Print Server upgrade and migration

Microsoft Windows 2000 introduces a new version of Microsoft Windows NT. Compared with earlier versions of Windows NT, Windows 2000 has made significant changes in many aspects, and the printing subsystem is only one of them. Even if the benefits brought by these changes are proven in the stability and reliability of the operating system, they still pay a certain price. When upgrading and migrating to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, companies often find themselves in an environment mixed with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

The use of local and remote client and server) driver features and settings to generate a print job for network printing increase the complexity of interoperability. For this reason, network printing in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 operating systems brings difficulties to companies.

This article aims to help explain the processes and environment conditions that exist in the network printing environment, especially when these conditions are related to the hybrid version of the Windows NT operating system. In addition, various methods that can be used to solve these problems are discussed.

Some interoperability issues caused by Windows NT 4.0 and newer Windows versions are rooted in changes to the printer driver schema model. This article analyzes the migration from kernel mode to user mode process space, as well as the upgrade of Microsoft universal printer driver. Other problems related to device limitations of printer hardware are involved only when the driver mode causes interoperability issues. This article also discusses how device font support affects customers during the Windows NT 4.0 upgrade period.

Please note that this discussion is closely related to the transition period faced by companies with the challenges of migrating tens of thousands of clients to Windows 2000 or later versions. Hybrid or legacy clients cannot fully benefit from the improved printing functions of Windows 2000 and later versions. This document assumes that the customer's goal is to obtain a network printing environment where all clients and servers are running Windows 2000 or later.

Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 print Architecture

Understanding the Windows Printing Subsystem is helpful for identifying interoperability problems caused by a hybrid environment that contains Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Windows 2000 and later versions) the print architecture consists of a background print program and a set of printer drivers. By calling the device-independent Win32 printing and Graphics Device Interface GDI) function, applications can create print jobs and send them to various devices, including laser printers, vector mappers, grating printers, and fax machines. The printer driver includes an optional User Interface UI that allows users to control the printer.

The application calls the Win32 GDI function to the GDI graphics engine, which uses the drawing command as the enhanced primitive file EMF for background processing, or provide printable images that can be sent to the background printer together with the printer driver. The background print program component parses the EMF file and can insert page layout information and Job control commands in the data stream. The background printer then sends data streams to the serial, parallel, or network port drivers associated with the I/O Ports of the target printer. The device parses the job to format the device in the printer Description Language PDL) and outputs the printed documents.

Background print programs and driver components are designed as alternatives so that hardware vendors can easily add support for new hardware.

Changes made to the printer driver in Windows 2000

A printer driver is a software program that converts application data into formats that a printer device can use to create print pages. In Windows NT 4.0, all Printer Drivers run in INCORE mode. These drivers are known as the 2nd drivers in the Windows Print environment. In essence, Windows 2000 and later versions support user-mode drivers and kernel-mode drivers for backward compatibility. Microsoft switched to user-mode drivers, also known as version 3rd drivers, for system reliability and stability. If you use the kernel-mode driver, an error will cause the entire server to crash. for user-mode drivers, the error will only affect the processes that run the driver-usually background print programs. Restarting the background print program is much faster than restarting the entire system. In addition, when the background print program fails, the user can still use other services of the server. By default, Windows Server 2003 provides automatic recovery for the background printer service. One setting in the Service Control Manager)

Migrating the printer driver from kernel mode to user mode is not the only change made in Windows 2000, but also introduces the Microsoft universal Printer Driver Unidrv ). This printer driver core replaces Windows NT 4.0 and earlier versions of the raster Device Driver RASDD) interface. The concept behind Unidrv is that you can use the core print function of the Unidrv engine without having to write the entire driver from an independent hardware vendor IHVs, you only need to use a micro driver to provide device-specific functions. A micro-driver is usually a custom file or a plug-in that provides special generation functions or custom UI options. Both the core printer control language (PCL) engine Unidriv. dll) and the PostScript engine PScript5.dll) allow the use of micro-drivers. The custom file of the Unidrv micro driver is a. gpd file, and the. ppd file is a PostScript micro driver.

Windows Server 2003 comes with drivers for 3,800 printing devices. Although these drivers are provided by Microsoft to Windows Server 2003, most of them are provided by printer manufacturers to Microsoft. These so-called inbox drivers are included in their respective products. Although the standard print driver can fully meet the needs of the vast majority of Enterprise printing devices, printer manufacturers may choose to develop their own drivers for users to use, rather than using Unidrv. these drivers are generally called integrated drivers because they are not implemented as UniDrv micro drivers. Many manufacturers are now working to make all their drivers adopt the UniDrv model rather than the traditional integrated model .)

In general, there are several driver types:

Kernel Mode version 2nd) or user mode version 3rd)

PostScript PS) or PCL

Micro driver or integrated driver

Note:

The driver can be a combination of the above types-for example, the core-mode PCL driver, the user-mode integrated driver, and the PostScript micro-driver. The drivers attached to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 are in user mode .)

All these driver types can be obtained from the printer manufacturer based on the specific device type. The inbox driver that comes with Windows 2000 and later versions is also provided by the printer manufacturer and can be delivered with license. Microsoft provides all drivers for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 as Unidrv or PostScript micro drivers, and is compatible with all of these platforms.

IHV, an independent hardware vendor, also provides micro drivers not included in Windows CD.

If you are aware of the differences between various printer drivers, you will have a clearer understanding of how mixing and matching drivers cause problems in the network printing environment. Windows NT 4.0 can only run kernel-mode print drivers, while Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 support both user-mode and kernel-mode drivers, resolving incompatibility sometimes involves modifying the servers running Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 to match Windows NT 4.0 servers.

Upgrade to Windows 2000 Server or Server 2003 Operating System

Before upgrading from Windows NT 4 Server to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, we recommend that you Uninstall all IHV printer drivers, and reinstall the latest version of the printer driver for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Microsoft recommends that you use the Fixprnsv.exe utility, which is located in the \ Printers \ Fixprnsv directory on Windows Server CD. This utility helps identify known bad drivers before upgrading and replace them with compatible drivers. If there is no alternative driver on Windows CD, the utility prompts the user to get the updated driver from the printer manufacturer. Microsoft recommends that you update the print driver on the system as instructed by IHV, and then use the Fixprnsv.exe utility to locate other print drivers that may cause problems during the upgrade.

The following sections describe what may happen if the driver is not uninstalled before being upgraded to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

Driver Upgrade process

Many Printer Drivers may occur when you upgrade from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 or later. This section describes each situation.

Both the inbox drivers (PCL and PostScript) attached to Windows NT 4.0 are upgraded to the new drivers of Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Upgrading Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003 will also result in the same replacement/update status .)

The driver model name exactly matches the driver name of the Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 series operating system) will be upgraded to the inbox driver without user interference.

Do not use drivers that are blocked due to stability. During the upgrade, the printers that use these drivers will be removed. If a printer is directly connected to a computer and has a recognizable plug-and-play ID, Windows searches for a suitable driver. If a proper driver is found, the printer will be installed as a new printer during the upgrade.

Drivers that are not blocked and do not have a name match will remain unchanged throughout the upgrade.

Windows NT 4.0 Inbox driver

During the upgrade, all Windows NT 4.0 PCL drivers (RASDD) will be upgraded to the latest Unidrv driver. UNIDRV5 is used for Windows 2000, while UNIDRV5.1 is used for Windows Server 2003 operating systems .) PostScript drivers for Windows NT 4.0 are available in Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.