Installing TCP/IP (Network) Printers
There are several methods for installing TCP/IP (network) printers. Your network administrator should assign
an IP number which you need to know to proceed (the number should be posted on the printer and looks like
130.126.xxx.xxx or similar). Please do not reconfigure the printer if the IP number is already assigned.
For printers that are already configured for network access that you just want to add as an option to an existing
computer, this manual method for installing the drivers for the new printer is faster than going through the CD
procedure. If you have an HP printer and the CD that came with it, it will step you through the process. Other
brands of printers may have something similar for configuring and installing a new TCP/IP printer.
To manually add an IP based Network printer:
Go To Start / Settings / Printers and Faxes / Choose “Add Printer”
or
Go To Start / Printers and Faxes / Choose “Add Printer”
The Add Printer Wizard welcome screen will come up: Choose “Next”
At the next screen, choose
Local printer and uncheck the “Automatically detect
…” option.
Click Next.
You will now need to choose the type of connection. Go to the lower half of the window and select
“Create a new port”. Then, drop down the menu
choices. You are setting up a TCP/IP type internet
connected printer so you will choose “Standard TCP/IP
Port” (sometimes for HP, you choose “HP TCP/IP
Port”).
(Once you create a port, it will be part of the list in the
Use the following port line)
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Click Next after making your selection.
On choosing a type of port and clicking “Next” you should get the following screen. Please note that if you are
re-installing a printer and the port has already been created (or if you are adding a 2nd printer driver such as
Postscript), then the IP-based port will already exist and can be found in the “Use the following port:” drop
down list from the top half of previous dialog box.
Click Next and enter the assigned IP address of the printer in the upper box as shown below – the lower box
will be automatically assigned (note that the IP number in use is just for demo purposes):
Click Next and the wizard will go out and find the printer – this can take a few minutes. If the printer is on, you
will get the 2nd screen below, otherwise you will get next screen if the printer is off.
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If the printer is off, you will just get a generic
network card, regardless, click Next:
If the printer is on, you get the following:
You should verify that the IP number is correct. Click Finish.
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The port is now created and you now need to add the appropriate printer driver -- the next screen should be
asking you to install the printer itself. You now have a choice. Your printer may be listed as one of the
supported printers in the Manufacturer/Printer lists. You can search through by choosing Manufacturer on the
left and then scrolling through the supported printers in the right hand column. If you find your printer, you
simply choose it and then click Next. In a minute or two, the printer will be ready to go and you can skip to the
last 3 paragraphs. Some printers have several drivers (postscript/non-postscript) and you can have both but it
will take a second install to add other drivers.
Alternatively, you may have also gotten the device drivers via a CD or download (this can get you the latest
versions). If so, select Have Disk and then click Next.
For an HP printer, you will usually get a choice of 3 drivers, PCL5, PCL6, and PS.
I usually install both the
PCL6 and PS drivers. The
postscript drivers can be
useful for Adobe PDF files.
So for an HP printer, you
might drill down on the cd
and see something like this
where each folder has a
.INF file for use.
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For my example, I’m using a Canon Color printer. The important thing to note here is that you are looking for a
.INF file that has the printer description and device drivers for your printer, whatever it might be. So, having
chosen Have Disk, you now need to Browse to the location on the CD or hard drive where the drivers are
located. In this case, you have to drill down to PCL/us_eng/win2k_xp/pcl5e_5c/p52kusal.inf, select the file, and
click Open:
So that you can chose the following file (click to choose), then click Open
In this example, this will open a window of various Canon Printers. Depending on what printer you are adding
you may or may not see a list of printers. For HP, you usually see only one choice. Regardless, you should see
something associated with the printer you are actually installing.
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In this example, I scroll down the choices until I find the iR C2620 PCL5c driver, highlight it by clicking on it
and then choose Next:
Accept all the following defaults associated with installing the driver and you will be able to choose three
things: sharing the printer out (don’t ever do this on a network printer!), printing a test page, and making it your
default printer. You may or may not want this to be your default printer.
Once the printer is installed, while still in the Add Printers window, right click on this new printer and chose
Properties and go to Device Setting to set up duplex printing, other options specific to this printer, and so on.
You may need to consult your documentation for these features.
One nice thing about a network based printer is its web interface. If you open up a web browser and just enter
the IP number, you will get information about the printer.
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