spacekowboy Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 How do I add 32bit XP printer drivers to my Win2K8 x64 server?I've followed a few how-to's on the web without success. I've tried adding the printer through "Print Management" and "Devices and Printers"On the 32bit XP machine I can browse to the printer but when It tries to connect it says the correct drivers are not available.Any suggestions would be appreciated Quote
NIM Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 Sometime ago I wrote an article about this on our frontpage, so here it is:To get the x86 drivers to work with the x64 Windows 2008 Server you will have to connect to the server from the 32-bit (x86) client and open the printer and faxes share. From the File Menu select Server Properties, then from the Driver Tab add the x86 drivers that you downloaded, and they will then be uploaded to the server.What you should know is that both x86 and x64 drivers MUST have the same name. If they have the same name, they will automatically appear as additional drivers for both architectures in your printer’s sharing properties.On Windows Server 2003 x64, some x86 print drivers are not installable directly at the server console. However, you can browse the network from the x86 machine to \\servername\printers and faxes, open server properties, and add the x86 driver from there.One more issue that you might experience on Windows Server 2008 is an error about the printer driver not matching, where the system is looking for the file NTPRINT.INF. You can get a copy of this file from the Windows 2008 Server x86 CD or from a downloaded x86 driver.Here is the step by step procedure:Access the x64 print server \\PrintserverName\Printers from a x86 Cllient.Open the printer required to add the 32-bit driver.Properties | Sharing Tab | Additional DriversCheck the x86 for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003 checkboxes.Click OK.System will ask you for NTPRINT.INF drivers. Locate the INF file of the print driver for XP (x86) which resides on the Windows Server 2008 CD or in extracted print driver downloaded from the net.Locate the INF file of the printer driver for XP 32-bit. That should be it.If you experience any issues please post your comment below and I will try to help.http://www.wincert.n...bit-or-x64.htmlHopefully it'll help Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Posted August 15, 2011 (edited) From the x32 computer I type \\x64servername I am shown the shared printers. If I try to open, it tries to install the driver and it fails. Edited August 15, 2011 by spacekowboy Quote
NIM Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 Ok, try to add a new printer using IP address (just like you're installing the network printer on the server), only you can. When you're asked to provide a driver, provide the path to your x86 printer driver.Using this steps, you should be able to install the printer, but you won't be using the print queue of the server, but rather on your x86 PC. I hope this is not a problem to you. If yes, I'll try to dig another solution for you. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Posted August 15, 2011 It's hard to beleive that with all the functionality of the Win2K8 server you're saying I'd be better off working around it. Ill give that a shot. Quote
NIM Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 From the x32 computer I type \\x64servername I am shown the shared printers. If I try to open, it tries to install the driver and it fails.Don't do that, don't click on the printer. Just open the share and mark the printer, then go to File | Server Properties, then from the Driver Tab add the x86 drivers that you downloaded, and they will then be uploaded to the server ....To get the x86 drivers to work with the x64 Windows</span> 2008 Server you will have to connect to the server from the 32-bit (x86) client and open the printer and faxes share. From the File Menu select Server Properties, then from the Driver Tab add the x86 drivers that you downloaded, and they will then be uploaded to the server. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 16, 2011 Author Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) I highlight the printer. Click "File" but there are no "Server Properties". Edited August 16, 2011 by spacekowboy Quote
NIM Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 I highlight the printer. Click "File" but there are no "Server Properties".Click ALT on the keyboard, it should show you the Explorer Menu. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 16, 2011 Author Posted August 16, 2011 OK, I got to the Driver Tab. It lists all the drivers. And the printer in question only lists a x64 version. But all buttons are dimmed out except "Properties" Quote
NIM Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 Do you have admin permissions? No matter it lists only x64 drivers, you should be able to add the x86 driver. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 16, 2011 Author Posted August 16, 2011 Admin rights on the workstation, not on the server Quote
NIM Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 If you don't have admin permission on the server, you won't be able to install x86 drivers. Therefore, I think that the only way is to try to map the printer using IP address of the printer. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 17, 2011 Author Posted August 17, 2011 Well, I connected from another machine and logged in to the server with admin rights. Clicking on the Drivers tab it displayed the list of "Installed printer drivers" . I clicked Add and loaded the 32bit drivers from a local flash drive. After that completed, I right clicked the printer icon and chose "Connect" I got the message:You are about to connect to a printer on "servername", which will automatically install a print driver on your machine..............I clicked "Yes" and got the following message:The server for the "printername" printer does not have the correct printer driver installed. If you want to search for the proper printer driver, click OK............so I'm back to square one. Quote
NIM Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 And if you now provide the driver that you have locally? Have you tried that? Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 17, 2011 Author Posted August 17, 2011 Sort of defeats the purpose. Why put the driver on server at all then? Quote
NIM Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 Well, I'm trying to help. it's hard to help if I can't be on your machine/server. Have you tried to use another version of the x86 driver on the server (updated, universal driver etc..) Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 17, 2011 Author Posted August 17, 2011 I'm trying the universal drivers now. I'll post my results. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 17, 2011 Author Posted August 17, 2011 I added in the HP Universal Drivers for XP, Win7, Win2K8, 32bit & 64bit. It still failed pushing the drivers down to the work station. Quote
spacekowboy Posted August 18, 2011 Author Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Well Ive made some progress. From a 32bit windows 7 machine, I browsed to the print server. Clicked on "View Remote Printers" on the toolbar. Right-clicked the printer and chose properties and then the sharing tab. Clicked "Additional Drivers" button and checked the x86 box and clicked "OK". It then began to copy all my local print drivers to the server. After that, from an XP 32bit machine I'm able to connect to the network printer and have it push down drivers. So far so good. I found the info from this link:http://social.techne...0-86be5d497545/Thanks Edited August 18, 2011 by spacekowboy Quote
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