How to set up a printer to print from a computer is an important question for any computer owner. The printer cannot print on its own. He must receive the task and produce the result in printed form. As a rule, the “employer” for the printer is Personal Computer(PC). Let's figure out how to set it up.

Connecting the printer and PC

In general, the printer can be connected to a computer in three ways:

• at USB help-cable directly to PC;
• by joining a network printer;
• by connecting to a printer connected to another computer.

Let's start with something simple. You need to connect the printer and computer. Take a close look at the back of the printer, which has two connectors: for connecting power (220V) and for connecting the printer via USB. This connector has a hexagonal shape (similar to a house with a flat roof). There is also a third connector - for connecting to a local network, but such connectors are more often found on MFPs.

We connect the printer with a USB cable to the PC and turn on the printer. The operating system is a smart thing; it will try to install the printer itself. After making sure that the printer installation was successful, do the following: click “Start” -> “Devices and Printers.” In the window you will see a printer icon with the name of your model in the signature.

The absence of a printer in the list of devices means you need to install drivers for it. By going to the website of the company that produced your printer, select the model, version of your Windows (XP, 7, 8, 10), its bitness (x32, x64), download and install the driver.

Basic printer settings

After installation, the printer must be configured. Let's see where the printer settings are on the computer. Open "Devices and Printers", look for the printer icon with the name of your model. Let's make one note: if the printer is not in order, the icon will become dim, translucent. The device may be disabled.

By right-clicking the mouse by printer icon, Call the context menu and go to "Printer Properties". Next, to check, click the “Test Print” button. If a sheet with service information and the Windows logo prints, then everything is in order. Let's continue with the setup.

In the “General” tab, click the “Settings” button. A window will open. Depending on your printer model, certain settings will be available here. Let us highlight a number of properties characteristic of any printer: paper format (standard A4), page orientation (standard Portrait) and print quality. After the settings here are completed, click OK.

"Access" tab. Here you can allow other users to print from your printer.

Checked next to the item “Sharing access to this printer"The check mark will give other users on your network the ability to print documents on your printer (provided your computer is turned on). Click “Apply”.

Advanced printer settings

The "Advanced" tab allows you to configure the time the printer is available to other users (either always or certain time, for example, during work hours). Here you can select a driver for the printer from those installed earlier. On the same tab, select either the application speed or the printing speed. If the computer is powerful enough, there will be no noticeable difference in which option you choose.

On this tab you can configure the separator page. This is useful when documents are sent to one printer for printing. different users. No one will take away “extra pages” from someone else’s document. A separator page is printed at the beginning of each document, causing the user to only take their documents between the separator pages out of the printer.

The next tab is “Security”. Here you can allow or block users from printing documents and managing the printer. You don't need to change anything in the Color Management tab. Save the settings by clicking "OK". There should be no more questions about how to set up printing on a computer.

Failed to install the printer? You can call a specialist! Printer installation prices - . The cost of setting up Internet access can be found here.

Connecting to network and “foreign” printers

Printers connected to a local network are called network printers. You can connect to such devices by knowing the name or IP address. Installing a network printer is done through the "Add Printer Wizard" (located in the same place as the printer settings on the computer) or through utilities for this model. During installation, you will need to set a printer name or IP address. Further installation is similar to a conventional printer.

Let's consider a situation where the printer is connected to another PC, and answer the question of how to configure the printer via a computer. To connect to such a printer, several conditions must be met: all PCs belong to the same network, the printer is allowed general access. Next, on your computer, open “My Computer” and in address bar after two slashes write the name of the PC to which the printer is connected. Press Enter. The printer icon will appear -> right-click -> "Connect". That's it, you can print. Setting print properties is done in the same way as discussed above.

