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Print Server Session Settings

Print Server Session Settings control how printers behave during user sessions, including default printer handling, session disconnect behavior, and virtual printer configuration. You'll configure these settings to match your environment's needs—balancing user experience, performance, and administrative control. This reference details each available setting, when you'd use it, and how different configurations affect user printing behavior.

Overview​

Session Settings apply to all Print Server printers for assigned owners. You can't configure these settings on a per-printer basis—they affect every Print Server printer a user accesses. This makes Session Settings ideal for organization-wide policies that should apply consistently across your print infrastructure.

ScrewDrivers includes a default Session Settings object called "Default ScrewDrivers Settings" that you can use as-is, modify and then assign, or use as a template for creating custom settings objects. When you assign Session Settings to an owner (user, group, or OU), those settings control printing behavior for all Print Server printers that owner can access.

The settings primarily address three areas: how default printers are handled during sessions, what happens to printers when users disconnect and reconnect, and whether you're using shared virtual printers instead of per-user virtual printers. Understanding these areas helps you configure settings that match your deployment model and user expectations.

Managing Session Settings Objects​

You'll work with Session Settings objects in the ScrewDrivers Administration console, viewing and configuring them much like any other object type.

Viewing Existing Settings​

Confirm the Objects pane is set to Session Printer Settings objects. You might need to click the Session Printer Settings icon on the Administration Icon bar. Expand the ScrewDrivers Session Settings folder to see all configured settings objects. The default "Default ScrewDrivers Settings" object always appears here.

You can search for specific Session Settings objects if you have many configured. See Managing Objects for search procedures.

Creating New Session Settings​

If you want different settings for different user groups, create multiple Session Settings objects. For example, you might have one settings object for users who need shared virtual printers and another for users who need per-user virtual printers.

To create a new Session Settings object, right-click the ScrewDrivers Session Settings folder in the Objects pane. Select New Session Settings from the context menu. The New Session Settings dialog opens, prompting for a name.

Type a descriptive name that indicates the purpose or target audience for these settings—for example, "Manufacturing Floor Settings" or "Executive Printer Settings." Click Add. The new object appears in the ScrewDrivers Session Settings folder.

Select your newly created Session Settings object. The Information pane displays the Session Settings object form with the General tab open. All values are set to defaults.

Modifying Existing Settings​

To modify existing settings, simply select the Session Settings object in the Objects pane. The Session Settings form appears in the Information pane with all current values displayed. Make your changes, then click Save to commit them.

Important: Changes to Session Settings take effect the next time users log in. Users already logged in continue using the previous settings until they log out and back in. If you need changes to take effect immediately for active users, those users must log out and log back in.

Session Settings Configuration​

The Session Settings form contains several options that control different aspects of Print Server printer behavior during user sessions.

Default Printer Management​

Recapture the default printer / Recapture delay (seconds)

This setting addresses a common annoyance in terminal server and VDI environments where "server printers" (printers installed locally on the session host) can override a user's intended default printer. When enabled (the default), ScrewDrivers periodically resets the user's default printer to match their client-side default, preventing server printers from stealing default printer status.

The default delay is 30 seconds, which you can adjust based on your environment. Shorter delays (10-15 seconds) provide more responsive default printer management but generate slightly more overhead. Longer delays (60-90 seconds) reduce overhead but mean users might see the wrong default printer for longer after logging in.

You'd disable this setting only in specialized scenarios where you want server-side printer management to control default printer selection, or where you're using application-specific default printer logic that conflicts with periodic recapture.

Session Disconnect Behavior​

Delete printers on session disconnect; add on reconnect

This setting controls whether printers remain in the session when users disconnect. When enabled (the default), all Print Server printers are removed from the session when a user disconnects or logs off. When the user reconnects or logs back in, the printers are rebuilt based on current printer assignments and settings.

This cleanup-and-rebuild approach ensures users always get current printer configurations and prevents orphaned printer objects from accumulating in disconnected sessions. It also means that any printer configuration changes you make in Administration take effect immediately on reconnect—users don't need to fully log out and back in.

You'd disable this setting in environments where session disconnect/reconnect happens frequently (like users switching between wireless networks) and the printer rebuild process takes too long, causing noticeable delays. However, disabling it means printer changes don't take effect until full logoff/logon, and disconnected sessions accumulate printer objects that consume session host resources.

