wabewalker,

Thank you for visiting the Dell Community Forum.

The A960 has only been tested under simple Windows File and Print Sharing. You can find information on sharing the printer through File and Print Sharing in the following Knowledge Base article:

How Do I Share the Dell™ A960 All-In-One Printer with Other Computers on My Home Network?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?dn=1088394

Stephen,

Thank you for taking the time to read my question and reply.  Unfortunately, I received the identical advice in an email from Dell Tech Support.  Terminal Services redirects to the local print queue of the client machine.  It does *not* involve print sharing in any fashion. 

What I need is confirmation that the A960 is compatible with Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Client in XP).  Is there is a special driver I need, or a setting to I need to change (maybe in wtsprn.inf)?

I came to the forum for the same question concerning a Dell AIO Printer A940. I have the same issue connecting to a terminal server. Is there a generic printer driver that works with this printer. For example, If a user has an HP All-in-one printer, you can install a generic hp driver to the terminal server like an HP LaserJet III driver and then map it to the all-in-one printer.

If the Dell A960 is connected to the client machine, then I can give you some pointers:

Windows terminal services (XP, 2000, 2000 Pro) will only enumerate local printers by design. This is according to Microsoft's knowledge base. (By local they mean connected to the LPT or COM ports, so printing to a network share or USB printer is not supported.)

All is not lost, however; I did this recently with other printers. There is a workaround, and you're on the right track for Automatic Printer Redirection when you installed the driver on the server. The workaround, though, is a wee bit messy to set up:

1. On the client, install a second copy of the printer driver, and set it to LPT1. Since you've already installed the printer, you can just use windows' Add Printer wizard to install a second copy.

2. Configure windows print sharing on the client machine. You need to create a share for the driver on the USB port. (I'll call the printer share "USB" in my example.)

3. Open a DOS session, and run a command similar to the following:
     net use lpt1 \\DELL\USB /persistent:yes
(I'm assuming the computer is called "DELL".)

4. Since you installed the printer driver on the Terminal Server machine from the Dell CD, the printer drivers will have an exact name match. This is important--otherwise you get to visit Microsoft's Knowledge Base and read about creating the NTPRINT.INF file on the terminal server machine.

 

Judging by the date/time on your message, I may already be too late to help you, but just in case I'm not or I can help someone else, at least it's documented now. That should be a healthy start for setting this up, in any case.

"Windows terminal services (XP, 2000, 2000 Pro) will only enumerate local printers by design. This is according to Microsoft's knowledge base. (By local they mean connected to the LPT or COM ports, so printing to a network share or USB printer is not supported.)"

You can (supposedly) print to USB printers that enumerate themselves with things like a DOT4 interface. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302361
Printers That Use Ports That Do Not Begin With COM, LPT, or USB Are Not Redirected in a Remote Desktop or Terminal Services Session