USB printer does not work in terminal services/Server 2003

billbobaggins

Trying to connect a remote office location via terminal services/Windows Server 2003 R2. The existing printers that have parallel cables work fine. All of the printers that use USB will not work. Several of the workstaions only have USB connections.

Is there a way to get Terminal Services to recognize these USB printers? HELP PLEASE.

RussS

OK - several things to do.

1. Ensure the TS has the correct print drivers for those printers. Your pointer for this will be in the System Logs - TermServDevice errors. You don't need to install the printers - just the drivers in the Server Properties area in the Printers & Faxes section.

2. Update your users to the latest RDP client.

3. Make sure the clients are configured correctly.




Of course - there are some printers that will not run in a TS environment, but forcing them to use a HP LJ4 driver sometimes resolves this issue.

rubberToe

From my experience it usually boils down to a driver issue. Microsoft does not officially support USB printing until server 2008.

Make sure you have the most up to date driver for the platform in which you are connecting to TS from.

Look for newer / older drivers, try other NT platform [2000] drivers even.

Install them on the server via:

Control Panel>Printers/Faxes>File menu>Server Properties>Driver Tab>Add

Double check client configurations.