How to install your new printer

So you’ve decided which printer best suits your needs, you’ve found the best price, been to the shop and picked it up, now it’s sitting there all boxed up waiting to be installed, where do you start? Installing a new printer is a relatively easy task, even if computers aren’t your strong point! A few years back you had to go through a load of nonsense to get a printer up and running, but those days have now passed. We can’t possibly cover how to install every individual printer model in one blog post, but we can show you how to install printers in general.   Follow our straight forward guide below to get your new printer up and running!

Materials needed –

• New printer
• Printer cable
• Computer with an Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) or Extended Capabilities Port (ECP)
• Printer software installation disc
• Internet connection (optional)

1. Turn on the computer and then wait for the operating system to fully load.

2. Now attach the printer cable to the corresponding parallel port. After you securely connect the printer to the computer, switch on the printer. Windows will automatically detect the new printer and will prompt you to install the required drivers. Some printers may not be detected automatically by your computer. To manually detect the printer, click the ‘printers and faxes’ option available on the ‘start’ menu. Double click the ‘add printer’ icon to launch the add printer wizard. If your computer still does not detect the new printer, unplug and adjust the connection of the printer to the computer.

3. Next, the installation wizard will ask you to choose between a local printer and a network printer. The computer will search for the connected printer after you select the type of printer.

4. The computer will now prompt you to install the needed driver. Your new printer will usually come with an installation CD which contains all of the drivers for the printer. Insert the installation CD into your computers CD tray. The computer will now automatically detect the driver files on the CD.

5. You need to manually detect the driver required for the installation just in case the driver is not detected. Select from the predefined list of driver software depending on the manufacturer and model of the printer.

6. If you can still not find the driver for your new printer, you may need to perform a windows update. You will need to connect to the internet in order to gather components from the online windows product support.

7. The computer will finalise the installation procedure after the driver is successfully installed. A notification will appear on screen informing you that you have successfully installed a new printer. A new printer icon will appear on your task bar. This enables easy access to the configuration and maintenance settings of your printer.

Installing your new printer on a home network

Installing a network printer allows multiple users and computers to share a single printer, rather than having numerous printers throughout the home or office. When you install a network printer, ensure it is located in a central place so all users can access it conveniently.

There are three types of network printer you can install.

• Wireless Printer

These printers use a built in wireless card and they plug into a power source, not your network or computer. After you turn on the printer, you will need to refer to the printer manual and read how to set up a wireless connection to each computer on a home network. The security options for a wireless printer are determined by each individual printer manufacturer.

• Connect to a printer directly to the network

To do this, you will need to plug in the printer to your network hub or router. How to install these printers depends on whether the printer and your network device use Ethernet, universal serial bus (USB) or any other type of connection. You also need to refer to any installation information or tools provided by the printer manufacturer.

• Connect multiple printers to the network

If you want to connect more than one printer directly to the network, you must make sure your router is able support more than one printer connection.

If you want to install the printer using an IP address, go to Start>Control Panel>Printers and Faxes and then click the ‘add printer’ icon. Next click ‘Create a new port’ then ‘Standard TCP/IP Port’ from the drop down menu. You will then be asked to enter the IP address. Enter the IP address of the print server and click ‘next’. You will be asked to select the printer manufacturer and the model from the list. If you do not see your printer model listed, insert the installation disc that came with the printer and click ‘have disc’.

If you do not know the IP address of the printer, you can select ‘browse for printer’ in the beginning of the process. If the networked printer is attached to another computer being shared, you will need to enter the name of the computer followed by the share name of the printer. For example //computername/printername.

Spending extra on a network printer can save you money in the long term. Network printers can be higher grade and the ink cartridges can last longer than personal inkjet printers!