Printing is not a very expensive job. However you can’t appreciate if someone uses your printing resources, especially on shared computer. Now options are available for restricting
access to printing resource from your computer. Here are two tips that will help you to protect your printer with password.
Password Protect your Printer
Just like your files, folders and emails you can also password protect printer access. Applications like Printlock allows this functionality. So once application is installed and setup printing would be done upon providing password.
All you need to do is to follow these steps,
Step 1. Download Printlock from their website.
Step 2. Install and setup the downloaded software to your machine.
Step 3. Installation process will prompt you for a password, provide a unique, hard to guess password.
Step 4. Now on every printing attempt, system will ask for the password. Failing to provide the correct password will refuse the print request.
User Account Restriction
With minor administration you can restrict access of unwanted people on printing resources. Although Windows is not furnished with a mechanism directly to password protect the printing resource however little bit of settings at users or group level can do the trick for you. You can follow these steps to get the desired results.
Step 1. Make sure you are logged in with administrator credentials, or you are an administrator yourself.
Step 2. Now press Start button and goo Printers & Faxes. In Windows 7 the same is provided as Devices & Printers.
Step 3. From the list of printers appearing there, select the one that you want to have limited access.
Step 4. Right click on that printer and press Properties. In Widows 7 you need to double click the selected printer and choose Customize this printer.
Step 5. Now select the security tab, to view the current settings.
Step 6. From the “Group User name” box, select your name and make sure in the bottom box Permission for User or group name (the user name is changed depends on the selection in the above box) check all the options, if not already checked.
Step 7. Now select Everyone from the top box and uncheck all the options against them in the lower box.
From now on windows will make sure itself that its only you who can send the prints on that very printer.
I hope these two tips will be of benefit to you in saving your printers resources and restricting access to your printer.
