Recommended: PMPMgr for Printer Management

If your IT department has to manage every user’s printer connections and using a GPO isn’t an option for whatever reason, I highly recommend you explore using the PMPMgr plug-in created by Bill Stewart (see “Per-Machine Printer Connections + Custom Plug-In,” May 2006, InstantDoc ID 49741). This plug-in provides a nice GUI for per-machine printer management (i.e., all printers on a particular computer). This utility lets you add and remove network printers so that changes apply to all users on the computer. It’s important to note that if a printer was installed using a different method, such as the Add Printer Wizard, this utility won’t be able to remove it because that printer was added on a per-user basis. It won’t change the default printer, although if no other printer is installed, the first one added with PMPMgr becomes the default printer automatically. The utility also can’t add or delete local printers. If you use this tool consistently, it will make per-machine printer management a breeze.

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