Connecting to a Remote Printer

A network printer is a printer that is not connected directly to your computer but is available through a network. It might be a free-standing networked printer, or it might be accessible through someone else's computer, through a print server, or through a printer hub.

If the printer you are connecting to is available to everyone on the network, you will not need specific permission to connect to it. If the printer has been made available only to specific people or groups, you will have to ask the printer's "owner" or your network administrator to make the printer available to you.

In this exercise, you will connect to a network printer. There are no practice files for this exercise.

1.	Open Control Panel, and under Hardware and Sound, click Printer.
2.	On the toolbar of the Printers window, click Add a printer.
3.	On the Add Printer wizard's first page, click Add a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer. Windows Vista searches your network and then displays a list of available printers. [View full size image]
4.	On the Select a printer page, click the printer you want to connect to, and then click Next. Troubleshooting If the printer you want to connect to isn't in the list, click The Printer That I Want Isn't Listed. Then on the Find A Printer By Name Or TCP/IP Address page, in the Select A Shared Printer By Name box, type \\ followed by the name of the computer to which the printer is attached, and the printer name, in the format shown, and then click Next. If not everyone on your network is allowed to use this printer, you might be prompted to enter your user account name and password to complete the connection. Windows attempts to connect to the selected printer. If the drivers required by that printer aren't already installed on your computer, Windows Vista requests permission to install them. [View full size image]
5.	In the Printers message box, click Install driver. In the User Account Control dialog box, if you are logged on as an administrator, click Continue. Otherwise, enter an administrator password, and then click OK. After connecting to the printer, you can give it a name other than the one assigned by the printer's "owner."
6.	On the Type a printer name page, change the printer name if you want to, or accept the default name. If you want Windows and any programs you install, such as Word, to print to this printer when you click the Print button, select the Set as the default printer check box. Then click Next. [View full size image] You can print a test page, and print to the network printer just as you normally would.
7.	In the Add Printer wizard, click Finish. The network printer appears in the Printers window. You can print to it as you would to a local printer.

Updating Device Drivers Device drivers are files containing information that Windows needs to communicate with your printer, fax machine, scanner, camera, or other device. Drivers can be specific to an individual device or to a family of devices (such as all HP LaserJet printers), and they are often specific to a certain version of Windows. Device drivers can be found on the Web site of the device manufacturer or on certain Web sites that centralize driver information. (Be aware when you visit these unaffiliated sites that they might require a subscription, or they might be trying to sell tools that can detect your drivers and suggest updates.)