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x86 XP printer drivers to x64 Win2K8 print server


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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

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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 Drivers

Check 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.html

Hopefully it'll help :)

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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.

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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>mag-glass_10x10.gif 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.
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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.

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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 by spacekowboy
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