Install Printer in XP

Before you start

Objectives: learn how to install local and network printers. In this article we will also see how to install non plug-and-play printers, but note that this is something you won’t often do today.

Prerequisites: you have to understand the difference between the logical printer and the print device.

Key terms: port, network, print, local, install, server, device, connect, attached, ip


Local Printer Installation

Let’s see how to install a local printer for a print device attached directly to a local port on the workstation. Let’s go to the Printers folder. Go to Control Panel, and select Printers and Faxes.

 Printers Folder

Image 256.1 – Printers Folder

In our case we only have one printer installed. It is the virtual printer used to export documents to XPS format. Let’s add another printer. Click ‘Add a printer’ from the left menu. The Add Printer Wizard will appear.

 Add Printer Wizard

Image 256.2 – Add Printer Wizard

Click Next. We want to add a local printer attached to this computer. In general we will always want to automatically detect and install plug-and-play printers, so we will select it.

 Local Printer

Image 256.3 – Local Printer

Click Next. Most printers we encounter today are plug-and-play. They will be detected and the drivers will be installed automatically. However, In this example, Windows was unable to detect a plug-and-play printer.

 No Plug-And-Play

Image 256.4 – No Plug-and-Play

We will add it manually, so let’s click Next. We will use the LPT1 Port.

 LPT Port

Image 256.5 – LPT Port

Click Next. Now we need to select the printer model. Let’s select Alps MD-1000 (MS).

 Alps

Image 256.6 – Apls Printer Selected

Click Next. We will use the default name and use that printer as our default printer.

 Printer Name

Image 256.7 – Printer Name

Click Next. We will not share this printer at the moment.

 Printer Sharing

Image 256.8 – Sharing Options

Click Next. Generally we should print a test page to make sure that everything works.

 TestPage

Image 256.9 – Test Page Options

Click Next and click Finish. Click OK if the Test Page prints OK or click Troubleshoot if it doesn’t.

 New Printer Added

Image 256.10 – New Printer Added

Installing Printer Located on LAN

Printer that is located on Local Area Network is often referred to as Network Interface Printer. The first step in configuring a Network Interface Printer is to create a special port that identifies the printer network card. To do this we need to edit the properties of the Print Server. In the Printer and Faxes window, go to the File menu, select Server Properties, and go to the Ports tab.

 Ports Tab

Image 256.11 – Ports Tab

We need to add a port so let’s click on Add Port. We will select standard TCP/IP Port.

 Printer Ports

Image 256.12 – Printer Ports

Click New Port button. The Wizard will appear.

 Add Port Wizard

Image 256.13 – Add Port Wizard

Click Next. Here we have to enter the printer name or IP address. We will enter 192.168.1.30 as the IP address of the printer, and accept the default Port Name. The port name is the name that Windows will use to identify the logical port that we are creating.

 Port Information

Image 256.14 – Port Information

Click Next. In some cases, the printer will be auto detected. In our case it wasn’t, so we need to select the interface from the list. In our case we will select Kyocera Mita Print Server. If our device is not in the list, we could select Custom and enter all the information manually. Now, let’s click Next and Finish to create the port. Close the Printer Ports menu. Now we can see our new port on our Print Server.

Device Type

Image 256.15 – Device Type

 Ports On Print Server

Image 256.16 – New Port Added

Let’s close that window. The next step is to create a printer object that uses the port that we have just created. Let’s click ‘Add a printer’ again and click Next.

 Add Printer

Image 256.17 – Add Printer

Even though the printer is attached to the network, we have to configure the printer as a local printer. Clear the automatic detection of a printer.

 Local Printer

Image 256.18 – Local Printer

Click Next. In the port list we will select the port that we have created.

 Port

Image 256.19 – Port

Click Next. Now we need to select the printer model from the list or click on the Have Disk button if we have the appropriate drivers. In our case we will select HP OfficeJet V45.

 Printer Model

Image 256.20 – Printer Model

Click Next. We will enter HPV45 as our Printer Name.

 Printer Name

Image 256.21 – Printer Name

Click Next. We will also share this printer with the default name.

 Printer Sharing

Image 256.22 – Sharing Options

Click Next. On this screen we can enter information about the printer location.

 Printer Information

Image 256.23 – Printer Information

Click Next. We can print a test page to see if everything is OK. Click Next and click Finish. Our printer is now installed.

 New Printer

Image 256.24 – New Printer Added

Installing a Network Printer

Let’s add a printer that is attached to a different computer on the network and that is shared. Let’s click ‘Add a printer’ to open Add Printer Wizard, and click Next. We have to select ‘A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer’.

 Add Printer Wizard

Image 256.25 – Add Printer Wizard

Click Next. We can browse for a printer, but in this case we will enter a UNC path to the shared printer.

 UNC Path

Image 256.26 – UNC Path to the Printer

Click Next. We will get a warning about a security threat.

 Warning

Image 256.27 – Warning

 Click Yes to continue. On the next screen we will select this to be our default printer.

 Default Printer

Image 256.28 – Default Printer

Click Next, and click Finish. Notice that the icon for our new network printer is different from our local printers.

 New Printer

Image 256.29 – New Printer Added

Remember

Most printers we encounter today are plug-and-play. They will be detected and the drivers will be installed automatically. Before we can install a network interface printer, we have to create a Standard TCP/IP port. If we want to use the printer which is attached to another computer, we can use the UNC path to connect to that printer.