Connecting to a Network Printer

Most networks, regardless of size, have network printers that are managed by network servers. These network printers are then made available to users and

provide a cost-effective alternative to providing users with their own individual printers. Network printers are established in a number of ways, including:

  • Attached directly to a computer that is then shared

  • Directly connected to the network using a print server appliance

Windows XP Professional provides a number of different ways that network printers can be installed. Printers located on the same subnet as a computer running Windows XP Professional may be automatically discovered and installed. This works when another Windows XP Professional computer shares the printer. Because the sharing computer already has a Windows XP compatible software driver installed, it can automatically download the driver to any other Windows XP computers, thus making the whole process invisible to the end user.

Windows XP Professional appends the word Auto to the share name of automatically installed printers and creates an icon for them in the Printers and Faxes folder, as shown in Figure 19.1. Since the printer is a network printer, its icon depicts a cable connection, thus distinguishing the printer connection from a locally installed printer.

Network printers can also be installed using the Add Printer Wizard. This wizard can be used to install any network printer, including printers on distant subnets or even on the Internet. The following procedure demonstrates how to use the Add Printer Wizard to install a network printer.

  1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

  2. Click on Printers and Other Hardware. The Printers and Other Hardware dialog appears.

    click to expand
    Figure 19.1: Windous XP professional can automtically detect shared printers on the local subnet

  3. Click on Printers and Faxes. The Printers and Faxes folder appears.

  4. Click on Add a Printer. The Add Printer Wizard starts.

  5. Click on Next.

  6. Select A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer, and then click on Next.

  7. The following list options appear, as shown in Figure 19.2:

    • Browser for a printer. Provides the ability to manually search the network for the printer.

    • Connect to this printer. Provides the ability to specify a printer using its UNC (Universal Naming Convention) name. The format for a UNC name is \\ComputerName\PrinterShareName.

    • Connect to a printer on the Internet or on a home or office network. Provides the ability to connect to printers over the Internet. The format for specifying an Internet printer's name is http://ComputerName/PrinterShareName

    click to expand
    Figure 19.2: Specify the location and name of the network printer

    Select an option and click on Next.

    Tip 

    To view a list of all shared Internet printers available on a computer connected to the Internet, type http://ComputerName/Printers in Internet Explorer.

  8. Unless this is the first printer installed on the computer, a prompt will appear asking if the printer should be set as the default printer. Select Yes or No and then click on Next.

  9. The Add Printer Wizard displays a summary of the information that it has collected. Click on Finish.

Tip 

A faster way to connect to a network printer is to use the Windows XP NET USE command. For example, to connect to a printer with a share name of HPColorPtr that is connected to a server named DeptPrintSvr, open the Windows XP command prompt, type NET USE \\DeptPrintSvr\HPColorPtr, and press Enter.

For more information about the NET USE command, refer to Appendix A, "Windows XP Command Reference."

When the Add Printer Wizard is used to install a network printer, an opportunity is given to set up the network printer as the local printer. However, if the network printer was not set as the default, or if its connection was automatically established by Windows XP and it was not the first printer installed on the computer, the following process can be used to set up the new network printer connection as the default connection. 1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

Note 

The default printer is indicated in the Printers and Faxes folder by the presence of a black circle with a check mark in it on the printer's icon.

  1. Click on start and then Control Panel.

  2. Click on Printers and Other Hardware. The Printers and Other Hardware dialog appears.

  3. Click on Printers and Faxes. The Printers and Faxes folder appears.

  4. Right-click on the printer that is to be made the default and select Set as Default Printer.



Microsoft Windows XP Professional Administrator's Guide
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Administrators Guide
ISBN: 1931841969
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 358

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