As you can see, setting up a printer with a computer is a completely simple process that even a beginner in the computer world can handle. Now you know exactly where to find the printer settings on your computer. Considering the various properties and settings of the printer, it is necessary to mention that in the system one of the printers acts as the main one by default. What does it mean? This means that from any application, materials will be sent to this printer for printing, unless, of course, another printer is manually selected. It’s easy to designate a printer as your primary one: “Start -> “Devices and Printers.” Right-click on the icon of the selected printer and select the “Set as default” menu item. A check mark will appear on the printer icon, indicating that the printer is the main one.

From the outside it seems that to print you just need to purchase a printer and connect it physically to your computer. This is not entirely true. For proper operation The device still needs to install software. Let's look at the connection and setup procedure step by step.

Connecting a printer

In addition to inclusion in electrical network The computer and the printing device are connected to each other via a special interface. The printer is installed on a computer depending on the interface and operating system. The connection can be either wired or not. It can be implemented using the following interfaces:

1. Parallel;
2. Consistent;
3. FireWire;
4. Ethernet and WiFi network protocol.

Parallel interface. Previously, a fairly common connection for printing devices. LPT port and Centronics or ECP protocol are used. Usually the lpt connector is located at the back of the computer. The cable used has different plugs, so it is impossible to mix them up when connecting. The peculiarity of the connection is that all connections must be made with the devices turned off, otherwise there is a possibility of rendering the port controller unusable.

The driver is installed in manual mode. The driver is special program, with which operating system gains access to the device.

Serial and FireWire interfaces. Practically not used for data transmission. The RS-232C serial interface has low speed transfers. The printer is connected to the com port via an adapter. FireWire was not used due to the introduction of USB.

USB connection. The most used connection today. Characterized by high speed and ease of connection. The plugs at different ends of the cable are different, so the connection itself will not cause problems for the user. The connection can also be made with the equipment turned on, although this is not recommended. A special feature of connecting via USB is installing drivers in automatic mode.

Ethernet connection. If the printing device is equipped with a LAN connector, it can be very advantageously connected using network protocols. An undeniable advantage is that the printer is not connected directly to the computer. If you use several PCs and a local network is organized between them, then this connection method is optimal. The printer is simply connected with a patch cord to the local network via a router or switch and, due to its functionality, has a unique name (IP address). And also with a WiFi connection, only a wireless connection to the network is used.

Printing settings

Once the physical connection is established, the second step is to install the software and set up printing. It is also important to note that some device models have internal flash memory. The drivers and utilities necessary for operation are written to this flash. When paired with a computer, they start automatically and install everything to support the printing process.

Via USB port

When you turn on the printing device for the first time in Windows, an information window will appear. The operating system will search for drivers and install them. If suddenly the drivers are not found, you will have to install them using the software supplied by the manufacturer. Specialized software is often installed along with drivers. Branded utilities allow you to control the operation of the printer, facilitate access to settings, and expand functionality.

Automatic driver installation works more efficiently if the computer is connected to the Internet. Starting with Windows XP, SP2, rebooting after installing the software is not required, and the printing device is ready for use almost immediately.

Using LPT port

The peculiarity of the connection is that drivers must be installed very often manually. To do this, after turning on the printing device, you must do the following:

1. Through Start! open the “Printers and Faxes” tab and go to “Print Jobs”;
2. Launch “Printer Installation”;
3. In the Printer Installation Wizard, select the LPT port, model name;
4. Specify the location of the driver;
5. Wait for the installation to complete.

Via WiFi or Ethernet

With this connection, you will need to add the IP address assigned to the printing device to the PC settings. You need to go to “Devices and Printers” and select "Add a printer". We indicate “Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer”. A search for printing devices will start and you will be asked to enter an IP address. After installing the drivers, you need to restart the PC and you can start working.

Installation on Windows 10

As an example, we give the sequence of actions in Windows 10 with a USB connection. Windows 10 is attractive because it has a large driver base. It has a very well organized search global network. If the printing device is not very outdated, then you won’t have to do anything else other than turn it on. The system itself will find a suitable driver, install everything necessary and prepare the device for printing.

