US Patent 7253915 Creating a locally managed instance of a network printer

Creating a locally managed instance of a printer on a workstation which communicates to the printer over a peer-to-peer network by selecting an option to create a locally managed instance of the printer, inputting an identifier of the printer, in response to the input identifier, automatically obtaining printer configuration information and print driver information based at least in part on the input identifier, automatically configuring the printer and installing a print driver based on the obtained printer configuration information and print driver information, and creating the locally managed instance of the printer. The printer configuration information and the print driver information may be automatically obtained from a remote device on the network, such as an FTP server, and a port for communication with the printer may be automatically created. The unique identifier may be a network address of the printer, such as an IP address, a printer name, a DNS name or a NetBios name, and the printer may be a virtual printer, rather than an actual printer installed on the network.