There’s a “trick” that we use to quickly migrate printers from one server to another quickly. You can use this technique during migrations from one server OS version to the next or from one server to another when you just want to change which server is in charge of managing network printers.

These instructions come from from KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938923  This KB seems to be overlooked  by lots of people, so hopefuly this blog post will help bring it to the attention of more people. This same technique can work Server 2012 with minor updating.

How to Backup Printers to be Exported

1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Server Manager.
2. In Server Manager, right-click Roles, and then click Add Roles.
3. Click to select the Print Services check box, and then click Next.
4. Click Next two times, and then click Install.
5. When the installation process is complete, click Close.
6. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Print Management.
7. In the Print Management window, right-click Print Management, and then click Migrate Printers.
8. Make sure that Export printer queues and printer drivers to a file is selected, and then click Next.
9. In the Select a print server window, click A print server on the network, type the remote print server name, and then click Next.
10. In the Review the list of items to be exported window, click Next.
11. In the Select the file location window, type a location to which you want to back up the printers. For example, type the following location: system_drive:\backup\remoteservername.printerExport
12. Click Finish.

How to restore printers in Windows Server 2008

1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Server Manager.
2. In Server Manager, right-click Roles, and then click Add Roles.
3. Click to select the Print Services check box, and then click Next.
4. Click Next two times, and then click Install.
5. When the installation process is complete, click Close.
6. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Print Management.
7. In the Print Management window, right-click Print Management, and then click Migrate Printers.
8. Click Import printer queues and printer drivers from a file, and then click Next.
9. In the Select the File Location window, type a location to which you want to restore the printers. For example, type the following location: system_drive:\backup\remoteservername.printerExport
10. Click Next two times.
11. In the Select a print server window, make sure that the print server that is listed is the print server that hosts the printers, and then click Next.
12. In the Select import options window, click Next.
13. Click Finish.

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