Windows Server 2008 R2 - Print Servers and different architecture drivers

There comes a time where we all have to upgrade and move on away from old things to the new and mostly it is a good thing to do.  One pain in the side though that I am sure many technicians and consultants alike will face is the prospect of upgrading a Windows 2003 server with a Windows Server 2008 R2 version and want to get those lovely x86 printer drivers going.  Well I have news for you, it isn't always easy...



One of the issues I have seen in my own place of work, and has caused one of the consultants to lose the rest of his hair trying to get it to fly, is HP x86 drivers requiring a Windows x86 Processor disk.  Of course no such beast exists but it will prevent you from installing the driver.

A quick solution that I have 'borrowed' which allows you to install a x86 driver from a workstation.  It is dirty but if you have the exact same driver on a clustered 2008 R2 print server then why doesn't it work on a single server - in my eyes it is a suitable workaround.

On the workstation, download and install the driver for the x86 operating system (lets use Windows XP).  Then from that machine go to Start --> Run and type the UNC path of the 2008 R2 server you want the driver to be installed on i.e. \\Server1 - from there select "View Remote Printers".  Select the printer you want to add the driver to and then click Printer Properties. 

You will then be prompted to install a driver as you won't have one that will currently work with that printer.  This brings up the New Printer Driver Wizard.  Make sure you select that you want an XP driver when asked what type you need.  You will then need to point the Wizard to the extracted files of the driver you downloaded from the manufacturer or Microsoft Catalog.  This wizard will then install the driver for you.

Once the wizard completes you should find the x86 driver will appear on the 2008 R2 server as an additional driver to your x64 version.  Now I will say this has only been done twice so far and it has worked but please be careful you don't break your Print Spooler and ensure that you can print.  If anything fails remove the driver immediately and look for an alternative on the Microsoft Catalog or the manufacturers website.  I don't want to be held responsible for the downfall of a few thousand print spoolers thank you very much!