Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax (
More info?)
I think if look into this a bit more, you will find that the registry value
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PrinterName\Name is
where the name of a "Local Printer" is stored.
If the printer is really a "Network Printer" on the client computer, that
registry entry does not exist (on the client computer) for that printer.
The terminolgy, as used in Windows 2000 and later, is very specific (see
"Printer" in the glossary at http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/Glossary.htm).
Printer objects (for which there is a key in
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers) are always for Local
Printers and are associated with a Local Port whose name is stored at
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PrinterName\Port.
If a printer object is associated with a Standard TCP/IP port, that printer,
by definition, is a Local Printer. Also, a printer that is on a Local Port
that has a name like \\servername\printersharename is also, by definition, a
Local Printer because it is on a Local Port.
If a printer's name (on the client) is of the form "printername on
servername", then it is a Network Printer and there is no registry key for
it under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers (on the
client).
When you open the Properties of a "Network Printer", you are seeing the
properties of that printer object as they exist on the print server
computer; there are no corresponding properties on the client computer.
If you change the text in the uppermost box on the General tab of a printer
object's Properties, this will not only change the content of the registry
VALUE at
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PrinterName\Name, it
will also change the name of the registry KEY containing that VALUE
(HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PrinterName). If you
do this from a client computer that has that printer as a "Network Printer"
(assuming you have permission to do this), the content of the registry key
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers on the print server
computer will be modified, but not that on the client computer (where it
doesn't exist anyway).
All of this is easy to verify:
1. on one computer (the print server), add a Local Printer and observe that
there is a key for it under
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
2. observe that the registry value called Name in the above key is the same
as the name of the registry key and as what shows as the name of the printer
in Printers and Faxes
3. open the Properties of the just added Local Printer and change its name
on the General tab
4. refresh the display in the Registry Editor and observe that the key with
the old name has vanished, a new key with the new name has appeared and the
Name value under the new key has the new printer name
5. share the new printer
6. on a second computer (the client - Windows 2000 or later), open the Add
Printer Wizard; click Next
7. select the "A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer"
radio button
8. select the middle radio button ("Connect to this printer...")
9. key \\servername\printersharename; click Next
10. complete the rest of the Add Printer Wizard
11. open regedit and navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers; observe that there is
no key for this Network Printer
12. still on the second computer (the client) open the Properties of the
just added Network Printer
13. on the general tab, change the printer's name (top most box); click OK
14. go back to the server computer and observe that the Local Printer's name
has been modified and that the registry entries have also been modified as
described in 4 above
As has been said in this (and other newsgroups) there is no way to change
the name of a "Network Printer", because there is no local name for that
printer on the client computer.
--
Bruce Sanderson MVP
It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.
"mhussey" <mhussey.1cjqo8@mail.mcse.ms> wrote in message
news:mhussey.1cjqo8@mail.mcse.ms...
>
> How to rename a network printer--
>
> In the registry find the key associated with the printer.
>
> HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PrinterName Look
> for a key called "name." Be sure to change only the information after
> the last backslash. then reboot the computer.
>
> Note--If this is your default printer, be sure to set the default
> printer to something else while in the rename process. After you
> change the name in the registry, reboot the computer then set it back
> as the default printer.
>
> Bruce Sanderson wrote:
>> *You can name (rename) a Local Printer, but you can not rename a
>> Network
>> Printer.
>>
>> If the printer is associated with a Standard TCP/IP port on the
>> local
>> computer, it is a Local Printer.
>>
>> In Printers and Faxes, Network Printers always have a name like
>> "printer on
>> server".
>>
>> If you have a Local Printer with the name that the program expects,
>> but it
>> doesn't work, I suggest contacting the vendor of the program for
>> help.
>>
>> --
>> Bruce Sanderson MVP
>>
>> It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong
>> question.
>>
>>
>> "boders67" <nospam@newpeopleonline.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:%23XPmTzskEHA.3356@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> > Thanks for replying.
>> >
>> > Printing, generally, is not the problem as I can get the windows XP
>> PC to
>> > print to the printer, just not through our bespoke program which
>> is
>> > looking for a printer called "AIA PRINTER". On windows 9x we set up
>> the
>> > printer exactly the same as we do on the windows XP but it works.
>> What is
>> > the difference between XP and Windows 9x when it comes to naming
>> printers
>> > or renaming them?
>> >
>> > Thanks again
>> >
>> > "Thomas Ferguson" <tomf@mvps.org> wrote in message
>> > news:OeQIH0ejEHA.704@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> >
>> > *
>
>
>
> --
> mhussey
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Posted via
http://www.mcse.ms
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> View this thread:
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