Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition نسخه متنی

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Installing a Printer

Connecting Devices to Your Computer" in Chapter 8.

When you connect a printer to your computer, Windows often recognizes the device and searches its extensive collection of built-in drivers to run printers. A

printer driver is software that lets programs send commands to a particular printer. If your printer doesn't appear on Windows' built-in list, you can use the driver on the CD or floppy that came with the printer. If you upgraded from an earlier Windows version, XP inherited the existing printer driver and settings, and your printer may work fine. In any case, check the printer manufacturer's web site for a more recent driver.

Setting up User Accounts" in Chapter 16.

Turn off your PC before connecting or disconnecting a parallel or serial cable. (Your PC can remain on for USB, Bluetooth, and infrared connections.)

Skim the manual before installation. Some manufacturers supply software to be used instead of Windows' Add Printer Wizard.

Installing Plug and Play Devices" in Chapter 8.

To install a local printer:

1. Connect your printer to the appropriate port, and turn on the printer.

On the Windows desktop, one of these three things happens:

A Found New Hardware alert appears (Figure 7.1 ), meaning that Windows knows about your printer and has installed the appropriate driver. You're ready to print; skip the rest of these steps.

Figure 7.1. You'll see this notification-area message for Plug and Play printers. It means that Windows completed the installation automatically. Go ahead and start printing.

The Add Printer Wizard appears, meaning that Windows detected the printer but lacks a driver for this model. Skip to step 7.

Windows didn't detect the printer and does nothing. Continue to step 2.

2. Choose Start > Control Panel > Printers and Other Hardware > Printers and Faxes.

3. In the task pane, click Add a Printer (Figure 7.2 ).

Figure 7.2. When Windows says "printer," it means "printer driver."

The Add Printer Wizard opens.

4. On the Welcome page, click Next (Figure 7.3 ).

Figure 7.3. The Add Printer Wizard tells you not to use the wizard if your printer connects to a USB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), infrared, or Bluetooth port.

5. On the Local or Network Printer page, select Local Printer Attached to This Computer; uncheck Automatically Detect and Install My Plug and Play Printer; then click Next (Figure 7.4 ).

Figure 7.4. Uncheck the Automatically Detect box to spare Windows a fruitless search for your nonPlug and Play printer.

6. On the Select a Printer Port page, select a port from the list (Figure 7.5 ); then click Next.

Figure 7.5. For most printer setups you can accept the default settings. Windows refers to a parallel port as an
LPT port and a serial port as a
COM port.

In almost all cases, LPT1 (the default) is the correct port.

7. On the Install Printer Software page, select the manufacturer and model of your printer; then click Next (Figure 7.6 ).

Figure 7.6. Clicking an entry in the Manufacturer list (left) displays XP's standard drivers for that manufacturer in the Printers (right) list. The Windows Update button connects you to Microsoft's web site for drivers that were updated since XP came out.

If your printer model isn't listed, insert the printer's installation CD or floppy; click Have Disk; then follow the onscreen instructions to install your printer.

(If Windows refuses your installation disk, download the current printer driver from the printer manufacturer's web site.)

8. On the Name Your Printer page, type a name for your printer or accept the default name; indicate whether this printer is the one that you'll usually or always print with (the default); then click Next (Figure 7.7 ).

Figure 7.7. Use a short printer name that will fit easily in messages and dialog boxes. If you're going to print from an old DOS-based program, use a name with eight or fewer letters (no spaces or punctuation).

9. On the Printer Sharing page, select Do Not Share This Printer; then click Next (Figure 7.8 ).

Figure 7.8. To share a printer on a network, see the next section in this chapter.

10. On the Print Test Page page, choose Yes to print a test page; then click Next (Figure 7.9 ).

Figure 7.9. Print a test page to confirm that your printer is working properly.

11. On the completion page, click Finish (Figure 7.10 ).

Figure 7.10. This page echoes the settings you've chosen in the Add Printer Wizard.

12. In the pop-up confirmation dialog box, click OK if the test page printed or Troubleshoot if it didn't (Figure 7.11).

Figure 7.11. If the test page looks garbled (or doesn't print at all), click Troubleshoot to have Windows help you try to solve the problem.

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After successful installation, the printer's icon appears in the Printers and Faxes window (Figure 7.12).

Figure 7.12. Right-click a printer icon to show common printer tasks (many of which are duplicated in the task pane at left). Tiles view (shown here) and Details view display printer status information. Note the link to the printer manufacturer's web site in the task pane's See Also section.

Same Printer. Different Purposes.

You can install multiple drivers with different settings for the same physical printer and then switch among these "virtual" printers easily to suit what you're printing. If your printer has two paper trays, create "Letterhead" and "Plain" printers; to switch between printing high-resolution graphics and low-res text documents, create "1200 dpi" (dots per inch) and "300 dpi" printers. Separate "Landscape" and "Portrait" printers are popular too. To create another printer:

1. Install the printer a second time, but under a different name that indicates its purpose (see step 8).

2. After installation, right-click the printer's icon in the Printers and Faxes window (refer to Figure 7.12), choose Printing Preferences; then select the settings appropriate to its role.

3. In the Printers and Faxes window, right-click the icon for the printer that you use most of the time; then choose Set As Default Printer. (This command appears only when you right-click a printer that isn't already the default.)

A check mark appears on the default printer's icon.

From now on you can choose the appropriate printer in any program's Print dialog box. See "Printing Documents" later in this chapter.

Managing Fonts" in Chapter 4.

To put a Printers and Faxes shortcut in the Start menu, see "Using the Start Menu" in Chapter 2.