Auto Printer Creation
Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server will allow users to access their local printers within the RDP session. This feature is called auto printer creation. If users log on via RDP their local printers will automatically be created inside the RDP session and deleted again on logoff. The redirected client printers are private to each session. With all printer models which are part of the standard windows printer driver database this will work out of the box.
IMPORTANT :
a) For printer drivers which are not part of the standard windows printer driver database you will have to add the specific printer driver once on the server to make auto printer creation work for this specific printer too.
b) With the exception of Vista Home Basic and Home Premium Auto printer creation should work on all MS operating systems which are supported by XP/VS Terminal Server if you enable this feature on the RDP client side before connecting.
c) If a user connects using (at least) the Microsoft RDP 5 client all printers which have a port type other then COM, LPT or USB will by default not be redirected!
To enable redirection of those port types please follow this MS knowlegdebase article:
This fix is not needed if (at least) the Microsoft RDP 6 client is used
To resolve this problem on a computer that is not running Windows Server 2003, force all ports (including DOT4) on the client computer to be ltered for redirection. To do this, add a DWORD value named FilterQueueType
to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIn\RDPDR
and set its value data to FFFFFFFF.
Follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIn\RDPDR
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type FilterQueueType, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type FFFFFFFF, and then click OK.
d) We have also heard from many customers that Auto Printer creation may fail if the printer drivers on the XP/VS Server system are not installed directly through the inf les which are provided by the printer manufacturer. Some customers have reported that if the printer drivers are installed through the vendors setup program (exe or msi file) Auto Printer Creation will fail with Windows event log entries stating that Auto Printer creation has failed because the right printer driver could not be found.
A very interesting article about auto printer creation can be read here.
NOTE! This applies only for "old" Windows operating systems !
For newer onces - up from Windows 7/ Windows Server 2008 - Microsoft introduced the feature "TS Easy Print".
Here a general printer driver will be used for supported devices - called "Remote Desktop Easy Print printer driver"
Futher Information you will find here: FAQ: TS Easy Print