Windows: Adding a Printer for All Users

If you would like to add a printer to a shared computer so that it is added for every user of the computer, follow the steps below. If you were looking for the standard instructions those can be found here: Windows: Adding a Printer

Identifying the printer you need 

• You can visit https://print.ads.carleton.edu/printers/ to see all the shared network printers on campus (must be on campus or on the VPN to view)

• Printers are named in the form BLDGroom-Model, for example: CMC104-CC5550

• Make sure to check the Department or Printer Comments to make sure you have access to the printer

Adding the Printer or Printers

Be sure you are connected to the Carleton network (Eduroam or wired network on campus, or the VPN if you are off campus)

1. Click on the Windows icon in the bottom left-hand corner 

2. Begin typing "Command Prompt"

3. Once you see "Command Prompt", right-click the result and choose the "Run as Administrator" option

   • You may be asked for administrator-level approval to install the printer drivers. If you are, use your .\admin username and password. Contact the ITS Helpdesk if you need this admin password reset for you at go.carleton.edu/helpdesk or 507-222-5999.

4. Once you have opened up the Command Prompt Window it looks something like this image:
   

   • It does not matter what appears before the ">" symbol in the command prompt

5. To use this window, you will type one line of a command that starts right after the > symbol, then press the Enter key when you get to the end of the command you are typing. Replace all the places that say "CMC104-CC5051" with the name of the printer you are adding

1. Enter the following three commands to delete any existing printer information that might conflict with the printer you are about to add. You can ignore any pop-up error messages after each command:

   • printui /gd /n\\goprint.its.carleton.edu\CMC104-CC5051
     printui /dn /n\\print.ads.carleton.edu\CMC104-CC5051
     printui /gd /n\\print.ads.carleton.edu\CMC104-CC5051
2. Enter the following command to add a printer for all users:

   • printui /ga /n\\print.ads.carleton.edu\CMC104-CC5051

3. After waiting at least 10 minutes, you can see the new printer by logging out and logging in again. Each user will get this new printer added the next time they log into this computer.

4. Once the printer appears in the Printers folder, each user may change the Printing Preferences.

List of All Printers Added

To see a list of all the printers that have been "globally added" (added using these steps, so that one printer is added for multiple users) follow these steps:

1. Open the Administrator Command Prompt as before
2. Enter the following command:
3. printui /ge
4. This will open a pop-up window with a list of all the globally added printers