Finding a Printer in the Active Directory

Posted by arlene

The directory doesn’t just contain information about users; it holds information about many resource types in the network. An object that represents a printer resource might contain the name of the printer, the type of hardware associated with it, and its location. With directory services you do not even have to know the name of a printer. You can execute a query such as “Show me all printers located on the third floor of the accounting department in the Florida office,” and then pick the printer you want to use, based on the information returned from the query.

For example, in a Windows Server 2003 network that has the Active Directory enabled, you’ll find that there’s a button (Find) on the Print dialog box that wasn’t there in previous versions of Windows NT. This button first appeared in Windows 2000.

When you click Find Printer, a dialog box similar to the one used to search for users pops up. This should be an indication to you that the Active Directory is tightly integrated into the Windows 2000 Server and Server 2003 operating systems.

At the top of this dialog box, use the In drop-down menu to narrow your search. For example, you can use the default to search the entire directory, or you can use this menu to specify a particular domain or other container object.

There are three tabs on the Find Printers dialog box that you can use for a search:

• Printers—Ifyou know the name, location, or model of the printer you want to find, you can specify it on this tab and click Find Now.

• Features—This tab enables you to specify attributes the printer must have, such as whether i can print double-sided (duplex printing) or whether it is a color printer. You also can select the resolution, the printer speed, and whether the printer can staple the document after it’s printed among other features, depending on the capabilities of the particular printer.
• Advanced—This tab works in the same way that the Find Users dialog box worked. You can use the Field drop-down menu to specify any of the attributes associated with the Printer object, and then specify a condition and a value to be used for the search.

After you’ve specified the search criteria using any of these tabs, click the Find Now button and you get a listing of the printers that match your search. You then can select which printer to use.

After you’ve found the printer you want to use, it’s a simple matter to make a connection to the printer. In the search Results pane, just right-click on the printer and select Connect. Or, if you’re in a real hurry, just double-click on the printer in the Results pane.

The Active Directory is accessible from within many other applications in Windows 2000. You can search for file shares and objects that you create yourself. The important thing to remember about the Active Directory is that, after you begin to use it in your network, it is not something to be taken lightly. Use caution when making modifications to the directory.

Using Start/Search

In the previous examples, we searched for users by using an Administrative Tool—the Active Directory Users and Computers Snap-In. To search for a printer, we used the Find Printer button on the print dialog box. However, there is a simpler way to find almost anything in the directory, provided that your logon account has the necessary access permissions to locate the object. Simply click Start and then Search.

The Search function in Windows 2000 Server and Professional is found from the Windows Start menu and allows you to

• Search for files or folders
• Search the Internet
• Search for printers
• Search using Microsoft Outlook
• Search for people

Thus, the Active Directory is not just a tool that can be used by administrative personnel to administer the network, but it also is something that can be used by everyday users to locate objects or information they need to perform their jobs.

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Finding a Printer in the Active Directory

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