Installing Printers

Windows Server 2003 enables you to install printers locally and on the network. You can enable users and applications on the network to access the printer. Windows Server 2003 enables applications running on different platforms, such as, Netware, UNIX and Macintosh, access to the printer. You can enable the users on the network to access a printer by installing a network printer. You can assign permissions for the users on the network to access the printer after you install the printer.

You can install printers in two ways, such as:

a)Local printer - Includes the printers attached locally to a physical port by using parallel port or Universal Serial Bus (USB). Local printers support Plug-and-Play as Windows Server 2003 automatically detects the device and install the driver.

b) Network printer -Enables all the computers in a network to access it. In large organizations, it is not feasible to install a printer on every machine. Therefore, network printer provides greater flexibility for the users to access the printer from any location.

To install a local printer on a LPT port:

1. Select Start > Control Panel. The Control Panel window appears.

2. Double-click Printers and Faxes. The Printers and Faxes window appears.

3.Double- click Add printer. The Add Printer Wizard appears.

4.Click Next. The Local Network Printer screen appears.


The different options on the Local or Network Printer dialog box are:

Local printer attached to this computer - Installs the printer on the computer on which you run the wizard.
Automatically detect and install my plug and play printer - Searches and installs the printer.

A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer - Installs the printer, attached to another computer, on your computer.

5. Select the Local printer attached to this computer option.

6. Clear the Automatically detect and install my plug and play printer check box.

10. Click Next. The Select a Printer Port screen appears.

The different options available on the Select a Printer Port screen are:

Use the following port - Installs the printer to the selected port

Create a new port - Creates a new port using the Printer Port wizard.

8.Select Use the following port option.

9. Select LPT1: (Recommended Printer Port) from the Use the following port drop down list box.

10. Click Next. The Install Printer Software screen appears.


The options available in the Install Printer Software screen are:
> Manufacturer - Specifies the manufacturer for the printer

> Printers - Specifies the printer model for the manufacturer

> Windows Update - Connects to the Microsoft website to download the latest driver

> Have Disk - Searches for the file containing information about the printer in the location specified

11. Select the manufacturer from the Manufacturers list.

12. Select the printer model from the Printers list.

13. Click Next. The Use Existing Driver screen appears.

The options on the Use Existing Driver screen are:

> Keep existing driver (recommended) - Uses the existing printer driver

> Replace existing driver - Overwrites the existing printer driver

14. Select Keep existing driver (recommended) option.

15. Click Next. The Name Your Printer screen appears.

16. Enter a name for the printer in the Printer Name text box.

17.Click Next. The Printer Sharing screen appears.

In the Printer Sharing screen, me options are:

> Do not share this printer - Installs a printer that is not shared

> Share name - Specifies a share name for the printer

18. Select Share name option.

19. Specify a name for the printer.

20. Click Next. The Location and Comment screen appears.

In the Location and Comment screen, the options are:

> Location - Specifies the computer name where the printer is installed

> Comment - Specifies a comment

21. Enter the location in the Location text box.

22. Enter the comment in the Comment text box.

23. Click Next. The Print Test Page Screen appears, as shown in Figure 3.10.

24. Select Yes to print a test page.

25. Click Next. The Completing the Add Printer Wizard screen appears.

26.Click Finish to close the wizard.