Shared Virtual Printers​

Use one shared virtual printer for each print server printer

This advanced setting changes how ScrewDrivers creates virtual printers on the session host. Normally, each user gets their own set of virtual printers that redirect to Print Server printers. With shared virtual printers enabled, a single virtual printer on the session host is shared among all logged-in users, with ScrewDrivers managing per-user routing internally.

Shared virtual printers significantly reduce the number of printer objects on session hosts in high-density environments. If you have 50 Print Server printers and 100 concurrent users, the normal model creates 5,000 virtual printer objects (50 printers × 100 users). The shared model creates just 50 virtual printer objects regardless of user count.

This reduction matters in environments approaching Windows' printer object limits or where printer creation time during login becomes problematic. However, shared virtual printers complicate troubleshooting because you can't directly see which user is accessing which printer from the session host's perspective.

Shared Virtual Printer Naming​

If you enable shared virtual printers, you must specify how they're named on the session host. Clear, descriptive names help administrators identify printers when troubleshooting.

You can choose from two default naming schemes or create a custom scheme:

Default Scheme 1: "Printer Name (Print Server)" - Names virtual printers using the original printer name followed by the print server name in parentheses. For example, "Color Laser (PS01)."

Default Scheme 2: "Print Server:Printer Name" - Names virtual printers using the print server name, a colon separator, and the printer name. For example, "PS01:Color Laser."

Custom Scheme: Lets you define your own naming pattern using placeholders for printer name, print server name, and literal text. For example, you might use SHARED-{PrintServer}-{Printer} to create names like SHARED-PS01-ColorLaser.

Custom naming schemes support all special characters except exclamation points (!), backslashes (\), and periods (.). You can combine placeholders with literal text and separators to create naming patterns that match your organization's conventions.

Assignment and Inheritance​

After configuring Session Settings, you'll assign them to owners to put them into effect. Session Settings use the same assignment and inheritance model as other ScrewDrivers objects.

Direct Assignment​

To assign Session Settings, select the settings object in the Objects pane and drag it to the appropriate owner in the Assignments pane. If you need an owner that doesn't exist in Active Directory, you can create Network owners—see Managing Owners for procedures.

The assigned settings take effect for all Print Server printers the owner can access. You can assign different Session Settings to different owners, allowing customization by department, role, or location.

Inheritance​

Session Settings participate in owner inheritance. If you assign settings to an organizational unit, all users and groups within that OU inherit those settings unless they have more specific assignments. This inheritance model lets you set organization-wide defaults at high levels while overriding specific settings for particular groups or users.

See Entities and Inheritance for detailed information about how inheritance works and how to structure assignments for complex organizations.

Use Cases and Scenarios​

Different environment types benefit from different Session Settings configurations. Understanding common scenarios helps you choose appropriate settings.

High-Density Terminal Server Environments​

Environments with many concurrent users per session host should consider shared virtual printers to reduce printer object counts. Combine this with default printer recapture to ensure users get correct default printers despite the shared printer model.

Keep the disconnect-and-rebuild behavior enabled to prevent disconnected sessions from accumulating resources and to ensure printer changes propagate quickly to reconnecting users.

Mobile Workforce​

Users who frequently disconnect and reconnect (switching between office, home, and mobile networks) might benefit from disabled disconnect-and-rebuild behavior to reduce reconnection delays. However, this comes at the cost of slower printer configuration updates.

Consider shorter recapture delays (15-20 seconds) for mobile users who switch networks frequently and need quick default printer adjustments.

VDI Environments​

Virtual desktop environments typically perform well with default settings. The disconnect-and-rebuild behavior ensures non-persistent VDI desktops start fresh for each user, and default printer recapture handles default printer management reliably.

If you're using Horizon View or Citrix Virtual Apps with instant clones or provisioned desktops, shared virtual printers might not provide significant benefits because each user gets a dedicated desktop anyway.

Troubleshooting Session Settings Issues​

Common issues with Session Settings typically involve inheritance misconfigurations or timing problems.

If users report incorrect Session Settings behavior, verify which settings they're actually receiving using the Logon Impersonation tool. This tool shows you exactly which assignments a user inherits, including Session Settings. See Managing Owners for Logon Impersonation procedures.

If changes to Session Settings don't take effect, remember that settings apply at login time. Users must log out and back in for changes to take effect. Disconnect and reconnect isn't sufficient unless you have disconnect-and-rebuild enabled.

If shared virtual printers cause confusion or problems, you can disable them and return to per-user virtual printers without losing other configuration. Just turn off the shared virtual printer option, save the settings, and have users log out and back in to get individual virtual printers.