Installing Printers Using the Add Printers Wizard

In addition to the new Network Printer Installation Wizard used in Print Management, the end-user Add Printer Wizard is still available in Windows 7, and it has been enhanced to allow users to easily add local, network, wireless, and Bluetooth printers. This wizard is not needed when installing USB printers, however, because the user can simply attach the printer to a USB port on the computer and the printer is automatically installed.

Note In Windows 7, standard users can install network printers without administrator credentials provided the driver is safe (i.e., signed and packaged). If you see an elevation prompt that says, "Do you trust this printer?" when you try to install a printer, it is because the printer driver is not trustable. Only local administrators can install an untrusted driver.

To start the Add Printer Wizard in Windows 7, follow these steps:

To start the Add Printer Wizard in Windows 7, follow these steps:

1. Click Start and select Devices And Printers.
2. Click Add Printer on the toolbar to start the Add Printer Wizard.
   
   
3. Do one of the following:
   • To install a local (non-USB) printer, click Add A Local Printer and specify the port, printer driver, and other information required by the wizard. Installing a local printer manually like this is needed only for non-Plug and Play printers. USB printers are detected and installed automatically when they are connected to a USB port on the computer.
   • To install a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer, click Add A Network, Wireless Or Bluetooth Printer, select the printer you want to install from the list of found printers, and then click Next to install the printer.

On a managed network where AD DS is deployed, the Add A Network, Wireless Or Bluetooth Printer option in the Add Printer Wizard finds network printers published in AD DS as well as available wireless Bluetooth printers. On an unmanaged network without AD DS, selecting this option causes the Add Printer Wizard to scan the local subnet for TCP/IP, WSD, wireless, and Bluetooth printers.

Note Network administrators can also set the number and type of printers to find using Group Policy settings found under Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Printers. If you do not want a printer to show up, set the number of printers of each type to 0 in either Add Printer Wizard - Network Scan Page (Managed Network) or Add Printer Wizard - Network Scan Page (Unmanaged Network).