Fig 1.0 Double click on the PRINTERS icon
Fig 1.1 The Printers window
| MANUALLY INSTALL A PRINTER |
To manually install a printer, as opposed to installing it fully from an Installation CD, first make sure your printer is
either disconnected from its main cable (i.e USB Cable) or switched off so that it does not show up as Found Hardware.
When you have done that, open the Control Panel window and
double click on the PRINTERS icon (Fig 1.0) to open the Printers window (Fig 1.1).
The only time you should really manually install a printer is when an existing printer installation has not installed properly (usually when you have used an Installation
CD), when you only want to install/re-install the printer's drivers but not its bulky software or when you want to add a Network printer.
When the Printers window is opened it might show one or more previously installed printers and/or printer drivers. A printer
is the physical hardware device and a printer driver is the software that communicates between Windows Vista and the Printer.
In some cases a software package might install its own printer driver in order to give you extra functionality, such as
Microsoft Office Home And Student 2007 which installs the OneNote printer driver so that you can send printouts to OneNote
instead of the printer. In other words. When you print a document that document is made into a OneNote file instead of being
printed on paper, because the document is dealt with (converted into a file) by the OneNote printer driver instead of
being printed on paper. Printer drivers of this kind are especially good when you do not have a printer installed. In this
example it means I can create a OneNote file on my No-Printer computer and have it printed on a computer with a printer and
Microsoft OneNote 2007 installed on it.
In Fig 1.1 above there are two printer drivers available (Microsoft XPS Document Writer and Send To OneNote) but no printers
available. Out of the two printer drivers it is the OneNote (Send To OneNote 2007) printer driver that is the default
(first to be used/selected) printer driver, denoted by the Green Circle/White Tick on its icon. This means, when I click on
the PRINT button (Fig 1.2 above) my document will automatically be sent to the OneNote printer driver for file conversion
(Fig 1.3 above) because it is the default printer driver.
So to clarify. A printer driver from a manufacturer's Printer Installation CD is normally the software that communicates
between Windows Vista and the Printer, and a printer driver from a Software Package (i.e from Microsoft Office Home And
Student 2007) can divert/convert a print job (printing document) to a program in that software package (i.e to Microsoft
OneNote 2007).
Continuing from Fig 1.1 above, the next thing to do is check to see if there are any corrupt (non-working) printers displayed
in the Printers window. If there are any now is the time to delete them (see the Delete A Printer section below). Otherwise
you will have problems later. Once this has been done double click on the ADD A PRINTER button (Fig 1.4 below) to bring up
the Add A Printer Wizard (Fig 1.5).
When the Add A Printer Wizard appears you are given two options - ADD A LOCAL PRINTER and ADD A NETWORK, WIRELESS OR BLUETOOTH
PRINTER. In this example you need to click on the ADD A LOCAL PRINTER option to continue.
A Network Printer is a printer that is shared amongst a network of computers but only installed on one computer,
usually on the master computer. An internet cafe and an office are more likely to use a network printer. For example. An
internet cafe might have a network printer installed on their master computer so that when any of the other computers,
connected to the master computer, print a document it gets sent to the network printer. This is because each of the other
computers do not have an individual Local Printer connected to them. A Local Printer is exactly the same as a Network
Printer hardware-wise (they are both normal printers). Software-wise, the difference is that the local printer is not
shared by any other computer - It is only used by the computer it is connected to, the computer that installed its software.
So a local printer and a network printer can be the same printer, but it is the way they are set up that determines if they
are local (to the computer they are connected to) or shared (amongst other computers connected to the master computer).
After clicking on the option ADD A LOCAL PRINTER (Fig 1.5 above) you are then asked to choose a Port for the printer. This is the hardware port (socket) located at the back of your computer and printer (i.e the USB Port). The initial port selected is LPT1: (Printer Port) which is an old Parallel Port from years back. Since then the USB Port has become the preferred port. Therefore, click on the drop-down menu (Fig 1.7 below) and see if there is a USB Port. In this example there is one available (Fig 1.8) - USB001 (Virtual printer port for USB). If you do not see a USB Port in your list and your printer is using a USB Cable you may need to CREATE A NEW PORT, download your printer's software from the internet and install it manually or use your printer's Installation CD if you have it (none of these suggestions are exampled here).
When you have a printer port selected click on the NEXT button to continue (Fig 1.9 above). You will then be asked to choose a printer from the list that appears.
With the printer model it is important to choose the correct one. For example. In the above example I have chosen Canon as
the manufacturer and Canon Inkjet PIXMA IP1500 as the printer model. However. I could of easily picked Canon IP1500, towards
the top of the list, by mistake. When you are satisfied that you have the correct printer selected click on the NEXT button
to continue.
