2.2 Installing a Network-Attached Printer
The process of installing a print device that connects directly to the network and creating
a printer for it is largely determined by the hardware manufacturer. In
most cases, you simply connect the print device to the network and run
an installation program on the computer that you want to function as the
print server. The program detects the print device on the network,
creates a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) port
that points to the print device’s IP address, creates a printer using
that port, and installs the appropriate drivers. The program might also
provide you with the opportunity to share the printer and install
additional proprietary tools.
A print device that connects directly to a network has a network interface adapter, just like a computer, and like a computer, it must have an IP address. Most of the network print devices manufactured today include a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
client, which enables them to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server
on your network. Others might have a preconfigured IP address, which
you can learn from reading the product documentation or by printing out a
test page.
As with most other types of network peripherals, many network print
devices have an integrated web server, which provides a configuration
interface, like the one shown in Figure 5.
This interface typically enables you to specify whether you want the
print device to obtain its IP address using DHCP or use a specific
address that you configure manually.
2.3 Installing a Network Printer Manually
For a network-attached print device that does not have an
installation program, or for a print device connected to a stand-alone
print server that does not have an installation program, you can install
a printer with a TCP/IP port manually using the following procedure:
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Click Start, and then click Control Panel. The Control Panel window appears.
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Click Hardware. Then click Devices and printers. The Devices And Printers Control panel appears.
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Click Add a Printer. The Add Printer Wizard appears, displaying the Choose An Option page.
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Click Add a local or network printer as an administrator. The What Type Of Printer Do You Want To Install? page appears.
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Click Add a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer. The No Printers Were Found page appears.
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Click The printer that I want isn’t listed. The Find A Printer By Name Or TCP/IP Address page appears.
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Select the Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname option and click Next. The Type A Printer Hostname Or IP Address page appears.
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In the Device type drop-down list, select TCP/IP device.
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In the Hostname or IP address
text box, type the name or IP address of the print device or the
stand-alone print server to which the print device is connected; then
click Next.
If the wizard can communicate with the print device, the print device identifies itself, and the Type A Printer Name page appears, specifying a default name for the print device and the driver that the wizard will install.
If the wizard cannot communicate with the print device, the Install
The Printer Driver page appears, in
which you must select the manufacturer and model of the print device.
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Change the default Printer name, if desired, and click Next. The wizard installs the printer and the Printer Sharing page appears.
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Leave the Share this printer so that others on your network can find and use it option selected and, in the Share name text box, specify the name by which the printer will be known on the network. Optionally, you can also specify additional information about the printer in the Location and comment text boxes.
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Click Next. The You’ve Successfully Added The Printer page appears.
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Click Finish. The wizard closes, and the printer appears in the Devices And Printers Control panel.
