Tuesday February 10, 2009

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Installing a Network Printer Adapted From:  Home Networking For Dummies, 4th Edition

Put on your running shoes! Once you take a few steps to configure a printer for sharing, it's time to zip over to the other computers on the network and install that same printer.

Of course, you're not going to perform a physical installation; the printer is staying right where it is. Installing a printer on a computer that has no physically attached printer means that you're installing a network printer.

Choosing an installation method

Two approaches are available to you for installing a network printer:

• Use Network Neighborhood. Double-click the Network Neighborhood icon. In the Network Neighborhood window, double-click the icon for the computer that has the printer. Right-click on the printer icon and choose Install from the shortcut menu that appears.

• Use the Printers Folder. Choose Start --> Settings --> Printers to open the Printers folder and then double-click the Add Printer icon.

Both methods launch the Add Printer Wizard. Both methods require the installation of software drivers for the printer, so you need to have your Windows CD or disks from the printer manufacturer.

Running the installation procedure

This example demonstrates the Add Printer icon in the Printers folder, instead of finding the printer in Network Neighborhood. This method is slightly longer, but it provides a complete explanation for installing network printers. If you use the printer icon in Network Neighborhood, you can jump to Step 4, where you can find the information about the printer location already filled in.

Be sure that the printer driver's software CD or disk is in the appropriate drive and then follow these steps:

1. Choose Start --> Settings --> Printers.

The Printers folder opens.

2. Double-click the Add Printer icon.

The Add Printer Wizard opens with a welcoming message.

3. Click Next to start.

4. Select Network Printer and click Next.

5. Click the Browse button to search the network for shared printers.

This wizard window has two parts: the location of the network printer and a question about printing from MS-DOS software.

Clicking the Browse button opens a window in which you can search the network, but if you know the location of the network printer, you can type it directly in the Network Path or Queue Name text box. The location is a UNC (Universal Naming Convention) statement in the form of \\computername\printername. For example, the location might be \\DenComputer\DeskJet540C.

6. When the Browse for Printer dialog box opens, click the plus sign next to the computer that has the printer.

The listing in the Browse for Printer dialog box expands to display any shared printers that are connected to that computer.

If you opt for a network cabling system that uses direct connections for printers (such as household electrical wires), the printer is cabled just like the computers. The printer appears as a stand-alone component on the network, and you don't have to expand a computer's listing to see it.

7. Select the printer and click OK.

The printer's location (in the form of a UNC statement) is entered in the Network Path or Queue Name text box.

8. Specify whether you print from MS-DOS-based programs. Then choose Next.

MS-DOS software can't handle network printing, so Windows uses a special feature called capture. The print job is captured when it's sent to the printer port and is then redirected to the network printer. The software thinks that the printer is connected to your computer.

If you say Yes to MS-DOS printing, the next window explains that your software needs to have a port associated with the printer. Click the Capture Printer Port button, select LPT1 as the device, and click OK. You return to the previous wizard window.

Click Next.

9. Select Yes to send a test page to the remote printer and then click Finish.

The printer files are copied to your hard drive, and a test page is sent to the printer. Of course, because the printer is on a remote computer, you have to walk to the printer to see the document. Or yell to anybody in the room where the printer is and ask that person to check the printout. If the test page prints correctly, select Yes in the dialog box that asks about the test. If the test page does not print properly or doesn't print at all, select No. Then use the printer troubleshooter to try to resolve the problem.

An icon for the printer appears in your Printers folder. Whenever you print, the print job is sent to this remote printer.

Using Windows 2000 Professional as a print server

Windows 2000 is an operating system that's built from the ground up to service business needs. One nifty side effect is that a computer running this operating system is designed to be a print server.

If you use your Windows 2000 Professional machine as a print server on your home network, when you install the network (remote) printers on the other computers, you can let Windows 2000 Professional install drivers automatically the first time each computer accesses the printer.

To take advantage of this efficiency, install the printer on the Windows 2000 Professional computer by using the instructions presented earlier in this chapter. Then set up sharing using these steps:

1. Right-click on the printer icon in the Printers folder and choose Sharing from the shortcut menu.

The Sharing tab of the printer's Properties dialog box appears.

2. Select the Shared As option and type a name for the share.

3. Click the button labeled Additional Drivers.

4. Select the option named Windows 98 or Windows 95 and click OK.

Windows 2000 Professional requests the CD with the drivers. If you have a copy of the Windows 2000 Server CD, it contains Windows drivers that work for Windows 98, Windows 95, and Windows Me for most printers.

If you don't have a Server CD or if the CD doesn't have drivers for the printer you installed, use the CD or floppy disk you would have used to install the printer on one of your Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows Me computers.

5. Click OK to close the printer's Properties dialog box.

The files are copied to the hard drive of the Windows 2000 Professional computer. You don't have to restart the computer.

Unlike other versions of Windows, with Windows 2000, you almost never have to restart a Windows 2000 computer after you install software or drivers.

Now you don't have to travel from computer to computer to install printer drivers. On each computer, open Network Neighborhood and double-click the icon for the Windows 2000 Professional computer. Double-click the printer icon and watch everything happen automatically. Cool, eh?