XP rights issue with network printing

[harveymasons]

Hi guys,

I am wondering if anybody knows of a way to give a local base user account running xp pro the ability to install/map to network printers. The way it looks now, w/ base user rights on their XP pro box the users do not have rights to install network printers. This is a big problem, as our staff travels to clients with their laptops and needs to print. We have moved away from giving them local admin rights only to be plagued w/ these issues.

Giving them local admin rights is not an option, I Am hoping there is a registry change that can be made to allow bae local users the rights to map/install network printers.

ANy help is greatly appreciated,

regards,
harvey

[Matridom]

you can adjust all that in the global policy editor on xp pro.

I think it's 'gpedit' from the run menu

[harveymasons]

I have looke extensively in the gpedit.msc but have found nothing about "user" rights able to install network printers.

CAn you give me some direction if at all possible?

regards,
harvey

[confus-ed]

You might let users 'run as' (the adminstrator) like this (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en%2Dus/?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prdp_log_gvra.asp)

Or there are three types of pre-defined users available in xp, limited, power & admin .. (where the hell is there anything on technet whch tells you what each account can & can't do .. I can't find any :rolleyes: ) maybe This (http://www.microsoft.com/taiwan/whdc/resources/news/newsletters/MHN_121003.html) (scroll down a fair bit) will be helpful.

I'm fairly sure anyway that making 'power users' or using 'run as' should fix you up :).

[harveymasons]

the run as command does not do any good b/c then we would have to give out the admin password which is a def. no no.

THe power users group is worth checking into....

thanks again,

regards,
harvey

[slgrieb]

To do anything useful in Windows, you have to be a Power User. This is the default setting for creating an account for a Windows 2003 server, though every now and again you get a glitch that creates a standard user account and have to correct this manually. Even so, some software just won't install or run correctly unless you have administrative rights. Supposedly, this will change with Longhorn. Unless MS changes the roadmap again.

In the meantime, the only thing you can do is create a Group Policy Object to install the software at user logon.

[confus-ed]

This is probably pertinent as well .. (though its using 'run as' & is for 2k{appears to work for xp }) ..Non Administrator Permissions to Load and Unload Device Drivers (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q219435)

& since I failed to find anything on technet about it :- Logging into Windows XP User Groups Overview (http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/WinXP/wxpgroups.html)

& if this were a domain (or even a single pc I suppose) using 'run as' mightn't be the 'no, no' that it was earlier described as, as an admininstartor account, needn't necessarily have access to an entire volume, so you might allow this if you create a special admin account that only has inherited permissions to certain bits of the disk. 'Inelegant' I'll grant you, but lots of places actually use this approach seemingly sucessfully..

[ZER0TECH]

In gpedit.msc

Under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Printers there is a Prevent addition of printers setting. You could try setting this too disabled and see what happens.