Terminal Server, Remote Desktop and Local Printers

this post is a quicky...

When using Remote Desktop to connect to a Terminal Server it is often convenient to have your local printers available to you on the Terminal Server.

From the Remote Desktop window, click options before you connect and go to the "Local Resources" tab. From there select "Printers".

Sounds easy, and I've done that a million times without my printer connecting to my terminal session... quite frustrating.

There are three more things that have to be setup for this to work:

1. The administrator of the Terminal Server has to allow local printers to be connected. If this privledge has been revoked there is nothing you can do except harass your admin.
2. The printer driver has to be available on the Terminal Server. Now, usually the connection process just grabs the driver from the local computer. BUT, if your printer driver does not work with Windows Server, you are again out of luck!
3. Only printer ports that start COM, LTP or USB are connected to Windows 2003. The good news here is that there is a workaround if your printer is connected to a port with a different name (like DOT4 or PDF). The workaround involves editing the registry on the local computer. Here's the Microsoft KB article.

Kinda sounds like one of those things where all the planets have to be in alignment, eh!? So, consider this next time you purchase a printer: Will it work with my operating system AND with Windows Server? If you ever want to connect to a Terminal Server you'll need a printer with a driver that works on Windows Server.

Thats a wrap!