HP UPD - Using the HP UPD with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 (white paper)

DOT4 PRINTERS

Support for USB DOT4 Direct Connect is not included in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 by

default. This only impacts DOT4 printers, which include most current HP mid-range and high-end

HP LaserJet printers. Composite USB and LEDM USB printers are not impacted (low-end HP

LaserJet printers).

NOTE: DOT4 and LEDM are communication protocols used with USB connected printers. DOT4

support is available by default on Windows operating systems prior to Windows 8 and Windows

Server 2012, such as Windows 7.

To resolve this issue, HP has developed the “HP LaserJet USB (DOT4) communications driver for

Windows 8/Server 2012” which includes a Dot4x32.msi for 32 bit and Dot4x64.msi for 64 bit

installations.

The MSI installs the DOT4 components into the driver store. This is the same effect as

downloading it from Windows Update except that it is installed before the hardware is connected.

The directory c:\windows\inf\driverstore lists an oemXX directory that contains the DOT4

components.

NOTE: If two print queues are created for the printer during plug and play and a print queue is

connected to USB001, delete this queue. If there are two queues for the printer and both are

connected to the DOT4 port, delete one of the queues. Only one queue is required for printing.

See http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?&objectID=c03365145

for a complete list of HP DOT4 LaserJet printers.

BRANCH OFFICE PRINTING

Branch Office Direct Printing is designed by Microsoft to reduce Wide Area Network (WAN) usage

by printing directly to a print device instead of a server print queue and is supported by the HP UPD

version 5.6.0 and later. This feature can be enabled or disabled on a per printer basis and is

transparent to the user. It works with print queues using printer drivers such as the HP Universal

Print Driver that support Client Side Rendering (CSR), whether they are V3 OR V4 drivers.

This feature requires a print server running Windows Server 2012 and clients running Windows 8. It

is enabled by an administrator using the Print Management Console or Windows PowerShell on the

server.

Client computers obtain printer information from a Windows Server 2012 print server, but send the

print jobs directly to the printer. The print data no longer travels to the central server and then back

to the branch office printer.

The printer information is cached in the branch office so that if the print server is unavailable for

some reason (for example if the WAN link to the data center is down), it is still possible for the user

to print.

Benefits of Branch Office Direct Printing

 Works for print queues using the HP UPD and other printer drivers that support Client Side

Rendering (CSR), whether they are V3 OR V4 drivers.

 Functions with TCP/IP connected printers.

 Functions with Web Services on Devices (WSD) printers (direct discovery only, not

multicast)

 Can be enabled or disabled using the Print Management Console or Windows PowerShell

on the server.