If you do not see your printer's manufacturer and/or printer's model you may need to download your printer's software from
the internet and install it manually (not exampled here) or use your printer's Installation CD if you have it.
After clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 1.10 above) you are presented with the above window that asks you which printer
driver you wish to use. A printer driver, if you remember from above, is the software that communicates between Windows
Vista and the printer. You can choose to USE THE DRIVER THAT IS CURRENTLY INSTALLED or REPLACE THE CURRENT DRIVER with a
different printer driver. Which option you choose depends on your printer driver's condition.
In the case of replacing the current printer driver you can either replace it with a printer driver from the Internet or a
printer driver from a CD or your Hard Drive for example (none of which are exampled here). Whereas using the currently
installed printer driver is recommended as long as you know it to be working. In this particular case I know the printer
was working fine, before it got deleted accidently (for this example only!), so I will leave the USE THE DRIVER THAT IS
CURRENTLY INSTALLED option selected and click NEXT to continue.
The next window asks you to provide a name for the printer, which you normally leave set to whatever Windows Vista has
chosen for it. In this case Canon Inkjet PIXMA IP1500. You can change the printer's name if you want to though. Underneath
the printer's name is a check (tick) box with the option SET AS THE DEFAULT PRINTER. Again, you normally leave this set to
whatever Windows Vista has chosen. This option, when ticked, will make your printer the default (always used/selected)
printer. When you are happy with the printer's name and default setting click on the NEXT button to finish off the
installation process.
After clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 1.12 above) the printer installation wizard (Add A Printer wizard) begins to install
the printer driver, which in turns tells Windows Vista how to set up the printer configuration for your printer. When the
installation wizard has finished (Fig 1.14 above) click on the FINISH button to exit the printer installation wizard.
Do not PRINT A TEST PAGE before exiting, especially in this case where you do not have the printer connected/switched on.
ALWAYS finish an installation first for the simple reason that some installation wizards actually wait for you to click on
the FINISH button in order to carry on setting up your printer and/or computer (i.e the registry components)....normally
for a few seconds only. If you click on PRINT A TEST PAGE and something goes wrong with the printer the installation wizard
might crash and not write out the finishing registry components (i.e it might not put a Fully Installed marker on your
computer). This is the same registering some installed software over the internet - If the internet crashes halfway through
the registration process the installed software might not get a Fully Registered marker, so you might have to re-register
the installed software to use its full capabilities. Windows Vista also has to install (acknowledge) the printer in terms
of registering it (below).
Clicking on FINISH (Fig 1.14 above) only completes the installation (copying and registration) of the printer driver,
configuration files and other software elements. Meaning. Files have been copied into their relevant folders and a certain
amount of registration has taken place between the installation wizard and Windows Vista, but it is not until you then
switch on and/or connect the printer cable that Windows Vista can finish the installation completely. For example. The
printer driver and configuration files allow Windows Vista to know exactly what port to use for the printer, what printer
name to give it, whether or not to set it up as the default printer and so on.
If you now go back to the Printers window in the Control Panel (re-open or refresh it if need be) you should see your printer
installed as the Default (always used/selected) Printer.
| DELETE A PRINTER |
Before you can delete a printer you must first cancel (delete) its print jobs to avoid problems later. For example. A
common scenario is when the printer is printing documents perfectly fine, it then gets stuck on one particular document
and because of impatience the user thinks the printer is jammed.....forever. And because they do not want to spend good
money calling out a computer engineer they end up installing another copy of their printer....thinking this will cure the
problem. So now they have Printer and Printer (Copy 1) for example. What they do not realize is that installing another
copy of the same printer can become a problem for the USB Port, Printer Configuration(s) and so on in the long run - They
can become confused and jam the system, or even worse stop the printer from printing.
With the above scenario in mind. Select the problem printer (Fig 2.0) and then press the DEL (delete) keyboard key to bring
up the Printers delete requester (Fig 2.1). From there click on the requester's YES button to delete the problem printer.
Oh Dear! The printer cannot be deleted. Why? Because it still has print jobs (i.e documents) in its print queue. The print queue could of crashed previously, for whatever reason(s), hence the reason the user installed another copy of the same printer....because they did not know how to solve the problem. What they should of done is deleted the print queue first, then retest the printer and then if need be delete the printer.
| SET THE DEFAULT PRINTER |
To set a printer (or printer device) as the Default Printer first go to the Printers window and select, with the left mouse button, the printer (or printer device) you want to set as the default printer. From there. Right click on the printer (or printer device) to bring up its Options menu and then select (left click on) the SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER menu-item.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
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