The printer is one of those devices that "accompanies" every computer device and many users want to know how to connect the printer to the computer, considering that it is quite difficult to do this. Some time ago, this procedure was indeed not the easiest, but today everything is different. And you can easily cope with this task on your own.
Let's look at three ways in which we can connecting printer to PC, namely:
1) Connect with USB cable for installation local printer;
2) printer network connection by IP address;
3) connection to a printer installed on another PC.
When you unpack and install the printer next to your computer device, immediately connect it to USB cable- the end where the plug looks like a simple USB input plugged into a computer. Connect the other end of the cable to the PC. Then proceed as follows.
1) Go to the "Control Panel" and select the "Devices and Printers" section there. You will see a list of all devices that are connected to your PC.
2) On the panel at the top, click on the line "Install Printer". A window will open in which you need to select the type of printer you are connecting. Because in our case it is USB device, select Local Printer.
3) Mark the item "Use the following port" with a dot and click on the field with the name of the ports that are free to connect to. From the list that opens, select the name "USB001".
4) The next step is to select a driver for the connected device. In the list with the name "Publisher" find the name of the manufacturer (for example, Canon), and in the list "Printers" find the model directly (for example, Canon LBP5960).
If you cannot find the name of your device, you will need to download the driver and install it manually. Download the driver on the official website, then click on the line "Install from disk ...", specify the path of the downloaded driver and confirm the action by clicking on the "OK" button. Then check the box "Replace the existing (current) driver" and click on the "Next" button. Now do this:
1) Specify the name of your printer, after which its installation and configuration will start.
2) Pay attention to the item "Settings public access for home PC”: if you are at home, cancel sharing, if you work in the office, you can open it so that you can later connect to printer and print on it from multiple PCs.
3) Check the box "Use the default printer" and click on the "Finish" button.
If you did everything right, then, looking into the "Device Panel", you will find your "freshly connected" printer there.
In order to install network printer connected to the Internet, click on the "Install Printer" button and select "Local Printer". Only in this case you need to check the item "Create a new port", and then select its type - "Standard TCP / IP Port".
You will see two fields: in the first, enter the IP address of the printer, in the second - the name of the port, so that it can be identified later.
Your further actions will be the same as in the first case, when the connection was made via a USB cable:
1) select the driver (or install it manually),
2) allow (or deny) public access,
3) mark the printer as primary,
4) close the window by clicking on the "Finish" button.
It often happens that there are several computers and the user of each of them needs to print. There is only one printer. How to proceed in such a case? Yes, it's very simple - connect printer from another PC over the network and send a print job to it from any network device. More precisely, the task will first arrive at the PC to which the printer is connected, and from there it will go to the device.
In order to print over a network, it is mandatory to open a shared printer. To do this, go to the "Properties" of the printer, go to the "Access" item and there check the box for opening access, indicating the network name (for example, it can be Xerox WC 5010). Click "Apply" to save the settings.
Next, on all the PCs that you want to connect, go to "Devices and Printers" and click on the line "Install a printer". Again, select "Local Printer" and create a new port - "Local Port".
A window will open in front of you, where you will need to register the full path to the printer, that is, specify the name of the computer and the network name of the printer. It might look like this: \\AndreyPB\Xerox WC 5010. Here AndreyPB is the name of the PC you want to connect to, and Xerox WC 5010 is the name of the printer (you specified it when sharing). Then do the following:
1) click on "OK";
2) substitute your printer driver, for which: 1) click on the line "Install from disk"; 2) specify the path to the folder where the downloaded driver is located;
3) select the default printer;
4) close the installation window.
As you can see connect printer to computer It's not hard at all and you can easily do it.
If you have several PCs, it is completely impractical to purchase a separate printer for each of them. It is much more convenient and economical to simply combine computers into a single network and organize printing documents from them on one MFP.
In this case, all PC users in the group will receive additional features provided by the numerous functions of the printing device.
In order to ensure printing of documents from computers on the local network, it is necessary to open access to the device on a PC with an MFP connected to it. Of course, that the machines must be combined into a single working group.
