TM-C3500 Windows Driver Settings Migration using BSF

RELATES TO:

• Printer driver settings can be exported or imported to a backup settings file – BSF file.
• The BSF file stores user-defined Favourite Settings and Driver Utilities, such as paper layout, barcode, and operation settings.
• Some settings are stored in the printer and communicated to the driver but not stored in the BSF, such as Media Detection.
• BSF files are not compatible between different versions of the driver e.g. 102 and 103.

EXPLANATION:

The BSF file may be useful for importing driver settings to a new system or to a non-persistent thin client. This article will provide some conditions and further details.

To save the modified Current settings that can be found in the General tab and Options tab, you must first “Save as Favourite Settings” as in Figure 1.

Figure 1

This will open the Save/Delete Favourite Setting menu. Here you store the Current Settings to a new Favourite Settings object with a new name as in Figure 2.

Figure 2

In this list, Favourite Settings “test1”, “test2” and “test3” will all be saved to the BSF. Be aware that the Current Settings are local to the driver instance and are not saved to the BSF.

In the general tab, see Figure 3, the only exception - Media Detection is accessible from an online printer directly and so it is not saved in the BSF file. Please note you will have to configure the printer using this function in the driver or in the Printer Setting utility.

Media Detection is accessible from printer directly and is not saved in the BSF file.	An error occurs when Media Detection is selected when the printer is offline.

The Driver Utilities tab contains settings that are independent of the Favourite settings but are also stored in the BSF. In this tab the BSF file can be imported and exported as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 - The BSF file can be saved and restored here.

Note that when you import a BSF file in one driver instance, the changes will apply to all driver instances.

Table 1 summarises all driver settings, showing default values and whether or not they are part of Favourite Settings, and whether or not they are saved in the BSF file.

LIMITATION

BSF files are binary files created on particular driver versions and are not compatible with other driver versions. E.g. 102-generated-BSF files are not compatible with driver version 103 and vice versa. This can be an issue for migrating driver settings data to new systems where different driver versions are involved.