In home or office network, printer can be installed in two ways. One is install the printer on a local computer and share to the network. Second is connecting the printer directly to the network using hub or switch. The main difference between network and shared printer is, network printer can be access from any of the system on the network directly but to access shared printer, the local system need to be turned on. Network printer used for large network and have its own IP address. Here I would like to share and article which describes how install the Network Printer.
First of all connect the printer to the network and print a configuration sheet which will list basic information about the printer along with the current network configuration. See the printer manual for more info.
Installation of Network printer
- Click on Start and select Printers and Faxes
- The Printers and Faxes window opens, on the menu bar select File - Add Printer
- The Add Printer Wizard opens, Click the Next> button
- Select Local Printer Attached to this computer.
- Make sure automatically detect and install my Plug and Play Printer is NOT selected.
- Click the Next> button and Select create a new Port.
- From the Type of port: pull down menu, select Standard TCP/IP Port
- Click the Next> button
- The Add Standard TCP/IP Wizard will open
- Click the Next> button
- In the Printer Name or IP Address, enter the printer's IP address or host name (IP address is preferred.)
- The wizard will create a Port Name based on the IP address or host name you entered. If you want to make it more descriptive, you can change the Port Name.
- Click the Next> button
- The wizard will display a confirmation page. Make a note of the Port Name in case you need to re-install the printer.
- Click the Finish Button
- The Install Printer Software window will appear.
- Select your printer's manufacturer from the list on the left
- Select your printer's model and driver from the list on the right
- If you can't find your printer driver in the list, it may be a newer printer. Try clicking on the Windows Update button and repeat the last two steps. If you need to use a specific driver from a disk, click on the Have Disk... button and follow the prompts to choose the driver.
- Click the Next> button
- The Name Your Printer window will appear.
- Windows will assign a name based on the printer driver you selected. If you want to make it more descriptive, change the description in the Printer Name box.
- If you want this printer to be your default printer, choose the Yes radio button, if not choose the No radio button
- Click the Next> button
- The Print Test Page window appears.
- Select Yes
- Click the Next> button
- The wizard will display a confirmation window.
- Click the Finish button.
- After a few seconds, files will be copied and drivers will be loaded. A dialog box will appear about your test page. .
- Click the OK button
- Check to see if your test page printed on the printer.