Re: 64bit Windows 2008 Terminal Services and printing
Vera, I appreciate your efforts in trying to help me.
But I feel that perhaps I've not asked my question clearly enough. So
let me elaborate a bit. We currently run 32bit Windows terminal
servers. But in order for a client to print to one of their local
printers they must use a print driver that matches exactly one that is
also installed on the terminal server. Fortunately MS supplies
hundreds of print drivers with both their server and client OSes. We
have a list of terminal server supported printers so there are many
possible printer drivers that a client may successfully use.
But what happens if we upgrade our terminal server(s) to 64bit Windows
2008? Will our clients still be able to print? Will any 32bit client
print driver have a good match with a 64bit terminal server print
driver?
For example, HP has developed both 32bit and 64bit printer drivers for
their very popular LaserJet 4+ printer. A 32bit Windows client PC
needs to install the 32bit print driver, and a 64bit terminal server
needs to install the 64bit version of the print driver. But will the
drivers match for terminal services printing?
Our terminal services clients are outside customers of ours and we
allow most Windows PCs to connect to our terminal servers. We have
customers connecting with PCs running Windows 2000, XP, Vista, etc.
Although Easy Print sounds like a promising new development most of
our clients do not (or cannot) meet the requirements. Limiting our
customers to only PCs running Windows XP SP3 or VISTA SP1 is just not
possible at this time.
You said that "If you can't use Easy Print...then I wouldn't use a
64-bit OS on my Terminal Server".
Therefore you believe that printing will be a very big problem for us
if we upgrade our terminal servers, right?
On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 04:43:57 -0800, "Vera Noest [MVP]"
<vera.noest@remove-this.hem.utfors.se> wrote:
>Maby printer manufacturers haven't even bothered to create a 64-bit
>printer driver, especially not for printers which are mostly used
>by home users, since they seldom run a 64-bit OS.
>
>If you can't use Easy Print, because your clients can't install XP
>SP3 (but why can't they?), then I wouldn't use a 64-bit OS on my
>Terminal Server.
>
>For HP printers, you can find information about TS compatible
>drivers here:
>
>http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?
>objectID=c00213455
>
>_________________________________________________________
>Vera Noest
>MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
>TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
>___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___
>
>nospam@nospam.com wrote on 01 mar 2008 in
>microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services:
>
>>
>> OK. I'm just trying to get some sense for the consequences of
>> moving to 64bit Windows 2008 Terminal Services. If we choose to
>> use only the printer drivers supplied by Microsoft with the new
>> server OS, how will this affect most of my clients? Would a
>> typical client running 32bit Windows XP and using a printer
>> driver included with XP likely to match or not?
>>
>> For example, would a client who is using the HP LaserJet 4+
>> driver provided with Windows XP find that he can continue to
>> print when connecting to a new 64bit Windows 2008 Terminal
>> Server?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:46:58 -0800, "Vera Noest [MVP]"
>> <vera.noest@remove-this.hem.utfors.se> wrote:
>>
>>>That depends on the manufacturer, but more important: most 3rd
>>>party printer drivers are not (fully) compatible with TS. So
>>>installing the printer driver on the TS is a big risk.
>>>
>>>_________________________________________________________
>>>Vera Noest
>>>MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
>>>TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
>>>___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___
>>>
>>>Alex <nospam@nospam.com> wrote on 29 feb 2008 in
>>>microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services:
>>>
>>>> Since Easy Print is only available for clients running VISTA
>>>> SP1
>>>or
>>>> Windows XP SP3, plus the client must have XPS enabled and .Net
>>>3.0
>>>> loaded, I don't expect it to be a good solution for many of
>>>> our clients.
>>>>
>>>> Will a 32bit client printer driver match a 64bit printer
>>>> driver available from the same manufacturer?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:17:13 -0800, "Vera Noest [MVP]"
>>>> <vera.noest@remove-this.hem.utfors.se> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Windows 2008 TS has a new feature called Easy Print, which
>>>>>solves problems like this. No need for driver installation on
>>>>>the TS anymore!
>>>>>
>>>>>Read about the details here:
>>>>>
>>>>>WS2008: Terminal Services Printing
>>>>>http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/17/ws2008-
>>>>>terminal-services-printing.aspx
>>>>>
>>>>>_________________________________________________________
>>>>>Vera Noest
>>>>>MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
>>>>>TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
>>>>>___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___
>>>>>
>>>>>Alex <nospam@nospam.com> wrote on 29 feb 2008 in
>>>>>microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Does anyone know whether we should expect to run into
>>>>>> printer driver issues when connecting a 32bit Windows client
>>>>>> PC to a 64bit Windows 2008 Terminal Server?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I assume that the 64bit Windows 2008 Server machine will
>>>>>> need
>>>to
>>>>>> have 64bit printer drivers installed. But will the old
>>>>>> 32bit printer drivers installed on our client PCs work or
>>>>>> must some kind of update be done?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you!
>>>>>> ---Alex