how to keep default printer .... well .... DEFAULT!

there are three printers attached to my windows 10 pc at work: a laser, an ink jet and a PDF creator. that third one is "CuterPDF Writer"; while technically not a printer, it is used to create PDFs from any document, spreadsheet, etc.

the laser is the default.

however, it doesn't "stick". sometimes after using the other two, one of them becomes the default.

i keep resetting the laser to default in the control panel. is there someway i can indicate that it's the REAL default lol.

thanks in advance,

terry

You did not say which version of Windows you are using, however, the following links have several potential fixes:

Windows 7:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com...w7itprogeneral

Windows 10:
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/win...ter-management

oh wow. okay, i've switched that switch. i'll be back with the results. *crosses fingers*

not sticking. still sets last printer to default. i went to thurott's site and checked the comments. for some ppl there, this method works. for some, it doesn't. boo hiss lol.

Welcome to the fantastic new world of Windows 10. It will still be in beta testing until at least August. The next update may or may not fix this issue. Of course, it may also introduce new issues.

You could try creating a startup script with the rundll32 printui.dll. I haven't tried it on Win10, but it's worth a shot.
You can test it from a command prompt first.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/.../ee624057.aspx

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "<printername>"
exit

thanks, midknyte. where exactly would i put this script?

In the Startup folder.
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows...-in-windows-8/

ok, so i un-defaulted my printer and "ran" the script. looks like it works fine.

i also located the folder containing items run at startup. in my case there are only two - dropbox and an intranet IM program. How do i go about creating an "app" containing your script?

You don't create an "app"; you create a script.

Open Notepad and paste in the commands. Then save the file as Printer.bat (or whatever you want to name it). Make sure it is NOT Printer.bat.txt. Put Printer.bat into the Startup folder.

All you need is a batch file with the commands in it. Open Notepad, and paste in the commands from Midknyte's post above. Then, save the file to the appropriate startup folder location, as DefPrint.bat making sure to change the file type from .txt to All Files so the .bat extension will be preserved. (If you get a DefPrint.bat.txt file, rename it to remove the .txt part.)

thanks midknyte. thankd jdc.

it works! now to cross my fingers and hope it KEEPS working. i'm positive this pc is out to drive me crazy these days lol.

i am familiar with BAT files. all the way back to - i hate to admit - windows THREE. YIKES!

It is not the PC that is driving you crazy. Unfortunately, it is Microsoft. They want you to constantly be learning new things and testing software for them, instead of getting some productive work done.

i just don't know WHY the UI has to change so much with every release. it's not just them, either. iTunes has this bad habit too.

On that note, your company probably should have stuck to Win7. Win7 doesn't hit EOL until 2020.

It seems like Win10 was created to drive sysadmins bonkers. We have a few test systems with Win10, but our standard is still Win7.