[jyhugikuhih]

At my work, I have to print to a central printer all the way across the building, which usually means standing in line with others, waiting for one sheet to come out. So I want to install a Dell 720 from home so I can print without hassle.

When I tried to install it, I got the message that only an Administrator could install new devices. So I emailed our IT guy, and he says policy will not allow non-company devices.

Is there a sneaky way around this so I can install my lil' rinky-dink printer?

[Ehlgamxf]

Depends on the printers you have installed and the type of printer you want to use. A lot of HP printers, and non-HP's too, use PCL5 or PCL6 to process their print jobs. Now, you run the risk of printing off of margins and possible problems with advanced features, but you can pretty much use any PCL5/PCL6 compliant driver to run any PCL5/PCL6 printer. I ran an epson action laster PCL 5 printer with a LaserJet 6 driver for a good long while.

Though, if you can match that up, you still have to have sufficient privilages to change the port of one of your installed printers from some closet on the other side of the building to your USB/LPT1 port.

[AK47rulz]

do you have a portable data device? You could print from it to a desktop printer.

i just bribe the IT guys, or get creative and talk their bosses into doing what i want.

[brulpcoersero]

I'm probably screwed on this deal.

[Assauraarguck]

No there is no sneeky way to do this. You've been locked out for a reason and that kind of action in lots of places can get you fired. But productivity is important to so I'd make a pitch not to the IT guy but to your boss about getting your own printer. If you have to literally wait in line then this company doesn't have enough printers.

[QysnZWB4]

No there is no sneeky way to do this. You've been locked out for a reason and that kind of action in lots of places can get you fired. But productivity is important to so I'd make a pitch not to the IT guy but to your boss about getting your own printer. If you have to literally wait in line then this company doesn't have enough printers.

That's zackly what I'm gonna do. Except I'm gonna don camoflauge and wield an AK-47 to make my point. How many people must I kill to get my printer?

[LoohornePharp]

That's zackly what I'm gonna do. Except I'm gonna don camoflauge and wield an AK-47 to make my point. How many people must I kill to get my printer?

you just need to present a reasonable return on investment. if your company doesn't have an ROI template, make one up. Show teh costs associated with the printer (materials, maintenance, IT time, etc). Then show the costs associated with lower productivity.

we have printers that are only used 1 time a month on our network. i don't know why the issue...but IT guys can tend to be over-territorial.

[Hervams]

you just need to present a reasonable return on investment. if your company doesn't have an ROI template, make one up. Show teh costs associated with the printer (materials, maintenance, IT time, etc). Then show the costs associated with lower productivity.

we have printers that are only used 1 time a month on our network. i don't know why the issue...but IT guys can tend to be over-territorial.

Also the cost associated with my ass having to walk all the way down a long hallway to stand in line. Time is money - right?

Or I'll go the AK47 route.

[duncanalisstmp]

That's zackly what I'm gonna do. Except I'm gonna don camoflauge and wield an AK-47 to make my point. How many people must I kill to get my printer?

Violence isn't the answer.
So don't kill more than, say, ten people.

[Lorionasodi]

you just need to present a reasonable return on investment. if your company doesn't have an ROI template, make one up. Show teh costs associated with the printer (materials, maintenance, IT time, etc). Then show the costs associated with lower productivity.

we have printers that are only used 1 time a month on our network. i don't know why the issue...but IT guys can tend to be over-territorial.

IT are over territorial with good reason. End Users can do really dumb things, either in ignorance or even deliberately that can bring an entire network to a halt. Nothing like having every computer user in the company on your ass. Been there done that got the b!tch fired for it and the boss a whole new appreciation for what we tell him can go wrong. Doesn't help the ulcer or the fact it takes near disaster to get the guys with the checkbooks to understand.

[Hdzcxqoi]

Also the cost associated with my ass having to walk all the way down a long hallway to stand in line. Time is money - right?

Or I'll go the AK47 route.

It is. Get a stop watch and count the minutes and present it as a cost per minute against your salary.

[ppaelkos]

IT are over territorial with good reason. End Users can do really dumb things, either in ignorance or even deliberately that can bring an entire network to a halt. Nothing like having every computer user in the company on your ass. Been there done that got the b!tch fired for it and the boss a whole new appreciation for what we tell him can go wrong. Doesn't help the ulcer or the fact it takes near disaster to get the guys with the checkbooks to understand.

It has been about 15 years since I worked in a formal IT capacity, but I still understand the need to limit what users do. When I worked as a tech responsible for over 100 computers in a public computer lab, the screws were so tight the students bled. We really rejoiced when we bought the software that automatically restored our default OS and software package from a network image every time you rebooted the computer. It took 10 minutes to re-boot and re-image the drive each time, but it was a clean working computer every morning!

I'm not so strict in my current capacity, but there are only 5 users and I can ride rough shot over them pretty decently. Though I must say, anything over 10 users and you have to put the screws on the users to keep productivity up.

[JackieC]

I remember at my previous employer, the IT department had to finally clamp down when one user occupied too much network bandwidth (I think that's what it's called). He'd brought two PC's from home to plug into the high-speed internet and had both PC's downloading movies and music all day long off of Kazaa and other free sites. Took two years for them to catch him. This was about 8-9 years ago.

[wJswn5l3]

We have an IT Gestopo at my company too. But they are
all such great people to work with. We do have to get
approval from our boss to get anything new, but that's
usually not a problem either, long as you can prove a
legitmate need for it.