Network Printing
by sirchodeI handle Desktop Support for several companies and one of the most frustrating elements of my job are printers.
No, let me rephrase that. One of the most frustrating elements of my job are printers done wrong. USB or Parallel printer sharing is sketchy and unreliable, it's slow, it periodically breaks, and worst of all it forces several users to rely on another user's computer to be up and running if they want to print. This is no way to handle printing, and I'm here to spread the good news about the way printing is meant to be done.
Network printing isn't terribly complicated, but it has the potential to be exponentially more complicated than USB/Parallel sharing mentioned above. The steps outlined in this article come from personal experience and, due to the nature of Windows, seem to occasionally defy logic. If you want your network printing experiences to be as pain-free as possible, please follow these steps as close as possible or risk insanity.
Making Preparations
Look for a printer with built-in networking. Straight-up, that's the most important thing to look for in a printer when trying to set up a networked printing solution. It's pain-free, it saves space, it eliminates a problem point, and it Just Works. It doesn't get any easier than this.
If you've already got a printer, your option here is to buy an external print server. A print server is a little box that you connect to the printer, which then connects to the network. Think of it as a USB-to-Ethernet converter (or a Parallel-to-Ethernet converter) and you'll pretty much get the picture. The problem with these print servers is that they usually require a software installation in order to properly configure everything, and this sort of software is what bugs me. It's pretty much an unavoidable evil at this point, so if at all possible, find a printer with an integrated print server.
Setting it All Up
Hook your printer up to the network and have it print a configuration page so you know its IP address. If you're manually configuring the network settings, go ahead and do that, too. The point is that you know the printer's IP.
Open up the Printers and Faxes box and click on Add Printer. You'll be presented with the standard 'Welcome to the Printer Setup Wizard' girly crap, but just click Next to get to the action:
This is a very important step Logically you'd think to click on the "Network Printer" radio button but no! Select the Local Printer option and make sure the Plug and Play option is unchecked. Once the dialog box on your screen matches the one above, click Next.
This is a very important step This is where the magic happens. Click on the "Create a New Port" button, and select "Standard TCP/IP Port" in the pulldown menu. Ahhhhh, now you see where we're going with this, right? Yes, it is glorious. Click Next to be taken to an all-new Wizard for creating a new TCP/IP port:
Pretty straightforward, just enter the printer's IP in the top box and the bottom box will be dynamically filled in as you type. Click Next once everything looks good and you'll be presented with a new challenge:
This is a very important step Find your printer series in the list provided, but for best results choose the driver ending in "PS". This indicates a PostScript driver and it's pretty versatile and just all-around better, so go with it. It's worth mentioning that if you don't see your printer series in the list, the Windows Update button can actually be useful. I've had it find drivers for me on more than one occasion. If all else fails, put in the manufacturer's CD and let it find the drivers, no biggie.
From here, everything is pretty standard. You give the printer a name, specify defaults, print a test page, etc. Once finished, you're greeted with success and should soon hear the printer's wheels squeaking with delight.
Post-installation Work
There is none! Sit back and enjoy the reliability as you inch closer and closer to sinecure, one network printer at a time.
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