Transcript XP Utilites

Printing and Faxing
70-270: MCSE Guide to
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Printing Terminology
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Creating a printer
Direct-attached
printer
Network interface
printer
Print device
Print Server
services
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Printer (logical
printer)
Printer driver
Printer pool
Rendering
Rendering a Printed Document
(Page 1)
1.
2.
3.
Application/service sends output file
information to graphical device interface
(GDI)
GDI performs necessary processing to
convert information to an output format
and sends it to printer
Data directed to:
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Print driver if a local printer
Print server if a network printer
Rendering a Printed Document
(Page 2)
4.
5.
6.
7.
The driver/server translates print job into
mixture of text and control characters to
produce output on designated printer
Print job file stored in a spooling file (print
queue) until its turn for printing comes up
File sent to printer where individual pages
are converted into print image
Printer's print engine produces output
based upon the image
Windows XP Print Subsystem
Architecture
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Several components that:
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Turn print data into a printable file
Transfer that file to a printer
Manage one or more print jobs
Components:
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GDI
Printer driver
Print spooler
Graphical Device Interface (GDI)
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Begins process of producing visual output
Makes possible WYSIWYG (what-you-seeis-what-you-get) output
Output goes to either printer or screen
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Calls printer driver if output is to printer;
calls video driver is output is to video
Provides information to drive about data to
be rendered, and the device on which it will
be printed
Printer Driver
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(Page 1)
Windows XP software component that
enables an application to communicate
with printer through IP Manager
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Executive Services module in the
Windows XP kernel
Printer Driver
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(Page 2)
Subcomponents:
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Printer graphics driver—renders GDI
commands into Device Driver Interface
(DDI) commands sent to printer
Printer interface driver—means of allowing
Windows XP to interact with printer (provides
"Printers and Faxes" applet
Characterization data file—provides
information to driver about make and model
of printer, and its features
Printer Driver
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(Page 3)
Printer drivers not compatible across
hardware platforms
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Must make sure that necessary drivers are
available for proper platforms
Some Windows O/S's will download the
driver from the print server automatically
Print Spooler
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(Page 1)
Spoolsv.exe—a collection of DLL files and
device drivers
Print jobs are received by print spooler,
processed, scheduled and distributed
The print spooler is a service that starts
automatically when Windows XP starts
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Find it in "Services" applet of Administrative
Tools or Processes tab of "Task Manager"
Print Spooler
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(Page 2)
Accepts data from print provider in two
main data types:
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Enhanced metafile (EMF) spool files—
device independent files that reduce the
amount of time spent processing a print
job—all GDI calls needed to produce the
print job are included in the file
RAW spool files—device-dependent
output files that have been completely
processed and are ready for output on
targeted print device
Print Spooler
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After spool file is created, control restored
to application that created print job
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(Page 3)
Other processing can resume in foreground
Spooler service components include:
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Print router
Local and remote print providers
Print processors
Print monitor
Print Router
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Sends print requests from client (the
application machine) to print server
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Remote procedure calls from client’s print
router (Winspool.drv) to the print server’s
print router (Spoolss.dll)
Requests are routed to appropriate print
provider, either local or network
Print Provider
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Server-side software that sends print job to
server in the format required by that server
Print providers:
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Windows XP print provider (Win32Spl.dll)
for Windows network print servers
NetWare print provider (Nwprovau.dll)
Writes contents of the print job to spool file
Print Processor
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PostScript program that understands format
of a document image’s file and how to print
the file to specific printers
Works with the printer driver to despool
spool files during playback
Built-in Windows print processor
understands
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EMF data files
Three kinds of RAW data files
Text files
Print Monitor
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(Page 1)
Final link in printing process consisting of:
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Language monitor
 Used when communication with print
device is bidirectional for transmitting
print job status error messages
 Printer Job Language provides print-job
control, i.e. number of copies, color, etc.
Port monitor
 Controls flow of information to parallel or
serial I/O port (vendor supplied monitors
also can print to SCSI port or network)
Print Monitor
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(Page 2)
Supported port monitors:
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Local port monitor (Localmon.dll)
Hewlett-Packard network port monitor
(Hpmon.dll)
Line printer (LPR) port monitor (Lprmon.dll)
AppleTalk port monitor (Sfmmon.dll)
DEC network port monitor (Decpsmon.dll)
Lexmark Mark Vision port monitor
(Lexmon.dll)
Print Monitor
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(Page 3)
Supported port monitors (con.):
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NetWare port monitor (Nwmon.dll)
Standard TCP/IP port monitor (SFM)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) port
monitor
PJL monitor (Pjlmon.dll)
Printer Driver Software
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(Page 1)
Provides an interface between the client
and the printer
Takes application-specific file data and
translated data into formats suitable for
printing on a specific make and model
Printer Driver Software
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(Page 2)
Printers differ from manufacturer to
manufacturer, even from model to model
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Printer driver contains the differences in
these details
Shields application developers from writing
code to drive every kind of print device
Puts the task of building file translation
routines on the print device manufacturers
Printing Across the Network
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By far the most common print scenario on
Microsoft networks
Typical options:
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Print to printer connected to print server
through a parallel or serial port
Print to printer connected directly to
network
The Printing Process
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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
Installing and Managing Printers
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Printers and Faxes window
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To create a printer:
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Starting point for printer installation and
management
"Add a printer" command in Quick List
To set properties:
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Right-click printer
Choose Properties from shortcut menu
Creating a Local Printer
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Appears in Printer window with it own icon
Answer questions:
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Is printer Plug and Play compatible?
