Disallow installation of printers using kernel-mode drivers

Determines whether printers using kernel-mode drivers may be installed on the local computer. Kernel-mode drivers have access to system-wide memory, and therefore poorly-written kernel-mode drivers can cause stop errors.

If you disable this setting, or do not configure it, then printers using a kernel-mode drivers may be installed on the local computer running Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional.

If you do not configure this setting on Windows Server 2003 family products, the installation of kernel-mode printer drivers will be blocked.

If you enable this setting, installation of a printer using a kernel-mode driver will not be allowed.

Note: By applying this policy, existing kernel-mode drivers will be disabled upon installation of service packs or reinstallation of the Windows XP operating system. This policy does not apply to 64-bit kernel-mode printer drivers as they cannot be installed and associated with a print queue.

Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only

Registry HiveHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry PathSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers
Value NameKMPrintersAreBlocked
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Enabled Value1
Disabled Value0

printing.admx

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