Printing from command line with only user rights
Hello, I support an application that has already been windows 7 certified. In a section of the application, when a user prints a report, the print command is sent to a network printer located on network server with the following command line syntax. Copy <filename> \\<servername>\<printerName > When a user without local administrative privileges issues this command from a windows 7 machine they get an “access denied” message. However a user with local administrative privileges can run the command and print to the network printer on the print server. This particular print server is small business server 2008 standard The user without admin privileges can print to the network printer on the print server through windows The share permissions of the printer on the server are everyone read. But I added (just to test) full control to domain users. - The access problem remained From the windows 7 machine, a user can issue a straight copy command to a shared directory on the same server without a problem so the issue isn’t with the “copy” command There are other domain users using XP pro workstations on the LAN running this application/command to the same print server without a problem I turned on informational print messages to be logged in the event viewer. – No messages were logged by the copy command when access was denied which makes me wonder if the command is even making it to the server at all. I am left to believe that there is something in windows 7 that will not allow a user without admin privileges to issue a print command from the command line. Any Thoughts?
February 13th, 2010 12:27am

Hi, I think this issue is related to UAC. Just for a test, please disable UAC on the Windows 7 client and see if the command works. Meanwhile, I would like to share the following with you: Teach Your Apps To Play Nicely With Windows Vista User Account Control In this article, we can also see the Printer Operators needs Elevated Privileges. Considering the issue is related to an application which is designed for Windows 7, please also go to our MSDN forum and check the design: Microsoft Developer Network Forums Home Hope this helps. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT
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February 16th, 2010 10:41am

Thx Nicholas, i will test with UAC disabled and report back.
February 16th, 2010 4:04pm

Nicholas,Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. the solution doesn't seem to have anything to do with UAC. after disabling UAC the problem persisted. i even added the domain user account to the local administrators group and they still could not issue the command.The only solution i was able to discover was adding the domain account to the print operators group. So there appears to be an issue with windows 7 and SBS server 2008. i say this because there are other xp machines on the network that can print to the shared network printer located on the sbs 2008 server.any thoughts?
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February 24th, 2010 6:26pm

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