This point is especially important when there are PCs on the network that work not only on latest versions"Windows", but also on other modifications of the OS. It should be noted that the number of combined computers is not limited.
Each machine in the local area network (LAN) has the ability to access all the functionality of the MFP or simple printer provided they are properly configured.
In fact, a LAN is nothing more than a communication system that provides convenient use of peripheral resources from any PC in the group, that is, printing devices, optical drives, plotters, hard drives, etc.
The following is a guide for configuring the printer over a LAN in versions where it is equipped with a special connector for direct connection to wired internet, or when the device is connected to a separate PC on a LAN.
The negative aspects of the second case include the fact that you can work with the printer from other machines only if the computer is turned on, directly connected to the MFP. 
First, let's take a step-by-step look at the process of organizing one such working association with the most popular OS installed - Windows 7:
For computers with Windows 7 and with younger versions of the OS, when installing a printer, there is usually no need to manually install drivers, since modern operating systems find them on their own and install them on the computer after automatic download.
However, it is not uncommon, during the setup phase, to install the appropriate software for the model.
It is recommended to prepare in advance either a complete removable media with software, or first save it on your computer by downloading it from an official source in global network printer manufacturer.
Immediately after connecting the printer to the PC via a cable or via Wi-Fi (if the router has the appropriate print server function), a notification will be displayed on the monitor about the successful completion of the procedure, and if not, you will need to do manual debugging and install the software yourself.
To do this, just follow a few steps:
At the next stage, you need to make sure that the equipment is accessible from other PCs located on the LAN. If you want to do this in Ubuntu, then it is recommended to use Samba, that is, a Linux server that creates a Windows network environment. Thus, computers on this OS will treat all PCs on Linux as if they were running Windows.
If you want to start printing documents from Mac programs OS X, then in the "Print" dialog, clicking on "Printer" will display a list of the appropriate hardware.
This operating system already includes a significant number of drivers for most models of devices used for printing, so there are no difficulties when directly connecting a PC to a printer, but network peripherals have to be registered separately.
At the end of this guide, there is a methodology that describes all the step-by-step actions for this.
And if you want to configure in Windows, then you need to follow these steps:
Unfortunately, in many offices of our domestic companies, computer equipment is not often updated, and so far the outdated Windows XP remains a very common OS in the PCs of employees of Russian enterprises.
Therefore, the instruction is given on the example of this legendary shell. But happy owners of modern operating systems should not be upset, since the algorithm of actions in them is absolutely the same. At this stage, a local network has already been organized, or all PCs are in a single group.
It only takes a few of the following steps:
If there are difficulties with indicating the exact PC from a large list of machines, which often happens in large firms, then the task is quickly solved through the IP that is issued by the router.
When you enter the exact address of the PC and the name of the printer, the system will immediately establish the computer's access to the equipment.
Then click on the connection you are using.
In the menu that appears, click "Details".
From the next window, rewrite the IP.
Then comes the already familiar process and, at the end, a printout of a test sheet.
Many MFPs have a port for connecting to an internet cable, eliminating the need to constantly keep one PC on, which is directly connected to the equipment.
The sequence of actions consists of the following steps:
Note: the above methods are most often used to solve the question. The choice of the optimal method in each specific case depends on the configuration of the devices used in the network.
If there is no device in the list of equipment, you will first need to install software from the manufacturer to specific model. Then you can proceed with the following steps:
Hello dear readers! The other day, I finally completed one long-term business, namely, the conversion of my old printer into a network one. In this article I will tell you everything in order - how it all began and how it all ended.
The need to convert the printer to a network appeared in connection with the change of computer. And in general, I wanted to make it possible to print via Wi-Fi from any device that supports this function.
The printer is quite old, but made to last. It has already been mentioned.
The printer could simply be connected to a new desktop computer through the usb port using the lpt-usb adapter, but we are not looking for easy ways.
The first step to create a network printer was to purchase a special thing called lpt print server Tp-Link TL-PS110P.
