How do I troubleshoot a shared (network) printer in a FamilySearch center?

Article Id: 6292
October 18, 2024
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General

Make sure all user accounts on all the computers are exactly the same. Also make sure that the guest account is a member of the Power Users group and the Users group. On the sharing computer, make sure that the printer has the Users group added with all rights.

Install Lexmark printer driver from configured network Printer

  1. Sign in as an administrator on a computer with the Lexmark network printer installed and able to print. Share the network printer to share the driver over the network.
  2. Sign in as an administrator on the computer where the Lexmark printer is being installed. Locate and select the name of the shared Lexmark printer from the list of available network printers. The printer driver installs.
  3. Send a test print for verification.

If no computer is set up yet with the printer driver, secure a copy of the CD driver, or download the driver from http://www.lexmark.com/en_US/.

To simplify the process, try using the "WinPrint" program found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/winprint.

  • If the printer connects through a parallel cable directly to the computer, it prints from DOS.
  • If the printer connects through USB, contact FamilySearch for additional assistance.
  • If the printer connects through CAT 5 or a network cable, make sure printing from Windows works. 

To configure the computer to print from DOS applications such as FamilySearch DOS 2.2, use these steps:

  1. Click Start.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Printers and Faxes.
  4. Right-click the printer, and click Properties.
  5. Click Print Test Page.
  6. If printing is not successful, reinstall the printer. If successful, go to the next step.
  7. From the Properties window, to get the printer share name, click the Share tab. The printer must be shared for the next command to work.
  8. Open a command prompt (Click Start, then Run, then cmd, and then OK).
  9. Type net use lpt1 \\127.0.0.1\>printer share name here&gn; /persistent:yes. Be sure to put a space after the semicolon and before the backslash, or the command does not work.
  10. Press Enter.
  11. Try printing from the DOS program.

Additional tips for DOS printing

  • If multiple computers are required to print from DOS to the printer, create a batch file. Use Notepad, and create a new, empty file named Printer.bat containing the previous net use command. Then center personnel can save the file flash drive and take it to each computer to run. If you have remote-control access to the computer, you cannot use the DOS screens. To work around this issue, create the batch file, add a pause command after the net use line, and see if the command is successful.
  • The persistent switch makes the command permanent so that you only run it once.
  • If you get an error 66, make sure that the printer is shared. If it is not shared, the net use command does not work.

Important notes

FamilySearch does not support printing issues outside of FamilySearch centers.

Windows PrintNightmare Issue for FamilySearch Center Printing and Network Connectivity

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