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Prncnfg.vbs

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Configures or displays configuration information about a printer. Used without parameters, prncnfg.vbs displays command-line help for the prncnfg.vbs command.

To display configuration information about a printer

Syntax

cscript prncnfg.vbs -g [-s RemoteComputer] -p PrinterName [-u UserName -w Password]

Parameters

-g   : Required. Specifies that you want to display configuration information about a printer.

-s   RemoteComputer   : Specifies, by name, the remote computer that manages the printer about which you want to display information. If you do not specify a computer, the local computer is used.

-p   PrinterName   : Required. Specifies, by name, the printer about which you want to display information.

-u   UserName   -w   Password   : Specifies an account with permissions to connect by using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) services to the computer that hosts the printer about which you want to display information. All members of the Administrators group for that computer have these permissions, but the permissions can also be granted to other users. If you do not specify an account, you must be logged on under an account with these permissions for the command to work. For more information on WMI, see Related Topics.

/? : Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

  • This command starts a script that is located in the systemroot\system32 directory. You must type this command at a command prompt with that directory as the current directory, or you must type the full path to that directory at the beginning of the cscript command.

  • If the information that you supply contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text (for example, "Computer Name").

Example

To display configuration information for the printer named ColorPrinter_2 whose print queue is hosted by the remote computer named HRServer, type:

cscript prncnfg.vbs -g -s HRServer -p ColorPrinter_2

To configure a printer

Syntax

cscript prncnfg.vbs -t [-s RemoteComputer] -p PrinterName [-u UserName -w Password] [-r PortName] [-l Location] [-m Comment] [-h ShareName] [-f SeparatorText] [-y DataType] [-st StartTime] [-ut EndTime] [-o Priority] [-i DefaultPriority] [{+ | -}shared] [{+ | -}direct] [{+ | -}published] [{+ | -}hidden] [{+ | -}rawonly] [{+ | -}queued] [{+ | -}keepprintedjobs] [{+ | -}workoffline] [{+ | -}enabledevq] [{+ | -}docompletefirst][{+ | -}enablebidi]

Parameters

-t   : Required. Specifies that you want to configure a printer.

-s   RemoteComputer   : Specifies, by name, the remote computer that manages the printer you want to configure. If you do not specify a computer, the printer is configured on the local computer.

-p   PrinterName   : Required. Specifies, by name, the printer you want to configure.

-u   UserName   -w   Password   : Specifies an account with permissions to connect by using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) services to the computer on which you want to configure a printer. All members of the Administrators group for that computer have these permissions, but the permissions can also be granted to other users. If you do not specify an account, you must be logged on under an account with these permissions for the command to work. For more information on WMI, see Related Topics.

-r   PortName   : Specifies the port to which the printer is connected. If this is a parallel or a serial port, then use the ID of the port (for example, LPT1 or COM1). If this is a TCP/IP port, then use the port name that was specified when the port was added. For more information, see Related Topics.

-l   Location   : Specifies the printer location, such as "Copier Room."

-m   Comment   : Specifies the comment string.

-h   ShareName   : Specifies the share name.

-f   SeparatorText   : Specifies a file that contains the text that appears on the separator page.

-y   DataType   : Specifies the data types that the printer can accept. For more information on data types, see Related Topics.

-st   StartTime   : Configures the printer for limited availability. Specifies the time of day after which the printer is available. If you send a document to a printer when it is unavailable, the document is held (spooled) until the printer becomes available. You must specify time as a 24-hour clock. For example, to specify 11 P.M., type 2300.

-ut   EndTime   : Configures the printer for limited availability. Specifies the time of day after which the printer is no longer available. If you send a document to a printer when it is unavailable, the document is held (spooled) until the printer becomes available. You must specify time as a 24-hour clock. For example, to specify 11 P.M., type 2300.

-o   Priority   : Specifies a priority that the spooler uses to route print jobs. A print queue with a higher priority receives all its jobs before any queue with a lower priority.