This print server allows you to make any printer with an lpt port network according to the "printer - print server - router" scheme. On the one hand, it has a connector for connecting to a printer, on the other, an RJ-45 connector for connecting to a router.
I bought a print server, but in my case it was not so simple. The fact is that my HP LaserJet 1100 printer has a non-standard lpt connector (microcentronics-36), so in order to connect the print server to the printer, I needed a centronics-36 to microcentronics-36 adapter. I was too lazy to order in Ketai abroad, so I bought components in radio spare parts and made it myself.
I took the connection diagram of the contacts. Thanks to the author!
After I finally completed the adapter with great difficulty, I immediately ran to connect the entire system together and test it.
So, after assembling the system, the only thing left is to install the print server distribution kit (as it turned out, not necessary) and add a new printer.
I show an example on Windows 7.
Click Start - Devices and Printers - Add Printer
Select "Add a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer"
The search for printers will start, but we need to click on the "The printer I want is not in the list" button.
Enter the IP address of the printer, that is, the print server (the default is 192.168.0.10).
In additional information, select the appropriate options. In my case, this is an HP LaserJet printer with a parallel port.
We leave the device port unchanged - Parallel 1.
The driver model is determined.
After that, a list of all printers will appear, among which you need to select your own.
Deny / allow shared access to the printer.
And finally, a window will appear about the successful installation of a new printer.
You can print a test page without leaving the setup wizard to make sure it is correct.
If the printer printed everything normally, then everything was done correctly.
In the same way, we add a printer on other devices running Windows.
In the next lesson, I will write about how to connect an Android device to a network printer and print from it. Do not miss!
Also watch the video on printing from Android over Wi-Fi via the app Printer Share Premium:
Question from user
Good afternoon.
Do not tell me with one problem ... I have 3 computers at home: one PC and 2 laptops. All of them are connected to WiFi router. A printer is connected to the PC.
How do I set up my PCs, laptops and network so that laptops can send documents to be printed to the printer? I tried to set it up - all the same ... Now I write the files to a USB flash drive, and then print them from a PC, it's inconvenient ...
Good day!
In fact, both at home and in small offices, one printer is usually enough for the eyes (of course, if it can be printed from any of the computers on the local network).
In general, myself Windows setup, to make a public printer for a local network, is not particularly difficult and any user of the "average" hand can handle it. In this article, I'll show you how to do it...
Before describing the settings, I think important let me know a few things:
Here, by the way, is a relatively good (because mine) article on setting up a local network, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with who has a mess with the "local area". Link below.
LAN setup -
Note: all settings below are given and are relevant for Windows 7, 8, 10.
Now let's start setting up. The first thing to do is to set up the computer to which the printer is directly connected (that is, "share" the printer: we give access and permission to use it to another PC on the local network).
1) First open Control Panel/Network and Internet/Network and Sharing Center . Next, click on the link on the left - "Change advanced sharing settings" .
2) Next, we will have three tabs: private, guest or public , And all networks. Now you need to open them one by one and check the boxes in the right places. More on that below.
Note: in some cases there will be not 3 tabs, but 2. Then open those tabs that you have and do according to the screenshots below.
3) Expand the tab , and set the sliders to the following positions (according to the screen below):
4) Then open the next tab - "Guest or Public" . We exhibit:
5) Last tab , here we put:
Important!
A similar setup in these three tabs (private, guest, all networks) must be done on all computers on the local network (not just on the one to which the printer is connected)! Otherwise, later you will not be able to connect to a local printer.
Allow access to the printer
First you need to address: control panel/hardware and sound/devices and printers . If you have drivers installed and everything is OK with the printer - here you should see it in the tab "Printers" .
Click on the printer right click mouse that you want to make network (public), and go to it properties. In properties, open the tab "Access" and put a couple of checkboxes:
Save your settings.
Printer sharing (clickable!)
To check if your printer has become local - open a regular explorer (you can open any folder). On the left side of the menu you should see your computer name . In my case, the computer name is "Desktop-UGHM5R" - we click on it and we see that our "shared" printer.
