Caannot invoke "Add Printer" as administrator

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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Guest

I'm setting up my new Vista laptop (brand new HP Pavilion dv6345us, purchased
two days ago).
I'm logged in as an administrator, with full privilieges.
Context:
Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Printers
I try:
File > Add Printer...
Vista refuses, and declares that "This operation has been cancelled due to
restrictions in effect on this computer".

What can I do to get around this roadblock, so I can attempt to install the
printer?
 
Right click on the installer and select run as administrator, the admin
doesn't have all rights <G>.

Ko

"Severely Frustrated" <Severely (e-mail address removed)>
schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
 
Well, wonder of wonders, I figured it out. Color me Less Frustrated ... but
Utterly Bewildered.

I had User Account Control turned off when I first attempted to install the
printer. With UAC off, I could not invoke the "Add Printer..." wizard. Nor
would plug-n-play work -- when I plugged in the printer, nothing happened at
all.

Silly me. I assumed that by disabling UAC, I was merely suppressing all
those annoying "cry wolf", permission-requesting messages from Vista. But it
turns out, as koze remarks above, that in Vista-world an Administrator is not
really an admin, but merely someone who can grant himself admin privileges
when the occasion requires.

Anyway, so I re-enabled UAC, plugged in the printer's USB cable, and presto:
the driver installed itself. More amazing yet, Vista didn't even see fit to
bother me with an Allow/Deny pester-gram, presumably because the printer
drivers were loaded from Vista's trusted cache of HP drivers.

Thanks, kose and freddy, for taking the time to lend a hand.

No thanks, Vista development team.
 
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