WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Installing Printers

Windows 2000 installs and configures printers in a several ways.

Support for Plug and Play printer devices makes it easier than ever to install printers that are attached directly to your computer. Simply attach the printer to the computer, and Windows 2000 automatically starts the Add Printer wizard. When installing printers over a network, Active Directory makes it easier to locate printers based on a range of criteria, such as the printer location or the printer's color and resolution capabilities.

Installation using Point and Print automatically downloads all required printer drivers, making installing a printer as easy as opening the print server's print queue by using My Network Places or Windows Explorer. After a print server is configured to support printers and to provide drivers to clients, users do not need to know which driver is required for the printer, or how to install the required drivers; Windows 2000 takes care of these issues for them.

If your printer and printer drivers support bidirectional communication, the device can actively report errors. If the printer is jammed or out of paper, Windows 2000 lets you know.

Installing Network Printers

There are several different ways to install network printers. Use the one that is most convenient for you.

Point and Print

Point and Print allows users to install a printer over a network. A user points to a print server by either opening its print queue by using My Network Places, by typing its path name in the Run dialog box on the Start menu, or by starting the Add Printer wizard. Windows 2000 receives printer-specific information from the server that can include:

Printer driver files.

The name of the server on which printer driver files are stored.

Printer model information, which specifies which printer driver to retrieve from the Windows directory on a local computer or on the network.

To install a printer by using Point and Print

Open a Network print server, then open the print server's Printers folder.

Right-click the printer to which you want to connect, and then click Connect.

The Add Printer wizard walks you through the steps necessary to install a printer.

To install a network printer by using the Add Printer wizard

From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Printers.

Double-click Add Printer, and then follow the instructions.

If you know the name (UNC) or the URL of the printer you want to install, this option allows for a fast, direct installation.

To install a printer by using the Run dialog box

From the Start menu, click Run.

Type the UNC or URL of the printer, and then click OK.

When planning to connect an Internet printer, you can view all printers available on a Microsoft Internet print server. To view these printers, enter the Internet print server's URL in Internet Explorer. Figure 14.1 is an example of a list of printers available on an Internet print server.

Figure 14.1 Printers Available on an Internet Print Server

For more information about any printer available on a Microsoft Internet print server, click the printer's name. This displays a page with information that can include:

Printer model

Location

Comment

Network name

Documents in the queue

Maximum speed

Whether color is supported

Whether duplexing is available

Maximum resolution

Figure 14.2 is an example of a Web page you might find with information about a specific printer.

Figure 14.2 Information About a Printer on an Internet Print Server

To install an internet printer by using the connect button

Open Internet Explorer.

Type the print server's URL in Address (for example, http://servername/printers), and then click Go.

Select the printer to which you want to connect, and then click Connect.

There are several ways to install local printers. Use the one that is most convenient for you.

Add Printer Wizard

The Add Printer wizard facilitates printer setup. If you have connected a Plug and Play printer to your computer but it has not been automatically detected, you might want to use the Add Printer wizard to begin the installation process.

To install a local printer by using the add printer wizard

From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Printers.

Double-click Add Printer, and then follow the instructions.

Plug and Play is a set of specifications that allows a computer to automatically detect and configure a printer and install the appropriate drivers. This installation technique is only available for printers connected directly to your computer, and is not available for networked printers.

To initiate Plug and Play printer installation, plug your printer into your computer. The printer is automatically configured in most cases. Plug and Play automatically installs the appropriate drivers and does not require you to restart your computer. If a Plug and Play printer is not automatically installed, you can manually make your computer check for Plug and Play printers by using the Add Printer wizard or by using Device Manager.

Although Windows 2000 includes drivers for many popular printers, if your printer uses a driver that is not included with Windows 2000, you will need to provide the driver. For automatically detected Plug and Play printers, if your computer does not have right driver, you are prompted to provide it.

Most Plug and Play printers use USB or parallel connections.

Automatic Detection

When supported by the printer, Windows 2000 automatically detects printers and completes the entire printer installation process, including installing the proper drivers, updating the system, and allocating resources. No user intervention or restarting is required and the printer is ready to be used immediately.

All automatically detected Plug and Play printers use Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 cables, or Infrared Data Association (IrDA) transmission.

Manual Detection

Manually-detected Plug and Play is similar to automatically-detected Plug and Play in that Windows 2000 automatically completes printer installation, but you must restart your computer to prompt the automatic installation or use the Add Hardware wizard to prompt your computer to detect the printer. Upon restarting or prompting by using the Add Hardware wizard, Windows 2000 updates your computer, allocates resources, and installs drivers. If drivers for the printer are not available, you are prompted to provide them.

Manually-detected Plug and Play printers typically use parallel or serial cables.

For more information about Plug and Play, see "Device Management" in this book.

