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)

1. Application/service sends output file information to graphical device interface (GDI)

2. GDI performs necessary processing to convert information to an output format and sends it to printer

3. Data directed to: Print driver if a local printer Print server if a network printer

Rendering a Printed Document (Page 2)

4. The driver/server translates print job into mixture of text and control characters to produce output on designated printer

5. Print job file stored in a spooling file (print queue) until its turn for printing comes up

6. File sent to printer where individual pages are converted into print image

7. 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 monitorControls 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)

1. Local printer attached to this computer

2. Searching…unable to detect…

3. 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

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

Create a New Printer (Page 2)

5. Install driver

6. Printer name; Do you want to use this printer as the default printer?

7. Do not share this printer

8. Do you want to print a test page?

9. 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 "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