Question:

How can I restrict the visibility of printers on a terminal server for a specific user, so that they only see the printers they are allowed to use, and not the ones they are denied access to?

I have tried removing the ‘print’ permission for everyone in the security option of the printer properties, but this only prevents printing, not seeing or selecting the printer. The user still gets an ‘Access Denied’ error when they try to print to a forbidden printer.

Answer:

How to Hide Printers on a Terminal Server for a Specific User

If you are managing a terminal server that hosts multiple printers, you may want to limit the visibility of printers for certain users, so that they only see the ones they are allowed to use. This can help reduce confusion and prevent unauthorized printing attempts.

One way to do this is to use Group Policy Preferences to create a printer filter based on the user’s security group membership. This way, you can assign different printers to different groups of users, and hide the ones they are not supposed to use.

Here are the steps to create a printer filter using Group Policy Preferences:

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console and create or edit a Group Policy Object that applies to the terminal server.

2. Under User Configuration, expand Preferences, then Control Panel Settings, then Printers.

3. Right-click on Printers and select New, then Shared Printer.

4. In the New Shared Printer Properties dialog box, enter the share path of the printer you want to assign to a group of users, such as `\\server\printer1`.

5. Under the Common tab, check the box for Item-level targeting and click on the Targeting… button.

6. In the Targeting Editor dialog box, click on the New Item button and select Security Group.

7. In the Security Group dialog box, enter the name of the security group that contains the users who are allowed to use the printer, such as `Printer1 Users`.

8. Click OK to close the dialog boxes and save the printer preference.

9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 for each printer you want to assign to a different group of users, using a different share path and security group name.

10. Close the Group Policy Management Console and run `gpupdate /force` on the terminal server to apply the changes.

After applying this policy, the users who log on to the terminal server will only see the printers that match their security group membership in the Devices and Printers folder or the Print dialog box. They will not see the printers that they are not allowed to use, and they will not get an ‘Access Denied’ error when they try to print to them.

This is one way to restrict the visibility of printers on a terminal server for a specific user. There may be other methods or tools that can achieve the same result, depending on your environment and preferences. However, this method is simple, effective, and easy to manage using Group Policy Preferences.