For some manufacturers, such as HP or Canon, the algorithm of actions is slightly different. First you need to turn on the device and wait for it to be ready. The USB cable must not be connected. Launch executable file refer to the installation wizard supplied by the manufacturer and follow its instructions. Wait for the connection permission message USB cable, and then wait for the installation to complete. The device is ready to print.

Printing information

There are several ways print information. The simplest one is to press the key combination Ctrl+P. The print menu will be called up. Check that the device you are using contains the name of the required printer, and click on “Print”. If necessary, you can go to “Device Settings” and set: print quality, paper size, number of copies, print style and much more. Another way to print from a computer to a printer is to use the menu of the programs themselves. Typically, the print option is located in the “File” tab.

For full-fledged work printer, you need to install additional software - drivers. Usually, they come complete with the device, on a special boot disk. Without them, the computer will not detect the connected device. Of course, we are not talking about devices that are automatically recognized by the system. I would like to immediately note that you need to read the entire article, since there are complex and more simple ways installing drivers and therefore you need to read the article to the end. Almost at the very end of the article there is information on how to install a printer driver automatically, keep this in mind. When the question arises of how to install a printer without a disk, inexperienced users think that it is very difficult. But in fact, this procedure can be mastered in 15-30 minutes. Let's check if this is true.

There are two main ways to install a printer without boot disk, namely, download the necessary drivers from the Internet

• Using basic Windows tools Update;
• Independently, knowing the device identification code or using the printer model.

The first method is perfect for simple models printers (only printing and scanning documents, without additional adjustment of parameters), because Windows Update installs a basic driver package.

The second method allows you to download the most latest version software, so after installing them, the user will have access to absolutely all printer functions, including more “advanced” ones.

In addition, the reason for installing drivers may be not only their complete absence, but also a malfunction of the device itself. Sometimes, using one driver or another, the printer refuses to print documents, and all because the driver you installed was not suitable for your device. This is, of course, one of the reasons why the printer may not work correctly, but as you understand, it’s not for nothing that we are talking about this right now. After all, below we will tell you how to download your driver to your computer, but if you are in a hurry, you may have difficulties. Therefore, proceed step by step.

If you have previously studied this issue somewhere and none of the methods were successful, then you can try downloading the drivers again. This article is universal - here we will tell you how to do it in different versions Windows.

Therefore, before installing a printer without a disk, you must:

1. Disconnect the device connected to the computer;

2. Go to the “Start” menu - “Control Panel” - “Devices and Printers” or “View devices and printers”;

3. Here you will need to find the line “Install a printer” or “Add a printer” in the top panel;

4. The Add Printer Wizard will open, select “Add a local printer” from the options provided and click “next” (for Windows 7). If you have Windows 8 or 10, then at the bottom click " Required printer is not in the list" - and then select "Add a local or network printer with manually specified parameters" and click "Next".

5. The Wizard for Installing Printers and Other Equipment will prompt you to select a port, leave the default settings (LPT1) and proceed to the next step;

6. Click on the "Center" button Windows updates"and wait for the available drivers to update;

7. A list of printer manufacturers and main models will be loaded. May take from 5 to 30 minutes. Find the manufacturer on the left and the printer model on the right. Then click “Next”. In this case, we chose the HP brand and the LaserJet 1022 model.

8. The installation wizard will ask you to come up with a name for the device (leave the default name or create your own), click “Next”;

9. Wait for the installation to complete;

10. The “Use general settings” window will open, here you need to select the “No sharing of this printer” option and click “Next” (the window will appear if Windows 7 is installed). If you have Windows 10, then you will see a window where you need to click “Finish” (the same window will appear later in Windows 7).

The next thing to do is to delete just installed device. To do this, right-click on the printer icon that appears and select “Remove device” in the context menu (in this case installed drivers will remain).

