Windows updates released on August 10, 2021 and later will, by default, require administrative privilege to install printer drivers.
The updates were intended to fix the CVE-2021-34481 security vulnerability.
1. To attach the shared printer on the client manually to an updated system, please follow these steps:
2. Please log in to the client as Administrator.
Copy the driver package from the Print Server to any directory on the client.
The driver package can be found on the server, in the folder where the Printer Driver is installed.
By default, that is the following folder:
c:\Program Files\Black Ice Software LLC\Color Printer Driver\Driver\
3. Right-click on the BlackIceColorDesktop.inf and click Install
4. Log in as the user who will use the Printer.
5. Browse to the Print Server in File Explorer.
6. Right-click on the shared printer and click Connect.
If the clients are in the same domain, you can use Group Policy to attach the shared printers.
For more information, please see the following page:
As a workaround, it is also possible to allow users to install printer drivers by setting the following registry key to 0 on the client system:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint\RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators
Please note that setting the RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators key to 0 also needs administrative privilege and makes the system vulnerable to the CVE-2021-34481 security vulnerability.
Also, it is not possible to set the RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators registry key if the following Group Policy is enabled:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers > Limits print driver installation to Administrators
For more information, please see the following Microsoft article: