@nadnerB said:

@handsofqwerty said:

@nadnerB Nope. One person.

Ah well, have to spread the post count out a bit

Yeah...let's go with that...

@nadnerB Nope. One person.

@nadnerB said:

@handsofqwerty said:

They are a little off in what is CNY but overall it's true. I shared this on FB and you stole it!

@mlnews is on Facebook?

The man behind the curtain is...

@mlnews said:

For all the New Yorkers.... @coliver @Minion-Queen @art_of_shred @scottalanmiller @handsofqwerty @thanksajdotcom

They are a little off in what is CNY but overall it's true. I shared this on FB and you stole it!

ROFL! LOVE IT!

For @art_of_shred

Just relaxing before I go in to work at 4PM.

@handsofqwerty said:

@Carnival-Boy said:

Next question. Should I just be installing the driver and keeping things simple - largely let Windows handle everything. Or should I be looking at using more specific HP tools, such as installing the HP Printer Administrator Resource Kit (PARK):
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=4072932&swItemId=ds_99433_13&swEnvOid=4168

Obviously, the HP software will be more powerful and offer more flexibility, but is it a case of HP software being more trouble than it's worth?

Let Windows handle it all. Too many fingers in the pie and all that. If your driver packages are .exe files, use 7-zip to extract the file (most are self-extracting archives anyways) and install just the driver without all the software. The software won't do you any good anyways, as clients can access it.

...as a rule...

@Carnival-Boy said:

Next question. Should I just be installing the driver and keeping things simple - largely let Windows handle everything. Or should I be looking at using more specific HP tools, such as installing the HP Printer Administrator Resource Kit (PARK):
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=4072932&swItemId=ds_99433_13&swEnvOid=4168

Obviously, the HP software will be more powerful and offer more flexibility, but is it a case of HP software being more trouble than it's worth?

Let Windows handle it all. Too many fingers in the pie and all that. If your driver packages are .exe files, use 7-zip to extract the file (most are self-extracting archives anyways) and install just the driver without all the software. The software won't do you any good anyways, as clients can access it.

@dafyre said:

@Dashrender said:

@Carnival-Boy said:

So will the Windows 7 clients install the 2012R2 driver? Or if I install additional drivers on the server, will the client know which one to install?

Generally - yes, Windows 7 will install the 2012R2 driver because they are typically the same.

As long as you are using the same bit-ness versions, if I understand right... (IE: Win7 x64 will work with Server 2012 x64 print drivers)?

This is really the important thing. It's printing via the server, so as long as you have the x64 drivers for your x64 systems and the x86 drivers for your x86 systems, you're good. You can print with the Server 2012 x86 driver from an XP machine because it renders it through the server.

Chilling at NTG HQ.

Wow...just wow...
Youtube Video

It amazes me when I hear about people who install ESXi to the local disk/RAID. However, if you don't know any better, I can understand why people do it. They treat the hypervisor like Windows. But I remember the first time I upgraded an ESXi host with @alexntg and updated the SD card in a Dell Poweredge and watched him just reattach the VMs in the datastores. It all suddenly made perfect sense. Totally agree with the above. Well-written.

@Carnival-Boy said:

Thanks. I do have some specific questions for you

1. Which driver(s) do I need to install on the server. Should I just install the 2012R2 driver, or do I need to additionally install the Windows 7 driver?

2. What is the difference between drivers for 2012R2, 8, 8.1 and 7. 2012R2 uses the Windows 8 kernel doesn't it? So is the driver actually the same?

3. Am I ok to use the HP Universal Print Driver, or am better using specific HP printer drivers?

4. If I tick "Render the print jobs on client computers", is the 2012R2 driver actually being used? Or is all the processing being done on the Windows 7 clients? Should I tick this box (it's the default, so I am assuming the answer is yes)? And if the clients are doing the rendering, what is my vendor on about when he says there may be compatibility issues with 2012R2? If the Windows 7 clients can print now via 2003, under what circumstances could they have an issue printing to 2012R2?

1, Server 2012 R2 is the driver but in case that's lacking, work backwards, starting with Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7.

2. Most are pretty similar or the same. It depends on the printer.

3. The UPD is good and the only option for some printers but my philosophy has always been the actual printer specific driver whenever possible.

4. This renders the spool on the client machine instead of the server. So instead of spooling via the server, it spools on each workstation. The advantage is if the spooler for one machine crashes, it doesn't bring everyone down. The downside is if you need to restart a spooler, and it's happening on multiple machines, you have to touch each machine. Still, I prefer to render it on the workstation whenever possible.

@nadnerB said:

Well, I'm glad you aren't dead.
I can see how maintaining an online presence has taken a back seat and wish you all the best.
 
Got any plans yet or are you still a bit shell shocked?

I'm still a little shell-shocked and I'm trying to figure things out but I'm waiting on external factors to give me some idea of what my next step is.

I understand that people have been wondering where I've been, as I took a three-week hiatus, which is not like me. I've had a lot going on in my personal life, and while I respect that this is a professional forum, I thought I'd share a little of that so people had an idea of why I've been gone.

First off, you can always tell when I'm not working a desk job because I disappear from online forums. I don't know why but there's some internal, mental correlation between me working a desk job and posting here or SW. About a month ago, I was no longer employed at my Cisco-shop job. The fault was entirely my own, but I wished they'd let me go to the second shift schedule like I'd asked. A 7AM start time five days a week, five days in a row, was too much for my body, combined with what else I had going on.

Currently, I have no official address. For religious differences, I am not welcomed by anyone (and I do mean ANYONE) in my family. In fact, they will have nothing to do with me. I have been crashing with a co-worker for about a month now. In that time, I've been in the hospital, almost lost my only job for doing nothing wrong, labeled "a threatening presence" by a manager trying to get me fired (who in the end got transferred), and I'm broke. I mean beyond broke.

I have a couple of possible jobs I have a good shot at but they are in FL. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out what my next move is but there are so many variables up in the air I just don't know. But I've been trying to get some things in order and just haven't been posting. Any happy thoughts you care to send my way are much appreciated. Thanks.

@art_of_shred said:

We've also had really good luck with Jabra Pro stuff. Any of their lower lines I avoid like the plague, but the Pro stuff is great. As much as I like Plantronics, I would actually rate Jabra Pro higher than Plantronics for functionality and ease of use in an office environment.

Downvote! Then again, I'm the PLT fanboy, so what can I say?