70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional Printing and Faxing 70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Printing Terminology Creating a printer Direct-attached printer Network interface printer Print device Print Server services Printer (logical printer) Printer driver Printer pool Rendering

Rendering a Printed Document (Page 1) 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: Print driver if a local printer Print server if a network printer

Rendering a Printed Document (Page 2) 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 Several components that: Turn print data into a printable file Transfer that file to a printer Manage one or more print jobs Components: GDI Printer driver Print spooler

Graphical Device Interface (GDI) Begins process of producing visual output Makes possible WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) output Output goes to either printer or screen 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 (Page 1) Windows XP software component that enables an application to communicate with printer through IP Manager Executive Services module in the Windows XP kernel

Printer Driver (Page 2) Subcomponents: 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 (Page 3) Printer drivers not compatible across hardware platforms 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 (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 Find it in "Services" applet of Administrative Tools or Processes tab of "Task Manager"

Print Spooler (Page 2) Accepts data from print provider in two main data types: 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 (Page 3) After spool file is created, control restored to application that created print job Other processing can resume in foreground Spooler service components include: Print router Local and remote print providers Print processors Print monitor

Print Router Sends print requests from client (the application machine) to print server 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 Server-side software that sends print job to server in the format required by that server Print providers: 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 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 EMF data files Three kinds of RAW data files Text files

Print Monitor (Page 1) Final link in printing process consisting of: 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 (Page 2) Supported port monitors: 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 (Page 3) Supported port monitors (con.): NetWare port monitor (Nwmon.dll) Standard TCP/IP port monitor (SFM) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) port monitor PJL monitor (Pjlmon.dll)

Printer Driver Software (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 (Page 2) Printers differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, even from model to model 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 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

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

Installing and Managing Printers Printers and Faxes window Starting point for printer installation and management To create a printer: "Add a printer" command in Quick List To set properties: Right-click printer Choose Properties from shortcut menu

Creating a Local Printer Appears in Printer window with it own icon Answer questions: 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 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 (Page 1) Local printer attached to this computer Searching…unable to detect… Create a new port—Type of port: Standard TCP/IP port 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 (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 Printers and Faxes window 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 Use printer Properties dialog box Right-click printer in the Printers and Faxes window Choose Properties

General Tab 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: Paper size, orientation, duplexing, page order, pages per sheet, color, etc. Also available from shortcut menu (right-click) for printer

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

Ports Tab Adjust settings for ports selected for use with a particular print device Includes interrupts and base I/O addresses Bidirectional printing option 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 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 (Page 1) Used to set the hours during which the printer is available, printer priority Spooling options: 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 (Page 2) <Printing Defaults…> button Same as on General tab Create separator pages (.sep files) 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 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 Similar to those for secure files and directories Set permissions for printer Three main permissions for printers: Print Manage Documents Manage Printers

Device Settings Tab Used to configure print device options including: Paper trays and other accessories Memory

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)

Managing the Print Server (Page 1) Print Server Properties dialog box 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 (Page 2) Drivers tab— lists installed printer drivers Advanced tab— offers control over spool file location and several events Events appear in System log viewed from "Event Viewer" in Administrative Tools Default location for spooled files is: %systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers The systemroot usually is "C:\WINDOWS"

Troubleshooting Printing Problems (Page 1) Identify which of the seven components of the printing process is failing: (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) To find the correct one, analyze symptoms of the problem: 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) After identifying the problem, look for documented solutions: 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 (Page 1) Check the physical aspects of the printer 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 (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" From Start button  Help and Support Click "Printing and faxing"

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

Fax Support Printers and Faxes applet Not enabled by default "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