I have a print server running 2003 standard sp2, I have been looking for a way to allow helpdesk staff install and manage printers without logging into the server and without adding them to the admin group. So I added them to the power users group and the print operators group, that worked fine they were able to UNC ( \\servername ) to the server and install printers, drivers, as well as uninstall drivers’ printers ect…………. Now the problem……… this works great from an XP box, but when we try it from a windows 7 machine we get access denied. More specifically it acts like it is going to install the printer then when it comes to the driver installation part it fails “Printer driver was not installed. Access is denied.” No changes have been made to the permissions I can log into an XP machine with my profile and it works fine log out go to a Windows 7 machine use the same credentials and I get the above message access is denied. I am an admin of both machines on the windows 7 machine I have UAC turned off completely. Running XP Pro SP3 & Windows 7 pro both are 32 bit machines. I should also add that I have made the necessary group policy changes to allow printer operators to Load/Unload device drivers and under the local policies/security options I ensured that the Prevent users from installing printer drivers was Disabled. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Power user is not an available security group from Windows Vista. If you want to allow standard users to install printer drivers, please refer: Configure Computer Policy to Allow Non-Administrators to Install Specific Devices http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725772.aspx Install printer without being administrator http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/df21d2c2-c2d4-4107-bfe3-bf8c5a1cd946/Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks for the reply. I still don't feel like this is the direction I need to go but I may be wrong, I understnd the links you sent me but they really dont answer my questions. I am not trying to install anything on my local machine which I have admin right to anyway, I am trying to add a driver to 2003 server which works flawlessly from an XP machine.....................

The behavior may be caused by UAC. You can refer to: Some Programs Cannot Access Network Locations When UAC Is Enabled http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee844140(WS.10).aspx Or you can try to open Print Management in clients and direct the console to the server. Print Management Step-by-Step Guide http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753109(WS.10).aspxPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.