Installing Faxes

Fax modems are automatically detected by Windows 2000, but it is recommended that you refer to the documentation provided with your fax modem for information about any other steps you must take to install your fax modem. When a fax modem is connected to your computer, Windows 2000 detects and installs the fax printer. However, if this does not happen, you can manually add a fax printer.

To add a fax printer

From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click Fax, click the Advanced Options tab, and then click Add a Fax Printer.

Follow the instructions in the Add Printer wizard.

In general, printers that use USB ports are automatically-detected Plug and Play printers, whereas printers that use serial or parallel ports are not Plug and Play or are manually-detected Plug and Play printers that require that you use the Add Printer wizard to install them. To install printers, you must have administrative privileges.

Some printers require drivers that are not included with Windows 2000 Professional. If you are using a Plug and Play printer whose drivers are not included, you must use the Add Printer wizard, which allows you to provide printer drivers from sources such as floppy disk, a network share, or the printer vendor's Web site.

If Microsoft does not supply a driver for your printer, ask the printer's manufacturer for a printer driver. To ensure quality, use drivers that have passed Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) tests. Microsoft Product Support Services does not support systems with unapproved drivers. For more information about approved printer drivers, see the WHQL link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/.

You can also e-mail

Driver.cab File

When a Plug and Play device is installed, drivers are loaded from the Driver.cab file, if they are available.

Windows 2000 uses a cabinet file (.cab) called Driver.cab. This file is installed on Windows 2000 computers and is accessed as needed. The .cab file contains thousands of the most commonly used files, such as drivers, application extensions, and color profiles. These files enable Windows 2000 to work with a broad range of hardware devices and applications.

Installing Driver.cab as part of a standard installation of Windows 2000 avoids the need to provide the Windows 2000 operating system CD every time you want to install a new device.

Windows Update

If the drivers you need for a device are not available in the version of Windows 2000 you have installed, you might be able to get that driver from Windows Update. Windows Update updates your system with new Windows features, including device drivers and system updates.

To access windows update

From the Start menu, click Windows Update.

– Or –

For more information about Windows Update, see the Windows Update link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.

When you install a network printer on a Windows 2000 Professional-based computer, that printer might be served by a print server that is not running Windows 2000. If the printer is using a non-Windows 2000 print server, you must install additional components so the client and server computers and the printer can effectively communicate and transfer the print job.

NetWare Print Servers

To use a printer that is connected to a NetWare server, you must have a client installed on your computer such as Microsoft Client Service for NetWare or Novell's client, Novell Client 32. Such clients allow your computer to send print jobs to the NetWare server, which the server then relays to the printer.

For more information about working with NetWare, see "Interoperability with NetWare" in this book.

UNIX Print Servers

To print to a remote UNIX printer configured with Line Printer Daemon (LPD), you must first configure Windows 2000 Professional to print by using Line Printer Remote (LPR). This is done by installing Print Services for UNIX and installing and configuring a print driver to print with LPR as the printer port.

To install Print Services for Unix

In Control Panel, double-click Network and Dial-Up Connections.

On the Advanced menu, click Optional Networking Components.

Highlight Other Network File and Print Services, and then click Details.

Select Print Services for UNIX, and then click OK.

To add an LPR port

In Control Panel, double-click Printers.

Double-click Add Printer, and then click Next.

Click Local printer, clear the Automatically detect my printer check box, and then click Next.

Click Create a new port, and then click Standard TCP/IP Port.

Click Next, and then enter the following information:

In Name or address of server providing LPD, type the Domain Name System (DNS) name or Internet Protocol (IP) address of the host for the printer you are adding.

In Name of printer or print queue on that server, type the name of the printer as it is identified by the host, which is either the direct-connect printer itself or the UNIX computer.

Follow the instructions on the screen to finish installing the TCP/IP printer.

For more information about working with UNIX, see "Interoperability with UNIX" in this book.

IBM Host Printers

IBM host printers are a component of Systems Network Architecture (SNA), which is a computer networking architecture developed by IBM. SNA provides a network structure for IBM mainframe, midrange, and personal computer systems. SNA defines a set of proprietary communication protocols and message formats for the exchange and management of data on IBM host networks.

To send print jobs to printers that are part of an SNA environment, use the Install Printer wizard to connect to the LPT port or print queue corresponding to the desired printer. Administrators must configure SNA hosts and printers to accept these connections before users can connect to them. For more information about configuring printers in a SNA environment, see the SNA documentation.

For more information about working with IBM, see "Interoperability with IBM Host Systems" in this book.

Macintosh Printers

You must have Print Server for Macintosh installed on the Windows 2000-based server that is hosting the network printer.

You also must have the port print monitor for Macintosh, Sfmmon, installed on the user's computer. The AppleTalk Port Monitor, Sfmmon.dll, transmits print jobs over the network by using the AppleTalk protocol. It also lets you send jobs to AppleTalk spoolers, regardless of the print device to which the spooler is attached.