Which of these would be the easiest way to see all of the printers in your office that are not ready to print?
A) Query the Active Directory database
B) Use a custom filter in Print Management
C) Access the management tools from the printer manufacturer
D) Query all printers using SNMP
E) Stand up and yell, “ARE THE PRINTERS WORKING?”
The answer: B) Use a custom filter in Print Management
The Print Management utility can use custom filters to view all printers, printers not ready, printers with jobs, and much more. Active Directory may contain a list of all of the printers, but it does not generally maintain the printer status in the database. You probably own many different printer brands, so using the manufacturer’s utilities would be cumbersome. Although a third-party SNMP query tool might help, it’s unlikely that all printers support SNMP or support the required SNMP MIB (management information base) variables that would allow you to display print status.
 |
Want to know more? Watch “Windows Print Management.”Managing printers can be one of the more challenging aspects of any operating system. In this video, you’ll learn how to use the Windows Print Management utility to manage the printing process of every printer in your organizations. |
This is why we can’t having nice things