After these steps, you will be able to connect the printer to your computer. When you connect the printer, you need to wait a little for the computer to automatically recognize the printer and perform the installation. Then you can print any document to verify that the driver is installed.

How to do this on Windows 7:

Official sites

If you do not have a disk with printer drivers, you can download them from the manufacturer’s official website. To do this, it is enough to know the brand and model of the printer. You can find them in the documentation, on the case or back of the device. If you do not understand the instructions below, you can download the required driver on our website without any fears (all drivers are virus-free).

Open any browser and enter in the search bar: “HP LaserJet p1102 printer driver download.” In this article I will look for drivers for the above-mentioned device, but you need to indicate your model.

As a rule, the link to the official website of the developer will be on the first page of the search, at the very top. But this does not always happen and therefore you need to be careful. To avoid downloading malware instead of drivers, make sure that you actually went to the official website of the developer. To do this, pay attention to the site link in the search engine. There should not be anything “extra” (the address will be something like this: “hp.com” or “samsung.com”, etc.

If you doubt the authenticity of the site you found, you can enter only the name of the printer company without the model and other information. And already with home page go to the “drivers and other software” section.

Advantages of downloading drivers from the official website:

1. Security (availability digital signature drivers have no built-in malicious code);
2. The developer posts only the latest, “fresh” versions of drivers on the site.

Once you get to desired page(“Drivers and other files”, “Software”, “ Software", "Download", as well as "drivers" on the English version of the site), you just need to enter your printer model and search.

In addition, some sites allow you to automatically determine the device model and the necessary drivers, for example, there may be a “Detect Product” button. So, if we are on the HP website, we click “Product Search” and in our case, varieties of this model appear. We need to select the desired model by left-clicking.

Once the necessary drivers are found, you will need to provide information about the version of your operating system and the system bit depth. If this window does not appear, then simply click on the link or button to download drivers.

A situation may also arise that the site will offer to download a driver version to choose from:

1. Basic - to access the basic capabilities of the device;
2. Advanced - for access to additional functions.

You don’t have to worry about which version you download, the main thing is to indicate the correct bit size of your system (discussed above).

Once the download is complete, you need to run the downloaded file and follow the instructions of the installation wizard.

Windows Update

operating room Windows system by default contains all the main drivers for the most popular peripheral devices. Including for printers and scanners. To do this, connect the device to the computer and wait a few minutes. If an attempt automatic installation printer will not be positive, you must do the following:

1. Open “Control Panel”;

2. Find “Hardware and Sound”;

3. Left-click on “Devices and Printers”;

4. A new window will appear with icons of connected devices. Find the image of your computer or laptop (in my case it's a laptop) and right-click on it. In the context menu that opens, click on the line “Windows Update”.

5. After this, a window will open where you need to click “Check for updates” in the menu on the right. Must begin automatic search available updates for all your devices. We must tell you that it is advisable to have fast internet, as this procedure may take 10-30 minutes.

6. Now you need to wait for Windows to download the found updates automatically;

7. After the search is completed and all found updates are downloaded and installed on your computer or laptop, you need to restart the device.

After restarting the computer, the printer should work. If after rebooting the computer still does not see the device, the root of the problem may not be in the drivers. Try connecting the printer to a different USB input.

Determining the Printer ID

Each device that connects to a computer has a unique identification code. If you know the hardware ID, then you can download the driver you need without any problems. If the instructions described above did not help you and you do not understand, how to install a printer without a disk, you need to find out its identification code. I recommend using this option in the most extreme cases, and if you downloaded the drivers from the official website, you can skip this option.

So, to find out the ID:

1. Right-click on the computer and select “Properties”, then on the left click “Device Manager”;

2. In the window that opens, find your printer. Right click on the required line and in the menu that appears, click on “Properties”;

3. A dialog box will open where you need to go to the “Details” tab. Next, in the “Property” line, select “Equipment ID”.