-i   DefaultPriority   : Specifies the default priority assigned to each print job.

{ + | - } shared   : Specifies whether this printer is shared on the network.

{ + | - } direct   : Specifies whether the document should be sent directly to the printer without being spooled.

{ + | - } published   : Specifies whether this printer should be published in Active Directory. If you publish the printer, other users can search for it based on its location and capabilities, such as color printing and stapling.

{ + | - } hidden   : Reserved function.

{ + | - } rawonly   : Specifies whether only raw data print jobs can be spooled on this queue.

{ + | - } queued   : Specifies that the printer should not begin to print until after the last page of the document is spooled. The printing program is unavailable until the document has finished printing. However, using this option ensures that the whole document is available to the printer.

{ + | - } keepprintedjobs   : Specifies whether the spooler should retain documents after they are printed. Enabling this option allows a user to resubmit a document to the printer from the print queue instead of from the printing program.

{ + | - } workoffline   : Specifies whether you should be able to send print jobs to the print queue even if your computer is not connected to the network.

{ + | - } enabledevq   : Specifies whether print jobs that do not match the printer setup (for example, PostScript files spooled to non-PostScript printers) should be held in the queue rather than being printed.

{ + | - } docompletefirst   : Specifies whether the spooler should send to the appropriate queue print jobs with a lower priority that have completed spooling before sending to the same queue print jobs with a higher priority that have not completed spooling. If this option is enabled and no documents have completed spooling, the spooler will send larger documents before smaller ones. You should enable this option if you want to maximize printer efficiency at the cost of job priority. If this option is disabled, the spooler always sends higher priority jobs to their respective queues first.

{ + | - } enablebidi   : Specifies whether the printer sends status information to the spooler.

/? : Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

  • This command starts a script that is located in the systemroot\system32 directory. You must type this command at a command prompt with that directory as the current directory, or you must type the full path to that directory at the beginning of the cscript command.

  • If the information that you supply contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text (for example, "Computer Name").

Example

To configure a printer named ColorPrinter_2 so that the spooler in the remote computer named HRServer keeps print jobs after they have been printed, type:

cscript prncnfg.vbs -t -s HRServer -p ColorPrinter_2 +keepprintedjobs

To change the name of a printer

Syntax

cscript prncnfg.vbs -x [-s RemoteComputer] -p PrinterName -z NewPrinterName [-u UserName -w Password]

Parameters

-x   : Required. Specifies that you want to change the name of a printer.

-s   RemoteComputer   : Specifies, by name, the remote computer that manages the printer you want to rename. If you do not specify a computer, the local computer is used.

-p   PrinterName   : Required. Specifies the current printer name.

-z   NewPrinterName   : Required. Specifies the new printer name.

-u   UserName   -w   Password   : Specifies an account with permissions to connect by using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) services to the computer that hosts the printer you want to rename. All members of the Administrators group for that computer have these permissions, but the permissions can also be granted to other users. If you do not specify an account, you must be logged on under an account with these permissions for the command to work. For more information on WMI, see Related Topics.

/? : Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

  • This command starts a script that is located in the systemroot\system32 directory. You must type this command at a command prompt with that directory as the current directory, or you must type the full path to that directory at the beginning of the cscript command.

  • If the information that you supply contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text (for example, "Computer Name").

Example

To change the name of a printer on the remote computer named HRServer from ColorPrinter_2 to ColorPrinter_3, type:

cscript prncnfg.vbs -x -s HRServer -p ColorPrinter_2 -z ColorPrinter_3

Formatting legend

Format

Meaning

Italic

Information that the user must supply

Bold

Elements that the user must type exactly as shown

Ellipsis (...)

Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line

Between brackets ([])

Optional items

Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd}

Set of choices from which the user must choose only one

Courier font

Code or program output

Prndrvr.vbs

Prnjobs.vbs

Prnmngr.vbs

Prnport.vbs

Prnqctl.vbs

Command-line reference A-Z

Print processors and data types

WMI overview

WMI overview