use "net Use" to set default printer in batch file

I have to create a batch file to set the users default personal printer to lpt1 in a Windows 7 environment.

Searching the web I found this and this:

net Use lpt1 \\\computername\printer

I know can use %computername% to get the computer name and I can use this to get the default printer name: cscript %Windir%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-us\prnmngr.vbs -g

But I do not know how to combine the 2 into one "net use" statement in my batch file.

The end result I would like is net Use lpt1 \\itwin7003\hp laserjet 2035

Thanks in advance!

1 Answer

I have to create a batch file to set the users default personal printer to lpt1

Batch file:

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "usebackq skip=1 tokens=*" %%i in (`wmic printer where default^="true" get sharename ^| findstr /r /v "^$"`) do ( set _printer=%%i rem remove trailing cr set _printer=!_printer:~0,-1! net use lpt1 "\\%computername%\!_printer!" )
)
endlocal

Command line:

for /f "usebackq skip=1 tokens=*" %i in (`wmic printer where default^="true" get sharename ^| findstr /r /v "^$"`) do @net use lpt1 \\%computername%\%i

Note:

• net use requires the printer ShareName.

Further Reading

• An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line - An excellent reference for all things Windows cmd line related.
• for /f - Loop command against the results of another command.
• net - The NET Command is used to manage network resources.
• wmic - Windows Management Instrumentation Command.