4. A value will appear in the window below, which will be the printer identification code (if there are several values, you must select the first one);

5. Copy the ID. Go to the official website of your printer manufacturer and enter the copied identification number into the search. You can also use search engines to find the driver you need using the hardware ID. But don’t forget that our website has all the drivers for existing printers. All that remains is to download the found driver.

Remember that you need to download drivers only from official resources. It's absolutely free and as safe as possible.

Installing drivers automatically

To this problem never bothered again and drivers for any external devices installed automatically, just change the basic Windows settings. For this:

1. Go back to the “Devices and Printers” menu (we told you how to get here above) through the control panel. Right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Device installation options” in the context menu that appears;

2. A dialog box will open where you need to select “Yes (recommended)” (recommended default settings) and click “Save”;

Now, after connecting the new Windows devices will automatically search and install the necessary drivers from its own database or using an Internet connection.

After upgrading your device to Windows 10, it's time to turn your printing press back on and get started. In this article, you will learn how to set up a printer to print from your computer.

Settings

Printers began their thorny path in 1985, so they can have both different operating concepts and different connection to the computer.

Connection

Based on the connection method, printers are divided into models:

1. With parallel or serial connector. An outdated method, no longer used in connection due to slow operation.
2. With USB cable. Connection via USB port.
3. With LAN port. Connect to a computer or router using an Ethernet cable with an RJ45 connector.
4. With Bluetooth adapter. Wireless connection with a computer via Bluetooth technology.
5. With Wi-Fi adapter. Connection to PC via Wi-Fi router.

For correct connection:

• connect it to your PC in one of the following ways;
• turn on the device to a 220V network;
• establish a computer connection to the Internet.

Installing drivers

As soon as you connect the printer to your computer, the operating system will automatically start searching for the required driver. Search and installation may take some time. If the PC does not see the printer, use the driver that is on the disk that comes with it.

If the automatic search is unsuccessful and there is no driver disk:

1. IN Windows search Type "Devices and Printers" and check if the device appears.
2. If not, use the “Run the Add Printer Wizard” program by clicking on the “Add” button.
   
3. Start scanning. If detected, select the device to add to your computer.
   
4. Did you receive a “No devices found” notification? Click "The printer you need is not listed" and follow the recommendations.
   
5. Also check "Device Manager", the PC may have detected the printer, but the problem is with the driver.
   
6. After successful connection, it is recommended to restart the computer (relevant for older models).
   

Important! The article provides an example of setting up and working with Samsung printer ML-1660 Series. The visual appearance of parameters and configurations may differ for other models.

Setting up for printing

You can set some settings in “Devices and Printers”:

To set up printing:

• right-click on the device and select the appropriate item;
  
• in the “Basic” tab you can select the orientation (portrait, landscape), print quality and type;
  
• in the “Paper” tab - number of copies, paper parameters, scaling parameters;
  
• the “Graphics” tab allows you to configure the font and text, graphics controller, density and toner saving;
  
• In the “Advanced” tab, you can add a watermark and text to a sheet of paper, change the document printing order, and control duplex printing manually.
  

Default device

If, when sending a document for printing, the program selects the wrong device (for example, OneNote 16), you need to set the connected printer as default.

For this:

Test page

To print a sample:

Jobs and print queue

Important! There are similar situations: the printer has malfunctioned and the task of printing a document remains in its memory. You no longer need it, but the device will not print new document, until I'm done with the old one. The “Print Queue” function will help you deal with this type of problem.

To go to the “Print Queue”, return to “Devices and Printers” and select “View Print Queue” from the context menu.

Here you can manage the documents that are queued. You can clear the print queue to delete all tasks, or select and delete one at a time. There is also a pause function.

Configuring the device for a local network

To share the printer on other computers in local network, must be shared. For this:

Setting up a virtual printer

By connecting the device to your computer, you can make it virtual. This means that you can issue printing commands from any of your gadgets (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) via Wi-Fi. To do this you will need a single Google account. To configure.