Why now you don’t need to reboot after installing UniPrint Server 7?

Previously with version 6, after installing UniPrint Server, you need to reboot the machine for the software to take effect. (Read more here.)

With the new version 7, you don't need to reboot the machine. Why? Because UniPrint now writes the full path of logscrpt.exe in the registry key that controls remote session program startup: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd\StartupPrograms (Read more about this registry key here)

In previous versions, UNiPrint wrote only the program name logscrpt.exe in the registry key. Now it writes the full path, typically, C:\Program Files\UniPrint Suite\.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

UniPrint Version 7 Licensing

As UniPrint users know, printing through UniPrint without a valid license will have a UniPrint banner printed diagonally across all printed pages. (Read more about UniPrint license and banner here.)

UniPrint version 7 came out with a different architecture in terms of its licensing scheme. In previous versions, the license is installed on the UniPrint Server (now called the Application Server), and was tied to that server by the server’s hostname and ip address.

Let’s say you have two UniPrint Servers, each having a valid license. In version 6, this means that you will have two license files: one file ties to server A with server A’s machine name and ip address, the other file ties to server B with server B’s machine name and ip address. You can only use the first file on server A only, not on server B, and likewise with the second file.

With version 7, licensing has been moved from individual Application Server (or UniPrint Server in old terminology) to a centralized License Server. This License Server resides with the Spool Server, so in order for you to install the License Server, you’ll have to also install the Spool Server. Fortunately, both come in the same installation (.msi) package.

With this new licensing scheme, licenses for all previous will not work with version 7. That means existing users will have to upgrade their older licenses to get a new corresponding version 7 license. Users are strongly cautioned to test out version 7 prior to deploying UniPrint into production.

In the scenario above, if you decide to have the two version 6 licenses installed on the same License Server in version 7, you will have to upgrade your licenses. Upgrade can be done through UniPrint's website. After the upgrade, you should receive in email a new version 7 license in one single file that contains information of your two previous version 6 licenses.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

UniPrint's New Website

UniPrint’s old website had been decommissioned in early December last year, replaced by the new website with a completely new look. Below are the screenshots of the old and the new websites of UniPrint.

Old UniPrint Website

 

New UniPrint Website

 

After playing with the new website, it basically works the same way as the old one, without much functionality added. Actually, the forum was taken offline, which is a big no-no.

The old old forum should be made available because it provides a good medium for UniPrint users to exchange ideas and share experience on using UniPrint products. We guess this website will have to take up more of the forum functionality of sharing ideas and experiences among the UniPrint community.

Also of interest in this new website is its big banner announcing that Version 7 will be available in January 2010. It is just about two more weeks from today to the end of January. So Version 7 should be out any day now. Stay tuned. We’ll be testing version 7 when it’s available.

Our internal helpers hinted that the new website had been under construction for more than two years. Hmm… , that’s interesting.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

Remote Session Startup Programs

In a typical environment, a user connects to a central server in the server room through her desktop or laptop at her own cubicle, or even at her home. Once connected, this establishes a remote session from the user’s machine to the central server.

In Windows environment, this is usually done either through Microsoft’s Terminal Services or through Citrix’s servers (such as the Presentation Server). Certain programs are run right after establishing the remote session. These programs are stored in the registry of the central server.

Microsoft uses rdp, their proprietary protocol, for remote connection. And rdp stands for Remote Desktop Protocol.

Citrix uses their proprietary protocol ica for remote connection. And ica stands for Independent Computing Architecture.

For Microsoft Terminal Services, the registry key is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd\StartupPrograms

For Citrix, the registry key is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\icawd\StartupPrograms

Wd means working directoriy (and Wds means, of course, working directories).

The StartupPrograms key is of string (REG_SZ) type. This key contains a list of programs to be run at remote session startup. The programs are separated by commas. Or the techies would like to call it a “comma-delimited list”.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

UniPrint Plagiarizes? Copycat?

While doing research on the internet, we stumbled upon this article by Brian Madden (dated April 14, 2004). Though outdated but it still is interesting.

UniPrint and ThinPrint are head-on competitors: they offer products in a narrow market space. Apparently back then in 2004, a webpage on UniPrint reveals this text:

As a Citrix Premium Business Alliance Partner, ThinPrint offers software solutions for ideal print support under Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 and Citrix MetaFrame XP.

Obviously UniPrint plagiarizes from ThinPrint. Can UniPrint do better than being a copycat?

Hope that their software does not come from plagiarism. Otherwise, UniPrint users may be in for big trouble.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

UniPrint License and Banner

Does any of the UniPrint products solve the printing issues at your organization?

You can evaluate whether UniPrint product is what your organization needs by downloading the UniPrint software from UniPrint’s website. You next install it; the installation is pretty straight forward. Next you test-run it.

The evaluation copy you download has full functionalities of a licensed copy. The only difference is, since it’s unlicensed, that when you print, it also prints a license banner diagonally across all printed pages.

If you don’t want the banner to appear during your evaluation, you can request a demo license by contacting UniPrint’s help desk or salespeople. (You can find the info on UniPrint’s website.) The demo license usually expires in 30 or 60 days.

There are two kinds of banners: One with red text and a dark background that blocks the payload print data. Version 6.1.2 and prior versions have this banner.

UniPrint no-license banner 6.1.2
 

The other kind of banner is black text with clear background that allows one to see the payload print data. This banner appears on version 6.1.5 and later.

UniPrint no license banner 6.1.5

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

Bug Report: Email Printout in UniPrint (Update)

We posted a bug report about sending out printout from UniPrint using its emailing feature previously.

Of course, we do not have the source code – we have not even seen any UniPrint source code for that matter – so we won’t be able to know for sure if that’s the problem.

We spoke to our internal developers. They suspected that the EnableSsl property of the smtp client instance has not been set to true. If it is, our internal developers said the bug should be an easy one to fix. You just need to add one line of code.

Hope that the UniPrint developers take note of this.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---

How to Use the Email Feature in UniPrint?

UniPrint's Server has a nice feature: in addition to being able to print, the user can also email the printout directly to a recipient. In order to use this feature, certain settings have to be set up in the UniPrint Management Console.

Start UniPrint Management Console on the UniPrint Server. Click Driver Properties under Performance & Maintenance. Click the Optional Features tab. The top panel is the Email setup.

 

Check the Enable email checkbox, fill in the correct email server name (or its IP address). Leave the port to the default value of 25, unless you know your email server uses a different port.

Assuming your email server allows unauthenticated connections, leave the Server requires authentication checkbox unchecked. Fill in the Global sender email address. A weird description that simply means the name that will be displayed on the TO: in the email header when you receive an email.

If your server requires authentication, read our bug report. For now, just click save.

Now log on to the UniPrint Server via a remote session (Microsoft’s Terminal Services RDP connection, or Citrix’s ICA connection. Open up a document (or type something in Notepad), and click print. When the printer dialog shows up, select the Uniprint printer (if you have more than one printer installed), and click the preferences button. The Uniprint driver dialog box shows up.

 

Click the Email tab. Fill in all the fields, or at least the TO: field, and click OK to close the UniPrint Driver dialog box. Next click Print on the Printer dialog box. Voila! In a few moments, you (or mail recipient you specified in the TO: field) should get an email with the printout as a PDF attachment.

---

Click here to see a complete list of articles

To contact us: uniprint.user@gmail.com.

 

---