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Creating a Local Printer

• Setting up a printer for local use
• Add a printer command
• Answer questions
• Is the printer local or on the network?
• To which port will the printer be connected?
• What is the make and model of the printer?
• What do you want the printer to be named?
• Do you want the printer to be the default for all
  print jobs?

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Connecting to a Remote Printer

• Add a printer link in the Printers and Faxes
  window
• Choose to connect to a network printer
• Choose from list of shared printers
• Dont have to install drivers locally

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Managing Print Jobs

• Printers and Faxes window
• Manage print queues
• Double-click the icon for printer
• Window displays all current print jobs
• Select job
• Choose the appropriate menu option

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Configuring A Printer

• Use printer Properties dialog box
• Right-click printer in the Printers and Faxes
  window
• Choose Properties

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General Tab

• Variety of controls
• Features and paper sizes
• Printing Preferences button launches dialog
• Orientation
• Duplexing
• Page order
• Pages per sheet
• Etc.

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Sharing Tab

• Like Sharing tab used when creating shared
  directory
• Select Share this printer option button
• Provide Share name for printer

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Ports Tab

• Adjust settings for ports selected for use with a
  particular print device
• Includes
• Interrupts
• Base I/O addresses
• Bidirectional printing option
• Checked for printers that are able to send status
  information back to the print monitor

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Printer Pool

• Configured on Ports tab
• More than one print device assigned to single
  logical printer
• Should be physically close
• Fastest printer should be first

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Advanced Tab

• Printer hours
• Priority
• Spooling options

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Spooling Options

• Define how print jobs are managed
• Default options usually work well
• Print directly to printer
• Wait to print until spooling is complete
• Holding mismatched documents
• Other options

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Spooling
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Separator Page Codes
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Color Management Tab

• Used to associate a color profile with a color
  printer.
• Color profile
• Controls how color is produced by the printer
• Only used by printers supporting color
• Automatic selection usually determines best color
  profile to use

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Security Tab

• Similar to those for secure files and directories
• Set permissions for printer
• Three main permissions for printers
• Print
• Manage Documents
• Manage Printers

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Advanced Security Settings
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Printing Capabilities Matrix
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Device Settings Tab

• Used to make sure that the print device itself is
  configured properly
• May be subject to change printer upgraded
• Memory
• Paper trays and other accessories

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Printers And The Web

• Includes Web support in print subsystem
• Remote users can
• Submit print jobs for printing
• View printer queues
• Download print drivers
• Accessible only when print server is running
  Internet Information Server (IIS)

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Managing the Print Server

• Print Server Properties dialog box
• Forms tab
• Used to define paper sizes
• Ports tab
• Lists all known ports and installed printers on
  those ports

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Managing the Print Server (continued)

• Drivers tab
• Lists the installed printer drivers
• Advanced tab
• Control over spool file location and several
  events

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Troubleshooting Printing Problems

• Identify which of the seven components of the
  printing process is failing
• Look for documented solutions
• Implement a short-term solution
• Implement a long-term solution, if possible

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Troubleshooting Printing in General

• Check the physical aspects of the printer
• Start and restart the spooler
• Terminate and reshare the printer on the print
  server
• Try using a different application, user account,
  or computer to print to the same printer
• Check for stalled print jobs
• Make sure the printer is online

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Troubleshooting Printing in General (continued)

• Remove or uninstall, and then reinstall the print
  driver
• Check for a new or updated print driver
• Check the free space on the drive where the
  spooler is directed
• Try using the Print Troubleshooter

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Troubleshooting Network Printing

• Verify basic network connectivity
• Create local printer and redirect its port to
  network printer
• Print from a DOS-based program
• Ping printers IP address

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Stopping and Restarting the Print Spooler

• Use Services tool in Administrative Tools
• Sometimes, stopping and restarting the Spooler
  service can clear up problems that are difficult
  to troubleshoot

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Fax Support

• Printers and Faxes applet
• Install and configure fax components
• Not enabled by default
• Must have a fax-capable device installed
• Manually configure faxing in order to receive
  faxes
• Cannot be shared under Windows XP

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Summary

• The GDI, printer driver, and print spooler are
  responsible for printing documents
• Printers are added and configured using Add
  Printer Wizard
• Can be troubleshoot printer problems by following
  a defined series of steps
• Faxing is configured using the Printers and Faxes
  applet