CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

5.5. Installing a Printer in Windows

After you connect the printer to the computer, typically with a parallel or USB connection, you then need to install the "printer" into Windows. Windows uses the term printer to describe the software interface (the printer driver) used to communicate with the print device. This software interface is represented as the icon that displays in the Printer folders — the icon that you right-click to change the settings for the corresponding print device. Microsoft refers to the printer as the icon found in Windows, and the print device as the piece of hardware connected to the computer. I use these terms when discussing how you manage a printer in Windows.

5.5.1. Installing a printer

When you connect a USB print device to a Windows computer, Plug and Play kicks in and detects the hardware. If Windows has a driver for the print device, it loads that driver automatically; if it doesn't, it prompts you for the driver disk. After you supply the driver disk, the printer is installed, and you are off to the races!

For the following example, assume that you have a parallel print device connected to LPT1. You need to install a printer in Windows that connects to that device. To install the printer in Windows XP, follow these steps:

1. Choose StartPrinters and Faxes.

2. In the Printers and Faxes window that appears, click the Add a Printer link to install a printer ...