I'm running SmartPrint as a Windows Service. Why are my default printer settings not taking effect?

When installed as a Windows Service, SmartPrint runs as the LocalSystem account, so it uses the printer defaults of that account, not the account you use to log in.

There are two things you can do about this:

• Reconfigure the Windows Service to run under a different user account, and change the default printer settings of that account. If you do this, ensure that the password for that account does not expire.
• Change the default printer settings of the LocalSystem account. You need to modify the Windows Registry for that. Note that modifying the Windows Registry can cause serious harm and should only be attempted with great care. The steps to follow are:
  • Modify the default settings of your printer, using the standard Devices & Printers functionality.
  • Run the registry editor (regedit.exe) and export the key 
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\DevModePerUser
    • into a .reg file.
  • Modify the .reg file so line 3 says:
    • [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Printers\DevModePerUser]
    • (S-1-5-18 is the security identifier of the LocalSystem account)
  • Run the modified .reg file; confirm that you want to continue if asked. You should receive a message saying The keys and values contained in [your modified .reg file] have been successfully added to the registry.
  • Restart the SmartPrint Windows Service.
  • Go to http://localhost:8888/printers to confirm that the new settings have been applied.