Managing printers were quite easy task in Windows XP but when moved to Windows 7 everything had changed and as part of the operating system enhancement the features has become more advanced and kind of complicated. Printer management feature is one of a kind feature in Windows 7. Printer Management in Windows 7 has every feature that required for a Printer Server. In Windows XP server properties on the Printers and Faxes was everything to configure the printers. You will not find that option in Windows 7 but instead of that you will see Print management under the Administrative Tools>Print Management. If you expand the Print Server and then the Local computer name you will find complete features for printer management. The print manager classified the printer components in to Driver, Forms, Port and Printers.

Under Drivers heading you will find the relevant printer drivers for the installed printers.
Under Forms heading you can add/delete printer forms as per your requirement.
Under Ports heading you will find the already added printer port’s information. Also you can manage the existing printer ports and add new ports as well.
Under Printer heading you can find the printers available on the local pc. You will see the name of the printer, driver version, printer status etc. Adding/Deleting of printers is possible here.

One added feature in Printer Management is the ability to create custom filters rules for printer activity. By default you will find 4 custom filters like filters for to show the Not Ready printers and the busy printer etc. If you left click on the Custom Filters heading you will find options for creating a New Printer Filter or New Driver Filter.

These filters are pretty intelligent and can be configured to trigger a mail notification up on any printer breakdown or any other major failures such as paper jam. It can also be configured to run certain scripts to fix the problem or gather certain information.

So when you plan to set up a print server next time don’t forget to explore Windows 7’s print management capability.

You can configure print management feature under Control Panel>Administrative Tools> Print Management
Or else you can easily navigate to Print Management by typing in Print on the search box on the start menu. It will show the Print Management icon on the first place.

Was it helpful? let us know!

The widget can convert any of image formats to an editable and searchable PDF, TEXT, DOC and HTML versions. Advantages of this widget is it supports up to 20 MB sized one single file for conversion also it can convert multiple files at a time but they have limited it to 20 conversion per hour time to stop spamming.  The output delivery can be selected either an send to your email or direct download from the website itself.

Bookmark it

HP’s new Photosmart Premium Touchsmart Web All-In-One Printer – C309n is capable of printing a webpage directly from the web with the very spacious touch screen inbuilt on the printer. The printer capabilities for connecting to internet via a network cable and a wireless feature. The inbuilt Bluetooth feature will let you print directly from your mobile phone which has Bluetooth connectivity.

Key features of this printer:

1. Easy printing of your movie tickets, coupons, maps, recipes and puzzles from the Touch screen.
2. Access to hundreds of apps from the Hp’s ePrintCenter which helps you to access your favorite websites from the HP Touch Screen.
3. Use Snapfish.com account and store your pictures online.
4. Hassle free photo printing using the Photo tray.
5. HP Auto Sense enable printer will detect the paper type, paper size, adjust print settings and notify you if the paper is loaded incorrectly.
6. Easy one touch wireless configuration.
7. Direct printing from mobile phones and any Bluetooth devices.
8. Supports double side printing to save paper. Also prints only relevant contents when you print a webpage to save ink.
9. It supports memory cards like Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro etc.
10. Equipped for Scan, Print, Fax, Copy and Web

]]> http://www.hackstacks.com/now-print-direct-from-the-web-without-using-a-pc/612/feed 0 http://www.hackstacks.com/hack-your-multi-function-copier/347 http://www.hackstacks.com/hack-your-multi-function-copier/347#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:02:37 +0000 Renjith http://www.hackstacks.com/?p=347 more »]]> It will be shocking information once you watch this video that a hacker can retrieve all the documents scanned, copied and faxed from high-end multifunction copiers. The news says from 2002 such multi-function copiers are shipped with a Hard Disk to store such data on the copiers to deliver you better features. The study says it can store up to 20,000 documents in this hard disk. Many of us does n’t know about it. The Forensic expert demonstrating how they were able to get the data stored on such a hard disk using a free forensic tool.

“A recent CBS News broadcast raised the issue of security of hard drive data in digital multifunction products. Konica Minolta would like to assure you that we are a leader in the area of MFP security. Our MFPs can ensure documents that are copied, scanned, faxed or otherwise transmitted do not remain stored on the hard drive or in DRAM memory as a standard feature.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc6L_K04ex0&feature[/youtube]

There are Data security kits available from the manufacturer as a optional hardware upgrade. Those kits provide these extra security.

* Encrypts all data prior to being stored in DRAM
* Encrypts all data stored on the hard drive
* DRAM is cleared after copy, scan, and print use
* Runs automatically without user initiation
* Provides overwriting routines to make deleted data irretrievable

Most of the clients are not aware of these upgrades, it is really important that the manufacturer or supplier should make aware all their clients that there are such kits available.

Best practices for securing MFPs Via ITToolbox

* Meet industry certification: When deciding what brand and model to lease or buy, make sure the device meets industry security standards. Two prominent certifications are ISO 15408 Level 3 Certification and IEEE-2600-2008.
* Ease-of-use versus security: Company management must decide what access controls to use if any. Access controls typically consist of user authentication, account codes, and password protection.
* Data security kits: As mentioned in the CBS News video, MFP distributors need to inform customers about data security packages and their importance. If there are any security concerns, using a data security kit will address them.
* End-of-Life considerations: When buying or signing a lease for MFPs, determine what should happen to the hard drive at end-of-life. Typical options are; destroy the hard drive, keep it on-site, or have the MFP distributor scrub the hard drive using an approved process.

]]> http://www.hackstacks.com/hack-your-multi-function-copier/347/feed 0 http://www.hackstacks.com/my-computer-opening-delay-issue/104 http://www.hackstacks.com/my-computer-opening-delay-issue/104#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:35:49 +0000 Renjith http://www.hackstacks.com/?p=104 more »]]> Problem: When you click Start and then click My Computer, or when you double-click My Computer on your Windows desktop, Windows may search (a flashlight may appear) for a long time (for example, 5 minutes) before files appear. it will drive you nuts!

What could be causing this? As per Microsoft it usually happens because of Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Service or HP printer or scanner software. To fix this problem either we need to Disable the Windows Service or unplug any HP USB device (Models listed in Microsoft site)For my case the Windows Service was stopped (As I checked a few computers i found that this service is by default disabled) but the HP printer software’s were installed but the printer was not plugged. So I was sure it’s because of this printer drivers and corresponding applications so I have removed the HP printer software package and restarted the computer. Tried opening the “My computer” again and it came up normally.

So the best thing would be removing unnecessary drivers from the desktop or laptop if you dont use that particular hardware.

For more info visit microsoft’s website