1. 70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Printing and Faxing
70-270: MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Professional

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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"

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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)

18. 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)

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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?

25. 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

26. 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
Manufacturer—Lexmark; Printer—Lexmark Optra S 1625 PS

27. 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

28. 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)

29. Configuring A Printer Use printer Properties dialog box
Right-click printer in the Printers and Faxes window
Choose Properties

30. 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

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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. Separator Page Codes

37. Sample Separator Page
!B!S !N !I !T !U !E

38. 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

39. Security Tab Similar to those for secure files and directories
Set permissions for printer
Three main permissions for printers:
Print
Manage Documents
Manage Printers

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

41. 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)

42. 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

43. 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"

44. 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

45. 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

46. 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 (
Implement a short-term solution
Implement a long-term solution, if possible

47. 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

48. 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"

49. 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

50. 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

51. 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

52. Case Projects 9-1 & 9-2, p. 461