The tip about both printers showing up under a single icon was helpful - I don't get it, why would 2 different printers (fax and regular) be selected from the same icon in Devices and Printers? Anyway I digress on that because it doesn't matter to the problem at hand.
Did everything again with permissions. No change. Still won't print without opening Word/Excel/Acrobat/etc as administrator.
On the PRINTERS folder, the user CREATOR OWNER keeps resetting to "Special Permissions" no matter how often I click "Full Control" then Apply. Not sure if this makes a difference though.
This printer and Costco are about to be reacquainted and my credit card balance reduced. This is getting beyond ridiculous.