Migrating Printers from NT4 to 2000

[Guest]

I recently upgraded my existing domain from NT4 to 2000 and all went well. I
still
have the NT4 PDC of the old domain running and it hosts all the printers as
was the case before the upgrade.

All 2000 domain users can access the printers on the old server
without any problems. The h/w on the old NT4 PDC is not reliable and I would
like to migrate all the printers over to the new 2000 domain controller
before retiring the old PDC.

Any suggestions that might help me facilitate the migration process would be
greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Khurram

 

[Bazooka-Joe]

I've done seven NT4 to 2000 print server migrations in the last 3
years. And here's what's always worked well for me.

1. Use Printmig.exe to migrate the printers from your NT4 server to
your 2000 server. They can co-exist in both places for as long as they
need to until your transition is done. The help file's pretty
comprehensive on printmig, but if I can assist I'd be happy to.

2. If you're comfortable at all with scripting, write a shell script
and, using the chgprint.exe command/utility to reconnect your clients
from the old server to the new one.

3. In the same script launch the defptr.exe command to force the user
to select a default, as chgprint often messes up the default printer
for clients.

Just remember, pritner connections are profile-specific. Every user
must launch it at every workstation they log in to (not a problem if
they don't travel alot, generally). Once per workstation will not
change everyone's login printer connections.

4. When finished, use cleanspl.exe to "clean the spooler" on your NT4
PDC.

DOWNLOADS
printmig.exe version 3.1
Resource kit utility that's been available since NT4.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...25-cbc9-44da-b2c9-ffdbc46b0b17&displaylang=en

chgprint.exe
I can't find this download on Microsoft.com anymore? You might find it
here www.dynawell.com. There are separate versions of this file for
NT4 workstations and 2000/XP workstations. If you have both NT4 and
2000/XP clients, you'll need to acquire both versions. I have them.

defptr.exe
NT4 reskit utility. Can't find on microsoft.com for download anymore
either.

cleanspl.exe
2003 reskit utility.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...familyid=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd

Best of luck to you.

:Bazooka-Joe