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?
Should printer be shared with the network?
Connecting to a Remote Printer
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Use the same "Add a printer" link in the
Printers and Faxes window
Choose to connect to a network printer
Choose from list of shared printers
Drivers do not need to be installed locally
Create a New Printer
1.
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Local printer attached to this computer
Searching…unable to detect…
Create a new port—Type of port:
Standard TCP/IP port
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4.
(Page 1)
The Add Standard TCP/IP Port Wizard
IP address is 192.168.1.90
Manufacturer—Lexmark; Printer—
Lexmark Optra S 1625 PS
Create a New Printer
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(Page 2)
Install driver
Printer name; Do you want to use this
printer as the default printer?
Do not share this printer
Do you want to print a test page?
Finish
Managing Print Jobs
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Printers and Faxes window
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Double-click the printer icon to display all
current print jobs and manage print queue
Select print job and choose the appropriate
menu option, i.e.
 To
delete a print job, choose Cancel from
the Document menu, allowing the next job
in the queue to begin
 Or right-click the print job’s list entry, and
select Pause or Cancel (continues printing
until the print device has finished with the
spooled data)
Configuring A Printer
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Use printer Properties dialog box
Right-click printer in the Printers and
Faxes window
Choose Properties
General Tab
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Variety of controls to set values which are
seen when window is in List view including
printer location and a text comment
<Printing Preferences…> button launches
dialog with other options including:
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Paper size, orientation, duplexing, page
order, pages per sheet, color, etc.
Also available from shortcut menu (rightclick) for printer
Sharing Tab
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Like Sharing tab used when creating
shared directory
Select “Share this printer” option button
Provide Share name for printer
Ports Tab
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Adjust settings for ports selected for use
with a particular print device
Includes interrupts and base I/O addresses
Bidirectional printing option
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Checked for printers that are able to send
status information back to the print monitor
Can be use to set up a printer pool when
output might be sent to one of a list of print
devices based upon current availability
Printer Pool
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Configured on Ports tab
More than one print device assigned to
single logical printer
Should be physically close
Fastest printer should be first
Advanced Tab
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(Page 1)
Used to set the hours during which the
printer is available, printer priority
Spooling options:
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Start printing after last page is spooled, or
start printing immediately
Print directly to printer
Holding mismatched documents
 I.e. page setup and printer setup are
incompatible
Hold in print queue after printing complete
Advanced Tab
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<Printing Defaults…> button
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(Page 2)
Same as on General tab
Create separator pages (.sep files)
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Extra page or pages that print before each
print job to identify it
Helpful when several users are share the
same printer
Separator Page Codes
Sample Separator Page
!B!S
!N
!I
!T
!U
!E
Color Management Tab
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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
Security Tab
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Similar to those for secure files and
directories
Set permissions for printer
Three main permissions for printers:
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Print
Manage Documents
Manage Printers
Device Settings Tab
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Used to configure print device options
including:
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Paper trays and other accessories
Memory
Printers And The Web
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Includes Web support in print subsystem
Remote users can:
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Submit print jobs for printing
View printer queues
Download print drivers
Accessible only when print server is
running Internet Information Server (IIS)
Managing the Print Server
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Print Server Properties dialog box
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(Page 1)
From File menu select Server Properties
Forms tab—used to define paper sizes
Ports tab—lists all known ports and
installed printers on those ports, if any
Managing the Print Server
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Drivers tab— lists installed printer drivers
Advanced tab— offers control over spool
file location and several events
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(Page 2)
Events appear in System log viewed from
"Event Viewer" in Administrative Tools
Default location for spooled files is:
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%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers
The systemroot usually is "C:\WINDOWS"
Troubleshooting Printing Problems
(Page 1)
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Identify which of the seven components of
the printing process is failing:
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(1) printer creation and configuration, (2)
connecting to a shared printer, (3) creating
a print job, (4) sending the print job to the
spooler, (5) processing the spooled job, (6)
sending the processed job to the print
device, or (7) printing at the device
Troubleshooting Printing Problems
(Page 2)
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To find the correct one, analyze symptoms
of the problem:
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Change the configuration as applied to that
part of the process
Test configuration to see if print job works
If the print job now works, you found the
right part; if not, start over
Troubleshooting Printing Problems
(Page 2)
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After identifying the problem, look for
documented solutions:
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Online
In the manuals that ship with Windows XP
Professional or the printer
In the Microsoft Knowledge Base
(http://support.microsoft.com/search/)
Implement a short-term solution
Implement a long-term solution, if possible
Troubleshooting in General
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Check the physical aspects of the printer
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(Page 1)
Cable, power, paper, toner, etc.
Start and restart the spooler
Terminate and reshare the printer on the
print server
Use a different application, user account,
or computer to print to the same printer
Check for stalled print jobs
Make sure the printer is online
Troubleshooting in General
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(Page 2)
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 from the
Windows XP "Help and Support Center"
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From Start button  Help and Support
Click "Printing and faxing"
Troubleshooting Network Printing
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Verify basic network connectivity
Create local printer and redirect its port to
network printer
Print from a DOS-based program
Ping printer’s IP address
Stopping and Restarting the Print
Spooler
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Use Services tool in Administrative Tools
Sometimes, stopping and restarting the
Spooler service can clear up problems
that are difficult to troubleshoot
Fax Support
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Printers and Faxes applet
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"Install a local Fax printer" from Quick List
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
Case Projects 9-1 & 9-2, p. 461