[CMD/Batch] Add printer without using full printer name

[0phoi5]

Hello all,

Sorry to ask another CMD/Batch question, I'm still learning and having way too much fun ;)

I'm trying to add a printer using...

rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n "\\servername\Printer Name"

... which works great IF you know the full name of the printer you are trying to add.

If I use Windows 7's Control Panel > Devices & Printers to add a printer, I can select;
Add A Printer > Add A Network Printer > The Printer I Want Isn't Listed > Find a printer in the directory
and then type in a small section of the printer's name and it will find it.

For example, one of our printers is called 'Q123 HP LJ MFP M880 on SERVERNAME' but I can find it by simply typing in Q123.

Is there a way that I can get the batch command to add the printer using something like...

rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n "Q123"

... and get the system to do the same kind of search it would do if I went through the control panel (automatically search our print server for a name like 'Q123' and install it?)

I have trawled the internet for a while looking for this info, but was unsuccessful in finding anything that didn't state to input the full name of the printer.

Thank you in advance.

*edit* Amended grammar/spelling.

Edited December 8, 2015 by haze1434

[cooper]

I would use a different approach for discovering the printers.

See here.

[0phoi5]

Hi Cooper,

That would be perfect if it worked correctly.

Unfortunately, the output of...

get-WmiObject -class Win32_printer | ft name, systemName, shareName

...is...

name                                     systemName                   shareName                              
----                                     ----------                   ---------                              
Send To OneNote 2010                     [HOSTNAME]                                     
Microsoft XPS Document Writer            [HOSTNAME]                                           
Fax                                      [HOSTNAME]                                 

... which is wrong. There should be a few hundred printers on the network, but it only shows 3 local printers, nothing on the network at all.

If this could show all network printers, that would be amazing, as I could simply then pull the relevant line with the printer name 'Q123' from the output.

[cooper]

See here.