Printers in Device Manager

AndreL

Why are printers so special that they get their own way of installation or update drivers. I've looked on the internet for a reason why printers are not in device manager but can't find an explaintion.

earweed

Good question. I could at most hazard a guess that printers are a more common device used by nearly everyone. By putting them in their own little world it probably makes it easier to control them through Group policy and such. Most of the items in device manager you wouldn't want any average user (including department managers) to have access to whereas printers you would.

LordMarshal

Here is a real general answer to your question. The device manager is an extension of the Microsoft Management Console that provides a central and organized view of all the Microsoft Windows recognized hardware installed in a computer. The device manager is used to manage the hardware devices installed in a computer like hard disk drives, keyboards, sound cards, USB devices, and more.


*Above answer collected from about.com*

I think this is read as though printers are not "installed hardware", meaning more closely system related but rather as something that is added after that fact to the system and not needed for the PC to operate. Just my $.02 though.