Using Your Local Printers While Using a Remote Desktop Connection

These are the steps to take to show local printers when connected via Remote Desktop:

1. Click on your Remote Desktop icon on your desktop or in your Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Communications menu.

2. The following screen should appear:



3. Click on Options and the following screen should appear:



4. Select the Local Resources tab as shown below and check the Printers option.



5. Click on the General tab and the following screen should appear and you will type in your password and click Connect.



6. After connecting you should be able to go to Printers and Faxes under Control Panel and see your printers as shown below:



This should be all there is to it!

If you are still having problems I would install the printer driver for the printer on your client computer on the remote computer and change the port to something that you really don't have on the remote computer for example: LPT2, LPT3 so that the printer never gets called but the driver is available for your remote connection. This should work or you can do the manual printer redirection as in the help article below from Windows help for Remote Desktop Connection.

Printing to your local printer from a remote session Printer redirection routes printing jobs from the terminal server or Remote Desktop computer to a printer attached to your local computer (also called the "client computer"). There are two ways to provide access to local printers: automatic and manual printer redirection. Use manual redirection when your local printer requires a driver that is not available on the version of Windows that is running on the remote computer.

Automatic Printer Redirection Printer redirection is automatic when the local printer uses a driver that is installed on the server. When you log on to a session on a terminal server, or to a computer running Windows Professional or Server and Remote Desktop, any local printers attached to LPT, COM and USB ports that are installed on the client (local) computer are automatically detected and a local queue is created on the server. The client computer printer settings for the default printer and some properties (such as printing on both sides of the page) are used by the server.


When you disconnect or end the session, the printer queue is deleted and any incomplete or pending print jobs are lost. Information about the client's local printers and settings are saved on the client computer. On subsequent logons, the printer queue is created using the information stored on the client computer.

If a printer driver is not found on the server, an event is logged and the client printer is not created. To make the printer available, the driver must be manually installed on the server.

Manual Printer Redirection Printers attached to LPT and COM ports on the client (local) computer can be manually redirected, although manual redirection of printers connected through USB ports is not supported.

To manually redirect a client printer, contact your administrator and provide the name of your computer (or IP address for a Windows-based Terminal). The client must be connected to the remote computer during manual redirection.

After the initial manual redirection, printers will be automatically redirected during subsequent logons.

Notes

    Redirected printers are available for use with applications running on the server. Redirected printers appear in the Printers and Faxes folder in Control Panel and are named in this format: Client Printer Name/Client Computer Name/Session Number.
    When you disconnect or log off from a session, the printer queue is deleted and incomplete or pending print jobs are lost.