Windows 7 appears to be doing a port scan when I go to add a network printer. Does anyone know how Windows 7 looks for/adds network printers and if theres a local group policy setting or registry change that can turn off the port scanning part of it?

How do you find that? If it is true, why would you like to disable the port scan? You can try another way to install a network printer. Following the steps below can help you to specify a LPT port and then forward this port to the network printer. 1. Click Start, click Control Panel and double click Devices and Printers.2. Click Add a Printer. 3. Select "Add a local printer". 4. Select "Create a new port". Choose "Local Port" as the type of the port. 5. In the box "Enter a port name", type the address as the following format. \\[IP address of the host computer]\[The Share Name of the printer] Then click Next. 6. Choose the correct driver in the driver list. If no available driver, click the button Windows Update, wait for the process finishes and then look for the driver again.7. Finish the installation.Arthur Xie - MSFT