Windows 7 / Getting Started

Adding Printers Using the Network Printer Installation Wizard

To add printers using the Network Printer Installation Wizard, follow these steps:

  1. Add at least one print server to the list of managed print servers.
  2. Right-click a print server and select Add Printer to start the Network Printer Installation Wizard.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • To scan the local subnet for TCP/IP or WSD network printers automatically, select Search The Network For Printers and then click Next. As the scan progresses, Windows will display a list of available network printers and will install them automatically on the selected print server. (You might be required to specify a driver for a printer manually if Windows cannot find one automatically.)
    • To add a specific TCP/IP or WSD network printer to the list of printers managed by the print server manually, select Add A TCP/IP Or Web Services Printer By IP Address Or Hostname, specify the name or IP address of the printer, and then click Next.
    • To add a new printer using an existing port, which can be either a local port (LTP or COM) or a previously added TCP/IP port, select Add A New Printer Using An Existing Port, click Next, and either install the printer driver automatically selected by the wizard, select an existing driver, or install a new driver either from the CD media included with the driver or by using Windows Update.
    • To create a new local port and install a printer on it, select Create A New Port And Add A New Printer, click Next, specify a name for the new port, and then either install the printer driver automatically selected by the wizard, select an existing driver, or install a new driver.

Note The option for automatically detecting printers on the local subnet using Search The Network For Printers cannot work across a firewall. If you want to use this feature to detect printers for another location, such as a remote subnet at a branch office location that is located behind a firewall, use Remote Desktop to connect to a Windows Server 2003 R2 or later computer at the remote location, start Print Management, and then select Search The Network For Printers as described previously.

In addition to the new Network Printer Installation Wizard, the end-user Add Printer Wizard is still present in Windows 7 and has been enhanced to allow users to add local, network, wireless, and Bluetooth printers and also to search Windows Update for printer drivers when needed. For more information on this topic, see the section titled "Client-Side Management of Printers" later in this tutorial.

WSD Printers

WSD is a new type of network connectivity supported by Windows Vista and later versions. With WSD, users can have a Plug and Play experience similar to that with universal serial bus (USB) devices over the network rather than only with locally connected devices.

In Windows Vista and later versions, WSD printer ports are serviced by the WSD Port Monitor (WSDMon) instead of the Standard Port Monitor (TCPMon) used to service TCP/IP ports. WSDMon is used by default if a printer supports it; otherwise, it defaults to TCPMon.

For more information about the various Web Services specifications and their support on Windows platforms, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms951274.aspx on MSDN. You can find additional information on WSD printer support in Windows Vista and later versions on WHDC at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/print/default.mspx.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Printing
  2. Enhancements to Printing in Windows 7
  3. Printing Enhancements Previously Introduced in Windows Vista
  4. Additional Printing Enhancements in Windows 7
  5. How Printing Works in Windows 7
  6. Understanding XPS
  7. Understanding the Windows Printing Subsystem
  8. Understanding Printer Driver Isolation
  9. Understanding the Print Management Console
  10. Enhancements to the Print Management Console in Windows 7
  11. The Print Management Console
  12. Adding and Removing Print Servers
  13. Configuring Default Security for Print Servers
  14. Adding Printers Using the Network Printer Installation Wizard
  15. Creating and Using Printer Filters
  16. Creating and Using Driver Filters
  17. Managing Printers Using Print Management
  18. Configuring Properties of Printers
  19. Publishing Printers in AD DS
  20. Managing Printer Drivers
  21. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode
  22. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode Using the Print Management Console
  23. Configuring Printer Driver Isolation Mode Using Group Policy
  24. Troubleshooting Driver Isolation
  25. Exporting and Importing Print Server Configurations
  26. Printer Export Files
  27. Performing Bulk Actions Using Print Management
  28. Client-Side Management of Printers
  29. Installing Printers Using the Add Printers Wizard
  30. Searching for Printers
  31. Installing Printers Using Point and Print
  32. Using Devices And Printers
  33. Using the Color Management CPL
  34. Managing Client-Side Printer Experience Using Group Policy
  35. Configuring the Add Printer Wizard
  36. Disable Client-Side Printer Rendering
  37. Configuring Package Point and Print Restrictions
  38. Extending Point and Print Using Windows Update
  39. Deploying Printers Using Group Policy
  40. Preparing to Deploy Printers
  41. Deploying a Printer Connection
  42. Limitations of Deploying Printers Using Group Policy
  43. Migrating Print Servers
  44. Migrate Print Servers Using Print Management
  45. Migrating Print Servers Using PrintBRM
  46. Monitoring and Troubleshooting Printers
  47. Configuring E-Mail Notifications
  48. Configuring Print Server Notifications
  49. Configuring Script Actions
  50. Configuring Detailed Event Logging