Download Document

How do I Setup Printer Pools?

Printer pooling is a standard feature of Windows NT, 2000 and XP which lets you spread your printed output across a pool of several printers.

When print jobs are sent to a printer pool, Windows routes the job to the first available device.
In a busy printing environment pooling will allow more efficient and faster printing.

Configuring Printer Pooling is very straight forward; you start by configuring the first printer as a standard Windows printer. Then by using the Ports tab of the Printer Properties you can check the "Enable Printer Pooling" option at the bottom of the dialog box. This will allow you to add and select ports for each of your additional printers.

If all the printers you are adding to the pool are the same make and model then it really is as simple as this, however if you are using different models or even makes of printer then you will need to think about which printer driver to use. Most printers are backwards compatible with previous similar models so by selecting the driver for the oldest model of printer in your pool you are most likely to have success. For instance you have a pool of printers consisting of a HP LaserJet 4 and HP LaserJet 5 then you would use a HP LaserJet 4 driver as this will produce data compatible with both printers. There may be some combinations which just will not mix, an example might be an Epson inkjet and a HP laser printer, and these two devices have distinct data streams which are not compatible with each other.