x64 print driver keeps asking for x64 windows disk

Question

I'm trying to install x64 printer drivers on a Windows 2003 R2 Standard x86 print server. I downloaded the amd64 folder locally to the server.

When I try to install the x64 bit print driver it asks for NTPrint.inf and it auto points to my cd drive E:\amd64. I hit Browse and browse to the location I extracted my amd64 folder to and find NTPrint.inf. I hit Ok to accept and then it says I need NTPrint.inf again. Again from the cd drive e:\amd64.

I've seen tricks of getting around this by changing the drive letter of the cd drive then mapping the folder to where your cd rom used to be, but that seems sloppy and dangerous. Is there a more professional/clean way of getting this to work?

Solution 1

It looks like the best way to make this work and not ask for the amd64 folder is to set the printer through a x64 bit OS.

1. Start > Run > \\servername
2. At the top click View Remote Printers
3. Right click on the printer you want to add the x64 bit driver to and go to Properties
4. Sharing tab > Additional Drivers button
5. Check the box for x64 > Ok > Point to the location of your x64 bit drivers

Solution 2

I had the reverse issue; 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit print server. This solution may or may not be applicable to your situation, but it's worth a shot:

From a 64 bit system (a desktop or something should be fine, same windows generation would be a good idea though), copy the directories at c:\windows\winsxs\amd64_ntprint.inf_* over to your 32 bit system (not into winsxs, though). The next time a driver install asks for ntprint.inf, point it to the copy in the copied directory.

This stopped the prompts permanently for me, but again, reverse situation; I'm curious to find out if this works!

Solution 3

When I run into this problem, I've always used Print Management to get the job done. A best-kept-secret of the Print Management tool is that you can use Print Management on any computer to install drivers to any other computer for any printer which had been ever previously installed on that print server. I used this to great advantage at one point to install a "lost-tech" driver for an antique printer from one of our old servers onto the new print server. Open Print Management on old print server, add new print server to print server list. Add new printer.

In a similar case today, I'm using one of our x64(a.k.a. x86_64) administration boxes to install x64 drivers onto an x86 box(yeah, you can totally install 64 bit drivers on a 32 bit box, weird, right?), so that another x64 client computer could print to the shared printer.

Comments

[MrGigu]

Its been a long time, but there's a registry key you need to change, but I don't recall where. A quick solution might be to fire up regedit and just search the whole regsitry for e:\amd64

[Nixphoe]

@Mark Unfortunately I have nothing listed uner the registry for e:\amd64. I did a search for amd64 and it isn't showing anything related to that.

[Nixphoe]

I like where you're headed with this. I've checked two of my servers that have 2003 x64 on them, both of them do not have the ntprint.inf folder (how do you get that to populate?). I did try this trick copying the folder from a 2008 x64 server, but that didn't work. Any follow up?

[ravi yarlagadda]

Oh, gotcha.. 2003. I must've selectively read that part; unfortunately, I don't think this solution is applicable to pre-2008.