Making the default printer, the true default

[PRR]

I have an HP that is set in XP as the default printer; I also often
save a doc as a PDF, which means using the print function and
selecting CutePDF as my "printer."

Is there any way of getting XP to recognize the HP as my default
printer every time? I find that after selecting CutePDF to "print" a
page (in reality, it doesn't print, but just gets saved as a PDF),
that the next time I do a quick print in MS Word, that Windows thinks
I want to save as PDF again, and I have to click out of that dialog
and find the HP printer. How can I get Windows to always think that I
want to print to my HP, unless I explicitly tell it otherwise for each
job?

 

[Don Phillipson]

Is there any way of getting XP to recognize the HP as my default
printer every time? I find that after selecting CutePDF to "print" a
page (in reality, it doesn't print, but just gets saved as a PDF),
that the next time I do a quick print in MS Word, that Windows thinks
I want to save as PDF again, and I have to click out of that dialog
and find the HP printer. How can I get Windows to always think that I
want to print to my HP, unless I explicitly tell it otherwise for each

job?

Windows / Printers has a setting for "Default Printer," to which only
one print output may be set. If your HP is already marked as the
Default Printer, it is worth uninstalling it and reinstalling it (as
Default Printer) in case this solves your problem -- which may be
caused by unprogrammed interactions between MS Word and
CutePDF. If it does not cure the problem, you might look for a
diifferent PDF writer.

 

[Lem]

I have an HP that is set in XP as the default printer; I also often
save a doc as a PDF, which means using the print function and
selecting CutePDF as my "printer."

Is there any way of getting XP to recognize the HP as my default
printer every time? I find that after selecting CutePDF to "print" a
page (in reality, it doesn't print, but just gets saved as a PDF),
that the next time I do a quick print in MS Word, that Windows thinks
I want to save as PDF again, and I have to click out of that dialog
and find the HP printer. How can I get Windows to always think that I
want to print to my HP, unless I explicitly tell it otherwise for each
job?

AFAIK, no. It's a function of the application from which you're
"printing," in this case, Word. However ... you can create an icon that
will print to a specific printer: http://www.gmayor.com/fax_from_word.htm

Note that the author of that site, Graham Mayor, is very knowledgeable
about Word. However, his statement that "Word will normally print to the
default Windows printer, though you can set an alternative 'active
printer' which will remain the printer Word prints to for the current
session, or until changed to another" is contrary to both my experience
with Word 2003 and, apparently, your experience with whatever version of
Word you have.

If this doesn't work for your version of Word, or if you have further
related questions, try posting in the Word general questions group:
microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

 

[PRR]

Graham's macro takes almost 30 seconds to start printing--and this is
when the target printer is still the default one. That's a bit too
much time, as I can go the regular route sooner than that. Thanks
anyways.