Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

A better method if you switch printer settings frequently

It’s relatively easy to change printer settings such as portrait versus landscape, paper tray selection, spool settings, print quality, paper quality, etc. You open the Printers folder, open the properties for the printer, and make whatever changes are needed. Many of those changes, however, can take a lot of clicks to accomplish and waste time, particularly when there is an easier way. Just configure multiple instances of the same printer, each with its own group of settings.

Configure multiple printer instances

Windows 2000, like Windows NT and Windows 9x, can maintain a single copy of a printer driver but use multiple instances of the driver. Each instance has its own name and settings but uses the same print driver and physical printer. The advantage to using multiple instances is that you can configure each instance with its own group of settings for paper tray, page layout, etc. When you want to print using a particular group of settings, you simply select the printer by name from the printer list in the application. You save the time and trouble of opening the Printers folder, making changes, then printing. It’s basically a one-click fix for frequent printer setting changes:

1. Open the Printers folder, right-click the existing instance of the printer, and choose Properties. Configure its settings as needed and change the name of the printer to something that will help you identify this instance’s settings at a glance. ...