Hi All, In my environment we have all Windows 2003 servers running at 32 bit. However the workstations are soon to become 64 bit. Instead of having to dupe all the printer drivers on the server, which seems much more complicated that it sounds, is there a modification one can make on the workstations to print to the 32 bit Windows Server O.S and 32 bit (x86) printer Drivers? thanks!

Hi, Thank for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. Based on my research, to support client computers that use different processor architectures than the print server, you must install additional drivers. you could try the following steps to 1. Open Print Management from the Administrative Tools folder on the client computer running an x64 version of Windows. 2. Right-click the printer to which you want to add additional printer drivers, and then click Manage Sharing. 3. Click Additional Drivers. The Additional Drivers dialog box appears. 4. Select the check box of the processor architecture for which you want to add drivers. In your instance this would be x64. 5. If the print server does not already have the appropriate printer drivers in its driver store, Windows prompts you for the location of the driver files. Download and extract the appropriate driver files, and then in the dialog box that appears, specify the path to the .inf file of the driver. The driver files you install must match the drivers installed on the print server (the printer name must be identical as well as the driver version). Also, you could refer to: Add drivers for client computers running 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows Hope it helps. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi Alex, Thanks much. I did see that article but there are some additional qualifiers that I did not describe... Users print to multiple models and manufacturers. The solution should require no user interaction/action ( and it is for approx 20,000 users) I guess I should rephrase my question.. Is there a way to have a 64 bit workstation print using 32 bit(x86) drivers that are automatically downloaded via the normal workstation/print server relationship/transaction (i.e; when you connect to a Printer Server and add a printer to your machine, the drivers are automatically downloaded. We are looking to use x86 print drivers on a 64 bit Win 7). Thanks bws

Hi, Thanks for your update. Based on my knowledge, the driver can’t automatically download, but you could try the following: 1. First, please confirm you have Installed the x86 driver directly on the server. 2. Then on a Windows 7 computer, open \\PrintServerName\Printers in Windows Explorer. 3. Go to File, Server Properties. In the Drivers tab, click on Add. 4. Select only the x64 architecture and browse to find your driver. Then x64 will be uploaded to the x86 server. Hope it helps. Regards, Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi, Thanks for your update. Based on my knowledge, the driver can’t be automatically downloaded, but you could try the following: 1. First, please confirm you have Installed the x86 driver directly on the server. 2. Then on a Windows 7 computer, open \\PrintServerName\Printers in Windows Explorer. 3. Go to File, Server Properties. In the Drivers tab, click on Add. 4. Select only the x64 architecture and browse to find your driver. Then x64 will be uploaded to the x86 server. Hope it helps. Regards, Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi Alex, I guess what I am really looking to do is have the 64 bit Windows machines print to the 32bit/x86 Windows O.S and to the x86 Print drivers. Can 64bit Windows utilize 32 bit print drivers? Maybe some special thunking that is inherant in Windnows or addon? thanks

Hi, To help you better understand this, I would like to share the following link with you: Print driver installation on 32-bit versus 64-bit servers Hope it can help you. Thanks. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.