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Creating a Custom Printer Mapping File

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can create or modify an existing custom printer mapping file to define mappings from client-side drivers to server-side drivers on the terminal server.

To perform the following procedures on the terminal server, you must have membership in the local Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Step one: Create or modify an .inf file

Using a text editor such as Notepad, create or modify an .inf file to include the user-defined mappings from the client-side driver to the server-side driver. Follow the format used in the following example:

;NTPRINTSUBS.INF
;Printer mapping file for client-side to server-side drivers
[Printers]
"OEM Printer Driver Name" = "Windows Server 2008 Driver Name"

For example:

"HP DeskJet 720C Series v10.3" = "HP DeskJet 722C"

The left side of the equation is the exact name of the printer driver that is associated with the client-side print queue that is being redirected to the server.

To obtain the exact name of the client-side driver

  1. On the client computer, in Control Panel, open Printers.

  2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.

    The exact name of the printer driver appears on the General tab, next to Model.

Note

You can also click the Advanced tab and view the driver name in the Driver list.

The right side of the equation is the exact name of the server-side driver equivalent that is installed on the terminal server.

To obtain the exact name of the server-side driver

  1. On the terminal server, in Control Panel, open Printers.

  2. On the File menu, click Server Properties.

  3. The exact name of the printer driver is listed on the Drivers tab in the Name column.

Note

If the server-side printer driver that you want to use is not installed, click Add, and then follow the instructions in the Add Printer Driver Wizard to install the printer driver.

Step two: Configure the registry

After you create the printer mapping file, you must configure the registry to point to the printer mapping .inf file, and to the correct section of the printer mapping file that contains the user-defined mappings.

Warning

Incorrectly editing the registry might severely damage your system. Before you make changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data.

To use a custom printer mapping file

  1. On the terminal server, open Registry Editor. To do this, click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

  2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

  3. Locate the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd

  4. Create a registry entry for the printer mapping file name. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Right-click the rdpwd subkey, point to New, and then click String Value.

    2. Type PrinterMappingINFName as the entry name, and then press ENTER.

    3. Right-click PrinterMappingINFName, and then in the Value data box, enter the path and name of the .inf file to which you want to redirect lookups. For example, type c:\windows\inf\ntprintsubs.inf.

    4. When you finish, click OK.

  5. Create a registry entry for the section of the .inf file to which you want to redirect lookups. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Right-click the rdpwd subkey, point to New, and then click String Value.

    2. Type PrinterMappingINFSection as the entry name, and then press ENTER.

    3. Right-click PrinterMappingINFSection, and then in the Value data box, enter the name of the section in the .inf file that contains the user-defined mappings. For example, type Printers.

    4. When you finish, click OK.

  6. Close Registry Editor.

Important

For the changes to take effect, you must restart the Print Spooler service on the terminal server.