The purpose of NPC is to allow you to explicitly set the Windows 8/10 default printers by network name, just like you could with Windows 7.
Windows 8 & 10
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copyright Michael J. Burns
v1.15 Release date April 14, 2021
Description:
Have the Windows 8 or 10 setting of the default printer be explicitly network dependent, similar to Windows 7.
Network Printer Control (NPC) for Windows 8, 10 & 11, both 32-bit & 64-bit, is an example of a utility I wrote to solve a problem I found myself dealing with. In this case, when I upgraded the laptop that I use as my main home & work machine from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro, I suddenly found that the way Windows 10 (& Windows 8, apparently) managed the default printer stank. Really stank. Under Windows 7 ( "Device and Printers -> Printers and Faxes" -> "Manage default printers"), I had a default printer set for every network that my laptop had to encounter at my house, my work, and the other places I used the laptop on a regular basis. Windows 10 wiped that out, and replaced it with "Let Windows manage my default printer", which behaves differently in one important and annoying way - it switches the default printer it associates with a given network to the last printer used on that network instead of keeping the same default even if you occasionally use another printer. In other words, if you mostly use a specific printer when on a specific network, you probably want that one to be the default all of the time. But under the new Windows 8/10/11 scheme, if you need to use another printer, the act of using that other printer changes the default associated with that network. (This is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if anyone at Microsoft actually uses Windows.)
The bottom line is I wrote Network Printer Control to give me the old default printer behavior back, namely the default printer stays the way I set it even if I occasionally use other printers on the network.
Network Drive Control is free and has a built in help function. All binaries are signed, including the installer.
We add the usual warning that there are no warranties that this software will work correctly or will even run on your machine, and that you use it at your own risk.
Click here to download locally
- NPCSetup.zip
Click here to view the Release Notes
Click here to view an online version of the Help Files
Back to Michael Burns Software
Yes, Network Printer Control may be used completely free of charge, even when deploying in commercial organizations.
However if you wish to show your appreciation and support its development/hosting you can make a donation by clicking the PayPal button below.
Feedback, bug reports & feature requests can be sent to me at