Now you can start setting up other computers to enable them to print to the printer.
Note: Please note that next to the name of your PC, the names of computers that are on the same local network with you will be displayed.
Important! Before you start connecting the printer, you must configure three network tabs: private, guest, all networks (I wrote about this a little higher). If you do not give permission to use shared folders, printers, etc. - you will not see the printer and do not connect it!
1) Turn on the computer from which we want to print (note: the PC is connected to a local network that has a computer with a connected printer).
Open File Explorer and click on the tab "Net"(on the left side of the menu). Next, you should see a list of computers that are on the same local network as you: open the one that has a public printer (which we made network in the previous step).
3) 1-2 minutes (usually) will be required to install and configure the driver. At this time, it is better not to touch the PC and not close this window (example on the screen below).
4) Next, if everything went well, the printer appears in the tab "Printers" and it can be used. Try to open any word document, press the Ctrl+P key combination and send the document to print (do not forget to select the printer, by default, it is usually not the printer that you added).
Printer connected // task completed
Actually, that's the whole Windows setup to create a public local printer. As you can see, in this regard, in Windows (7, 8, 10) everything is quite simply organized - you can figure it out on your own.
An even more convenient and versatile option would be to connect the printer directly to a Wi-Fi router. Thus, it will not be necessary to keep the PC connected to the printer turned on. In principle, there is nothing complicated there either - usually, a special goes to the router. Software that in auto-mode performs such a setting.
Solving the problem related to how to connect a printer via a local network is not such a problematic matter and almost any home user of such office equipment can handle it. In general, installing a network printer on a computer running windows control 10 or some other version of this system, is a great solution if you have several PCs at home or at work, but only one MFP. Instead of constantly approaching and printing documents from one computer, many users prefer to combine their home or office computers into one local network or just “local”.
To answer the question of how to connect a printer over a network, first of all, you will need a cord to organize the connection and a CD with a driver and a utility specifically designed for your device. If there is no CD in one set with the device, then either from the official website of the manufacturer. It is also worth noting that almost all printing devices of modern models are equipped with USB ports to connect to a PC. For this reason, the motherboards of most system units are no longer equipped with COM and LPT ports. But if you decide to connect old equipment with a new computer, then for this you will need to find the appropriate adapter.
To connect a network printer, first establish a reliable connection between the physical device and the PC using a USB cable. Then place the driver disc in your computer's drive and run the software installer. After the drivers are installed, you just have to restart your PC and print a few test pages. Having thus prepared the basis for installing a network printer on windows 7, also perform the following sequence of actions:
In order for the printer connection over the local network to be available to all local users, you need to open a shared access for all network participants to this device. In addition, to make the printer a network printer, you will need to include all computers in one special workgroup. This step is especially necessary if the local network also includes PCs with more early versions Windows operating system, for example, XP.
To share a Windows 7 or later printer and create a workgroup, please read the following instructions carefully:
In order for the network printer setup to complete successfully, you also have to give access permission. Otherwise, setting up a windows 7 network printer can be a waste of time, because. other PCs connected to your local network will not be able to use this device. To set up your network printer properly, follow the steps below:
In general, with a competent and serious attitude, there should not be any problems with installing a network printer in windows 7, because. the procedure is not a complicated process. Next, you can learn how to properly connect an already installed device.
This action consists of two stages. The first is carried out directly on the PC to which the printer is physically connected.
The second stage of such a process as installing and configuring a printer over a network must be performed on all other PCs connected to the current local network.
But sometimes the question arises of how to install and how to configure the printer if the system cannot find any network device. Such a problem may appear even in the case of open public access and correctly configured locale settings. To answer the question of how to make this printing device visible, you will have to manually enter the path to it.
In general, an MFP made networked and connected via a local network will save on the purchase of several similar devices. As you can see, setting it up is quite easy. This is especially true for using the device at home or an organization with a large number of PCs, where buying dozens of printing devices is an inappropriate purchase.
