If the Printer Isn't Found

If your printer isn't found automatically using the options in the preceding section, you have to fake out Plug and Play and go the manual route. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the Devices and Printers window by clicking Start, Devices and Printers. At the top of the Devices and Printers window, select Add a Printer.
2. Select Add a Local Printer.
3. Select the port to which the printer is connected. The choices are as follows:
   • LPT1:, LPT2:, LPT3:-These are parallel port connections. Most computers have only one parallel port connection, LPT1. The higher-numbered ports will still appear in the list even if your computer doesn't have them-be careful.
   • COM1: through COM4:-If you know your printer is of the serial variety, it's probably connected to COM1 or COM2. If COM1 is tied up for use with some other device, such as a modem, use COM2.
   • File-If you select this port, when you subsequently print a document, you will be prompted for the name of a file into which the printer commands will be stored. The main use for this option is with a PostScript printer driver, to create a file for submission to a print shop.
   • BTH001-This is for printing to a wireless Bluetooth printer if you have one connected to your computer.
   • XPS-The XPS port provides another "save to file" function. This port directs print output to an XPS sharable document format file.
   • Create a New Port-This is used to make connections to printers that are directly connected to your LAN and are to be controlled by your computer.
   After selecting the correct port, click Next.
4. Select the manufacturer and model of your printer in the next dialog box. You can quickly jump to a manufacturer's name by pressing the first letter of the name, such as H for HP. Then use the up- and down-arrow keys to home in on the correct one.
   If you can't find the appropriate model, you have three choices:
   • If you have an Internet connection, click Windows Update to see if Microsoft has a driver available. This might well work.
   • Get the manufacturer's driver on a floppy disk or CD-ROM or download it via the Internet, open or run the downloaded file to expand its files, and then click Have Disk. Locate the driver (look for an INF file, the standard type for driver setup programs) and click OK.
   • Choose a similar, compatible model and risk getting less-than-perfect output. This option can often be successful with dot-matrix printers and older inkjet and laser printers, but is less likely to work with modern cheap inkjet or laser printers that have no internal "smarts."
   If the wizard finds that the appropriate driver is already installed on your machine, you can elect to keep it or replace it. It's up to you. If you think the replacement will be better, go for it. By contrast, if no driver is listed on the machine, you may be prompted to install it or insert a disk from the vendor. On the whole, manufacturer-provided drivers tend to be newer and better than the default ones provided with Windows.
   When you have selected a printer manufacturer and model, click Next.
5. By default, the printer will be named using its full model name. You can change or shorten this if you wish. Then, click Next.
6. By default, the printer will be shared on your network. The default share name is the printer's name as set in the previous step, but you can modify or shorten the share name if you wish. Some computers have trouble with names longer than 31 characters, so if you intend to share the printer, keep the name short and sweet. To help other users identify the printer, you can also type in a location and a comment.
   If you do not want to share the printer, click Do Not Share This Printer. Then, click Next.
7. If you want this printer to be your default (primary) printer, check Set As the Default Printer.
   Click Next. A User Account Control prompt may appear, confirming that you want to install the driver.
8. If you want be sure the printer is working, click Print a Test Page; otherwise, click Finish.

When you're finished, the icon for the printer appears in your Devices and Printers window.

If you have just set up a printer that's connected to a serial (COM) port, right-click the printer's icon and select Properties. View the Ports tab, highlight the correct COM port line (which should be checked), and click Configure Port. Select the proper data transfer rate in bits per second (baud rate), data bits, parity, stop bits, and flow control. For most serial printers, these settings should be 9600, 8, None, 1, and Xon/Xoff, respectively. Finally, click OK to save the changes. If your printer is set up and working now, you can skip ahead to the section "Changing a Printer's Properties."

Note If the driver software isn't "signed" with digital proof that it came from the manufacturer that it says it came from, Windows may warn you. Permit the software to be installed only if you know that it came directly from a reputable manufacturer. If it came from a website other than the manufacturer's, you probably do not want to trust it. On a corporate network you may be prevented from installing any unsigned drivers.