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Hey, Scripting Guy! The Win32_Printer WMI class has several methods that are listed in it. But I am not sure how to best use these methods from inside a Windows PowerShell script. I do not want to create four different scripts to send a test page, clean out print jobs, and to cycle the print queue. Do...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Well it finally happened. Our budget request for new printers was approved. We have gotten them unboxed, distributed, and hooked up to the LAN. We have even downloaded the latest drivers from the Internet, and updated the firmware on several of the printers. The drivers are installed...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I am trying to determine how to use WMI to add a printer connection by using Windows PowerShell. I have found this script , but it uses VBScript and not WMI. This means that it is not very close at all, I am afraid. Do you have a WMI script I can use? - CM Hi CM, Ed looked around...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I am tasked with the problem of documenting printer use on our client workstations. I must be able to determine whether someone prints directly to a printer, or if they are printing through our print servers. This is important because we have purchased a print monitoring software...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I do not know about you, but does it seem that printers are a major pain in the dark side? I mean, they seem to multiply faster than bacteria. They are all just different enough to cause maintenance problems, and forget about trying to keep track of toner cartridges. Do you have any...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Is it possible to delete or remove all network printers from a workstation with a VBScript script, similar to the way you removed all the network drives on a computer? -- WDC Hey, WDC. If you’ve been following our daily TechEd preview report , then you know that the Scripting Guys...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I map a printer based on the local computer’s OU? -- TG Hey, TG. Before we begin, we’d like to offer a sincere and heartfelt apology to the Scripting Editor. In a recent column , we made it sound as if, in her words, the Scripting Editor was a “ditzy teenager.” That, of...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I create a logon script that lists the network printers for the logged-on user, then writes that information to a text file? -- RC Hey, RC. You know, the nice thing about coming to work after a few days off is – well, OK, so maybe we can’t actually think of anything nice...

Hey, Scripting Guy! In a logon script, how can I enable users to choose a default printer from a list of the printers installed on their computer? -- JD Hey, JD. You know, a lot of people write in to say, “Hey, Scripting Guys! Why do you limit yourselves to system administration scripting? Don’t you...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I add a network printer at logon? I’d also like to make that the default printer unless the user has a local printer. In that case I don’t want to make the network printer the default printer. -- DB Hey, DB. So, how are … things ….? That’s really some kind of weather we...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I list all the printers – both local printers and network printers – on a remote computer? -- CH Hey, CH. You know, back when he worked at the University of Washington the Scripting Guy who writes this column was asked to speak at a symposium being held as part of a conference...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I set the default printer based on the IP address of the computer? -- TT Hey, TT. You’ll have to forgive us for being a little distracted this morning. Last night the Scripting Guy who writes this column went to the gym with his 16-year-old son. For the first time ever...

Hey, Scripting Guy! On a Windows XP computer, how can I remove all the black-and-white printers, leaving only color printers? -- JL Hey, JL. You know, in one classic episode of the Simpsons, Bart, in the throes of a sugar high, joins the Junior Campers. The next morning, realizing what he has done...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I print text files to a printer other than the default printer? -- JD Hey, JD. Boy, talk about pride going before the fall. When we first set out to answer this question we already “knew” how to solve the problem. We were well aware that the Shell object provides a way...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I remove all the local printers from a computer? -- JW Hey, JW. You did say that you wanted to do this only on computers running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, didn’t you? You didn’t? Oh. Well, we’re going to pretend that you did, because this is a very easy task to...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I retrieve information about the printer driver used by a specific printer? -- RW Hey, RW. Did you say something? Oh, right: printer drivers. You’ll have to excuse us today: the Scripting Guys (well, one of them anyway) are in mourning. That’s because the Colt League All...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I write a script that will automatically share all the local printers on a computer? -- CD Hey, CD. You know, when we redid the Hey, Scripting Guy! archive we created a new category devoted exclusively to printing. When we started to fill out the archive pages, however...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I use a script to rename a printer? -- SB Hey, SB. Well, if your printer is connected to a Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 print server we have bad news for you: you can’t rename a printer using a script, at least not using the technologies included in the operating system...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I print a test page to a printer? -- RR Hey, RR. As long as you’re running Windows XP this is an easy one; that’s because the revised Win32_Printer class introduced in Windows XP includes a method called PrintTestPage . As you might expect, this means you can bind to a...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I’d like to have a logon script that maps a network printer for each user unless that user already has a local printer. If they have a local printer, I don’t want to add the network printer. Is that possible? -- AG Hey, AG. Not only is that possible, but it’s actually pretty easy...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Is there any way to determine the default printer on a computer? -- JW Hey, JW. If you’re running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, determining the default printer is easy. That’s because the WMI class Win32_Printer found on these versions of Windows includes a property named...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a bunch of text files in a folder. Is there a way to print those files using a script? I know I can use Microsoft Word to print the files from a script, but I don’t have Microsoft Word installed on that computer. -- MA Hey, MA. Don’t tell anyone from Microsoft we said this...