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/reinstall the printer's driver files (software drivers) but not its bulky software or when you want to add a Network printer.
Fig 1.0 Click on the DEVICES AND PRINTERS link
Fig 1.1 The Devices And Printers control panel (window)
When the Devices And Printers control panel (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 7 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.
Fig 1.2 Click on PRINT to have the original document printed (converted into a OneNote file)
Fig 1.3 The original document is being printed (converted into a OneNote file)
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 7 and the Printer, and a printer driver from a Software Package (i.e. from Microsoft Office Home And Student 2007) can convert/divert 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).
Fig 1.4 Click on the ADD A PRINTER button to continue
Fig 1.5 The Add A Printer Wizard
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).
Fig 1.6 An example of a Local Printer and a Network Printer
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. Computers do not tend to have a LPT1: socket on the back of them these days, but nevertheless Parallel Printers can still be found in second-hand shops and so on. Since the USB Port has become the preferred port click on the PORT 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).
Fig 1.7 Click on the PORT drop-down menu and then select the USB001 (Virtual printer port for USB), if it is available.
Fig 1.8 Click on the NEXT button to continue
When you have a printer port selected, preferably a USB Port, click on the NEXT button to continue (above). You will then be asked to choose a printer from the List Of Manufacturers and List Of Models that appear.
Fig 1.10 Select your printer's Manufacturer and then the printer's Model-Number
With the printer model-number it is important to choose the correct one - In some cases a manufacturer may have identical model-numbers listed (i.e. MX5000 and MX5000R) whereby you may not be sure of which one to select. Especially if you cannot identify the model-number on the printer itself, for whatever reason(s). So only when you are completely satisfied that you have the correct printer manufacturer and model-number selected should you click on the NEXT button to continue.
If you do not see your printer's manufacturer and/or printer's model-number 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.
Fig 1.11 Click on the NEXT button to continue
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 7 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 (via Windows Update) or with a printer driver from an installation cd or flash 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 7 has chosen for it. In this case Canon LBP2900. You can change the printer's name if you want to though. When you are happy with the printer's name click on the NEXT button to finish off the installation process.
Fig 1.12 Click on the NEXT button to continue
Fig 1.13 The printer installation wizard is installing the printer now
Fig 1.14 Click on the FINISH to exit the printer installation wizard
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 7 how to set up the printer configuration for your printer. Along the way (Fig 1.14 above) you will be asked if you want to share the printer, and if so will be taken through the necessary steps to make your printer shareable. In this example though, assuming you want an easy life!, just select the DO NOT SHARE THIS PRINTER radio (circle) button to continue. Doing so will make the printer available to your computer/laptop only. When the installation wizard has finished (below) click on the FINISH button to exit the printer installation wizard.
Fig 1.15 Click on the FINISH button to complete the installation process
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 as 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 7 also has to install (acknowledge) the printer in terms of registering it (below).
Clicking on the FINISH button (Fig 1.15 above) might only complete 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 7, but the printer might not be fully recognised and therefore not fully registered until it has been switched on and/or its cable connected. The printer driver and configuration files allow Windows 7 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, but it might not be until you switch on the printer that all else is fully registered. It depends on the printer itself and how good its drivers and Windows 7 are at communicating with each other.
In this example, for example, my Canon LBP2900 did not need switching on in order to complete registration. It was all done in the above installation process. This was partly due to the printer drivers already being in the system and partly due to the printer being a branded, recognisable, printer. Therefore always try and buy a printer that is well supported by Windows Vista and Windows 7, so that in the future it has a good chance of being recognised by the next Windows operating system.
Fig 1.16 The Local Printer (Canon LBP2900) is now the Default Printer
If you now go back to the Devices And Printers control panel (window), by reopening or refreshing it if need be, you should see your printer installed as the Default (always used/selected) Printer (above).....ready for use.
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 term - They can become confused and jam the system, or even worse stop the printer from printing.
In this next example I have emulated the above scenario. I have installed my printer as normal and purposely left some files on it, in the print queue, for printing later. It is called Canon LBP2900. I then install the printer again so that it, technically, overwrites the previous printer. It is called Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1). So I can now use Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) as normal, regardless of the print jobs still in the original Canon LBP2900. However. If I want to remove Canon LBP2900 completely, because it is giving me problems for example, I have the following two scenarios to deal with in order to get one printer only in my system that functions properly.
SCENARIO 1 (Solution) - REMOVE Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1)
- REMOVE DEVICE Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) - This hides Canon LBP2900 and, perhaps, the USB Port as well.
- REFRESH the Devices And Printers control panel (window) - Canon LBP2900 reappears.
- Trying to SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER the Canon LBP2900 does not work - Error Message appears.
- Delete the print jobs inside Canon LBP2900 and Canon LBP2900 as a device will also be removed.
- With no printers installed now, Reinstall Canon LBP2900 as normal.
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SCENARIO 2 (Test / Solution) - REMOVE Canon LBP2900
- TEST: SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER the Canon LBP2900.
- TEST: REMOVE DEVICE Canon LBP2900 - Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) as a device is also removed.
- TEST: Reinstall Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) - Canon LBP2900 reappears as a device but cannot be set as the Default Printer (Error Message appears)
- SOLUTION: REMOVE DEVICE Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) and delete the print jobs from Canon LBP2900 - Canon LBP2900 as a device is removed.
- With no printers installed now, Reinstall Canon LBP2900 as normal.
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With the above scenarios the solution is to always remove the last printer first - Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) - in order to delete the problem print jobs stuck inside the first printer - Canon LBP2900. This is because while Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) is the default printer it is actually hindering the removal of the problem printer Canon LBP2900 and/or its print jobs. Below is a summary of screenshots that guide you through the fixing of scenario one above.
Fig 2.0 Right click over the working printer and remove it by selecting the REMOVE DEVICE menu-item
Fig 2.1 Click on the YES button to continue
Fig 2.2 Double click on the problem printer with the trapped print jobs inside it
Fig 2.3 Select the print jobs (documents/files) to be deleted
Fig 2.4 Click on the DOCUMENT menu and select the CANCEL menu-item to delete the selected documents (files)
Fig 2.5 Click on the YES button to continue
Fig 2.6 With the documents deleted you can now remove the problem printer by clicking on the REMOVE DEVICE menu-item
The above is just one way to remove a problem printer. Depending on the severity of your particular printer's problem you may have to delete entries from The Registry (for Advanced Users only) that force the printer to become unknown or non-existent, in order to then reinstall the printer from scratch.
Under normal circumstances, with no problem printer(s), you can remove (delete) a printer from the Devices And Printers control panel list by right clicking over the printer's icon and selecting the REMOVE DEVICE menu-item (as in Fig 2.6 above). If you do this, make sure there are no print jobs inside that printer before you click on REMOVE DEVICE.
To set a printer or printer driver (i.e. Send To OneNote 2007) as the Default Printer simply right click over its icon, inside the Devices And Printers control panel (window), and then select its SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER menu-item. A green tick mark will then be placed over that icon to denote its printer or printer is now classed as the Default Printer.
Fig 3.0 Click on the SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER menu-item to make a printer or printer driver the Default Printer
In the above example I even have a choice of making the Canon LBP2900 or Canon LBP2900 (Copy 1) the default printer, provided they are both working, besides the choice of making the Send To OneNote 2007 printer driver the default printer for example.
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