How do I limit permissions for a user account in WindowsXP SP2?

[Guest]

One of my user accounts is wasting loads of expensive color ink on
unimportant documents. How do I limit a user account's permissions for
printer usage? My printer is an HP Deskjet 990cse. I tried looking for the
'security' tab under Printer Properties, but the 'security' tab isn't there.
Any help would be great.

Chris

 

[Patrick Keenan]

One of my user accounts is wasting loads of expensive color ink on
unimportant documents. How do I limit a user account's permissions for
printer usage? My printer is an HP Deskjet 990cse. I tried looking for
the
'security' tab under Printer Properties, but the 'security' tab isn't
there.
Any help would be great.

Chris

This would depend on whether it's XP Home or Pro.

However, you may find that the changes you want to make aren't really easy
to do, and that a more effective strategy is to get a laser printer and set
it as default. Lasers can be had for around $100 or less, and that's going
to be cheaper than the DeskJet cartridges.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

Hey Patrick,

That's a great recommendation (about the laser printer); I take it that
laser printer settings/permissions like monochromaticity can be set based on
the status of the user's account (administrator or limited).

Thanks!

Chris

 

[Guest]

By the way, I'm using Windows XP SP2 Home Edition.

Thanks again!

Chris

 

[Richard in AZ]

Laser printer in the low end price range are only monochromatic.
With Windows XP Home you have almost no ability to limit the users.
You need Windows XP Pro to have the limits you want to place on the user.
However, if you made that user buy the ink I think you would find they cut down on the use.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hey Patrick,

That's a great recommendation (about the laser printer); I take it that
laser printer settings/permissions like monochromaticity can be set based
on
the status of the user's account (administrator or limited).

Thanks!

Chris

In that price range, lasers are ALL black&white so there are no options
available in that regard. You may be able to set an econo-mode, which uses
less toner.

Colour lasers are coming down in price, but the cheapest I've seen have been
in the $300 -$400 range.

Toner cartridges are often rated for a few thousand pages, but the one that
comes with the printer will be a "starter" cartridge, capable of maybe half
that. You will see this as a listed statistic on the manufacturer's spec
pages.

Replacement toner cartridges can also be in the $80 - $100 range, but I
think you'll find that it's still a lot cheaper than inkjets.

When you're looking at the printers available to you, compare cost of
replacement toner cartridges and page ratings to get an average cost per
page (which won't include the cost of the printer).

Expect the printer to be able to last a couple of years, unless you really
print a lot; the other items that can fail are drum and fuser, but sometimes
one of those is in the toner cartridge. Those parts are the most
expensive components, so if they fail, you may not want to consider repair.

HTH
-pk