So, ran into a situation the other day where some printers were added to some computers they were not supposed to be on. When we went to remove them – nobody could. Access denied. Enterprise Admin could not remove the printer from the computer.
Why?
Group Policy.
There are a few ways to deploy printers via group policy.
1. Click “Deploy” on your print server. Unless you want everyone and every system in the entire domain to have that printer – do not do this. You won’t know which policy it uses to deploy the printers, you won’t know where it is applied. ( probably sets a “printer” policy on the root of the domain )
2. Create a group policy using Computer Configuration –> Policies –> Windows Settings –>Printer Connections (on older DCs) ( Don’t do this! )
3. Create a group policy using Computer Configuration –>Preferences –> Control Panel Settings –> Printers (Nobody will be able to delete these printers)
4. Create a group policy using User Configuration –> Preferences –> Control Panel Settings –> Printers (You will be able to delete these printers – and they will show back up on next reboot, unless removed from the policy)