Question : Windows Shared Printer redirection

We have a customer with a printer attached to a workstation (via USB port) in a warehouse.  The printer is used by multiple computers both in the warehouse & the office.  Near the end of the day, the guys in the warehouse go home & dutifully switch off the computer the printer is attached to.  At this point, the computers in the office start to go very slowly.  If the printer is deleted from the machine, it springs back into life.

I have created a phantom printer on the server in the hope I can use port redirection (i.e., NET USE LPT2: \\warehouse\printer ).  The phantom printer is then shared & the workstations can print to it.  If I pause the printer on the server, the print jobs sit there correctly.  If I then resume the printer, the print jobs disappear from the server but are not printed at the warehouse PC.  There is definitely no real LPT2: on the server.  The server reports no errors for the print jobs.

For clarity: the server is Windows 2003 Standard Server, the workstations are each Windows XP Professional SP3 & the whole are in a single domain.

Am I going about this the wrong way or am I missing the obvious?

Answer : Windows Shared Printer redirection

Well, in your situation you only have a few options. You can't use USB to connect your printer and not expect issues when it has been shut off. You need to realize that for you to figure out a cheap solution you have cost them several man hours which is actually costing them more. If these solutions don't work for you then unfortunately, this is all I have.

1. Try using the scripts to map and unmap printers.

2. Buy a networked printer. It can be plugged directly into the router in  the warehouse. This will cost about $150 from Office Depot. Probably cheaper if you shop around.

3. Map a shared drive that you call Invoices and create a distribution group (DG). This get's rid of the need to train to use one mailbox - everyone get's the email. The office can put the file on the share and shoot an email to the DG.

4. Create a DG and have the office email the file. This solution will put strain on the mail server with all the files.

5. Create a scheduled task using the shutdown command. Running this at say 6pm or 7pm will not only allow environmental consciousness but also leave the workstations on. Look here for info on shut down command http://www.computerhope.com/shutdown.htm