Windows 10 - Change Installed Printer Preferences for All Users

[JH13]

Hello,

I'm trying to set the printer preferences/defaults for the printers installed on a particular computer, such that the same preferences are used for all users, even ones who have not logged onto that particular computer before.

After installing the driver downloaded from the HP website, I can of course change the settings via Control Panel > Devices and Printers > (right click on printer) Printing preferences, but these are only saved for my user account, and they are back to the defaults for all other users. Specifically I'm trying to assign a particular printer tray as the Paper Source, and when I've set this for example to Tray 2 on my account, the next user still has the setting as "Automatically select" (the default setting).

Does anyone have experience with this, or an idea of what to try? They are network printers, and the computers are running Windows 10. I've also tried running Print Management as an administrators and changing the preferences there, but the result is the same. I have tried this with both the specific driver for HP LaserJet M605 and also with the HP universal driver with no success.

Thank you,

JH

[John_Getzke · Accepted solution]

> I'm trying to set the printer preferences/defaults for the printers installed on a particular computer, such that the same preferences are used for all users, even ones who have not logged onto that particular computer before.

I would suggest setting up and configuring a Print Server. That way you can setup the defaults for a queue on the print server and lock them down.  If someone wants to print they will pull the settings you configured and be forced to use them.

> After installing the driver downloaded from the HP website, I can of course change the settings via Control Panel > Devices and Printers > (right click on printer) Printing preferences, but these are only saved for my user account, and they are back to the defaults for all other users.

Correct, that is how Windows manages individual workstations and printer configurations.  Each user Profile is unique and you cannot configure a template to apply to new user profiles before they exist.  The best thing you can do is try to configure a logon script that runs after a user logs in, checks for variables and applys changes for you.

> Specifically I'm trying to assign a particular printer tray as the Paper Source, and when I've set this for example to Tray 2 on my account, the next user still has the setting as "Automatically select" (the default setting).

Automatic is normally a better option.  Configuring unique properties on the physical tray would give you better control over this process.  For example if you have Letter and Legal paper loaded, configure tray 2 to letter and tray 1 to legal.  When the users create a job with a legal paper dimension the printer will search its trays, find a match and print to tray 1.  As long as the queues are set to automatic the printer can apply the correct tray automatically.  Configuring the trays in an application will force the printer to attemp to print to that tray, even if its empty or the incorrect paper size and usually leads to more headaches down the road.

> I've also tried running Print Management as an administrators and changing the preferences there, but the result is the same. 

Print Management is the equivalent to running a Print Server.  For Windows to install a queue from a print server it normally has to enter a unique IP address compared to its own.  But if you can get other profiles to see the Print Management service of that machine then it should work.  Just make sure you are installing the correct queue and it should work.

Print Management in your context is better applied from an external machine that is highly available like a server or a maintenance workstation.  Something that is always powered on and available to the network.  We often rig up workstations to sit in the communcations closet of a remote office and function as a print server.  Windows clients dont know the difference.

[JH13]

Thank you for your detailed response! We do have a Print Server already, so I will try to see what I can do there.

These printers are used in a hotel, so we have one printer installed as "Invoice Printer" and one as "Blank Paper Printer," so that everything in the hotel management system which is printed to the Invoice Printer will be printed from Tray 2, which has the invoice paper, and everything printed to Blank Paper Printer will be printed from Tray 3 with the blank paper. If a tray is out of paper, then printing should not proceed until the proper paper type is printed. I will try to "install" the same printer (via IP address) on the Print Server twice with two different names and default setting and see if this is a solution.