Add printers to the local print server automatically

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Vista

Print Management (Printmanagement.msc) can automatically detect all printers located on the same subnet as the print server, install the appropriate printer drivers, set up the queues, and share the printers. Unless a printer driver cannot be found, no intervention is needed.

If you want to automatically detect printers for a branch office or another location beyond the subnet of your server, use Remote Desktop to log on to the remote print server and start the process from that computer. You need to have administrator permissions on the computer where the printers will be added. Once you connect to the remote server by using Remote Desktop, you can search for network printers by starting Print Management or by running \windows\pmcsnap\fnprinters.exe from the command line.

To add network printers to the local printer server automatically

1. Open the Administrative Tools folder, and then double-click Print Management.

2. In the Printer Management tree, right-click ServerName (local), click Automatically Add Network Printers, and then click Start to automatically locate and install printers found on this server's local subnet.

   Note

   You may be prompted to specify which driver you want to install for a printer, but otherwise, the process is automatic.