From: V@nguard.LH   
      
   T  wrote:   
      
   > Andy Burns wrote:   
   >   
   >> T wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> I am after how to do it from the command line.   
   >>   
   >> Slightly puzzled why you want to use the command line to invoke the   
   >> printer GUI?   
   >>   
   >> For most people adding a new printer is something done once every few   
   >> years, not several times a day!   
   >   
   > You are forgetting that I have a lot of   
   > customers.  Installing printers is a   
   > common task.  W11 and printers is a match   
   > made in ...   
      
   You'd need to carry a USB drive to have the command readily available to   
   copy/paste the command line.  Insert the USB drive, open File Explorer,   
   open a .txt file, copy the command string, open a command shell, paste   
   the command string, hit Enter.  Or, press the Start button, enter   
   "control", pick Control Panel, click on "Devices and Printers".  Doesn't   
   seem the command route is easier or faster.  Also, either way you get   
   there to show the dialog window, you still have to manually add, delete,   
   or modify a printer setup.  You could use AutoIt or AutoHotkey to   
   automate a known and fixed routine to modify the printers, but you'd   
   have to record the routine, it would have to be the same across all the   
   hosts you maintain, and you'd need to install AutoIt or AutoHotkey on   
   all those hosts, so, again, nothing saved, and instead a lot more work.   
      
   These companies that you support don't have their employees share the   
   same printer?  I would think it would be cheaper to have a shared or   
   networked printer than buy a printer to pair up with every workstation.   
   Less setup, more efficient use, and less maintenance, too.   
      
   > I have a list of run commands that I use, instead of   
   > screwing around going through w7/w10/w11 ever changing   
   > GUI's.  Getting to Printers and Devices is still eluding me.   
      
   For now, the command line is consistent across Windows 7 to 11; however,   
   the wizard's dialog window has apparently changed, so where you land   
   doesn't necessarily look the same.  In addition, the view mode may be   
   different, like the user changed from details list, to large or small   
   icons, or grouping (category), etc.   
      
   > Paul's suggestion is close.  But I'd like the whole potato   
   > that OpenShell gives me.   
      
   Paul expounded on my suggestion of using shell:printerfolder by noting   
   there is and Add Printer function.  I only tested that on Windows 10.   
   You'd have to test on the Windows XP, 7, 8, Vista, and 11 hosts.   
      
   All the hosts at all your employers have OpenShell installed?   
   Considering all the reports of problems with it, you shouldn't be   
   destabilizing your users' hosts.  Plus, they get to rely on a particular   
   GUI, but won't know how to use another workstation with the standard   
   GUI.  To me, alternate shells are for individual personalization, not   
   something for company-wide deployment.  I use Start11, but wouldn't if   
   my workstation was a company asset.   
      
   With all the replies, you should have what you asked for to get to the   
   "Devices and Printers" dialog using a command line.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)