6.

Visit your printer manufacturer's Web site and find the latest
printer driver:
You are now ready to go look for the printer driver that you need. We will give
you links to some common printer manufacturer's Web sites in a minute. But
before we do this, we'd like to remind you that the printer manufacturer's
Web site is not under our control. Each manufacturer's Web site will be laid
out differently. Therefore, we cannot give you the precise steps that you will
need to locate and download the latest printer driver for your computer. So
please realize that the following steps are general steps that you may have to
adapt a bit. If at any time you no longer seem to be able to find what you
need, please ask someone you know for help or contact your printer's
manufacturer for help.
Basically what you want to dowhenyougettoyourprinter
manufacturer'sWebsiteis:

Find the downloads or drivers section.

Find where you can select your printer make and model.

Find where you can select your Windows XP platform type.

Select the latest driver.

Read the download instructions if there are any, and then download the
printer driver. (We will give you more specific instructions on how to
download the printer driver file in a minute. For now, just try to locate the
file.)
The following is just one example of what the page that you want to find on
the printer manufacturer's Web site will resemble. This example is from the
Epson Web site. As we said, other Web sites will look different.

Helpful links to Web sites of common printer manufacturers

Here is a list of links to the Web sites of some common printer manufacturers.
Click the link for your printer manufacturer. The current Web page will remain
open so that you can return to it after you have downloaded the latest printer
driver for your printer.
Note If the Web site for your printer manufacturer is not listed here, just type
the name of your printer manufacturer in any Web search engine to locate
the manufacturer's Web site:

Brother (http://www.brother.com/E-ftp/softwin.html)

Canon (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?
act=DownloadIndexAct)

Dell (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?
c=us&l=en&s=gen)

Epson (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/SupportIndex.jsp)

HP (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html)

Kodak (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pqpath=10/9652&pq-locale=en_US)

Konica Minolta (http://printer.konicaminolta.com/support/index_ds.html)

Lexmark (http://downloads.lexmark.com/en/us/index.html)

Panasonic (http://shop.panasonic.com/support/)

Ricoh (http://www.ricoh.com/downloads/)

Samsung (http://www.samsung.com/in/support/main/supportMain.do)

Sony (http://esupport.sony.com/perl/select-system.pl?
DIRECTOR=DRIVER&SR=nav:service_support:electronics:drivers_software:es
up&ref=http%3A//www.sony.com/index.php)

Download and then run the file that you located:

Now that you have located the latest printer driver for your printer, follow
these steps to download and run the printer driver file. As we stated before,
each Web site will have a different procedure for how you download a file. So
again, the steps that we give you here are general steps that you might have
to adapt a bit based on what you see on the printer manufacturer's Web site.
1.

First, click the download option on the printer manufacturer's Web site
to download the printer driver file. The download option might just be a link
that you can click, or it might be a button labeled "Download." Or it might be
a link that is labeled with the operating system and the platform type. Some
Web sites might even open a new window from which you can then download
the file. Note When you click to download the printer driver file, you might
receive a message that resembles the following in the message bar near the
top of Internet Explorer:
To help protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from
downloading files to your computer. Click here for options
To continue to download the file, just click inside this message, and then
click Download file.

2.
3.

In the File Download Security Warning dialog box, click Save.

In the Save As dialog box, specify where you want to save the file. For
example, you could save it on the desktop. The download might be quick or it
might take a long time, depending on the file size and on your Internet
connection speed. If you want to work on something else on your computer
while the file is being downloaded, you can do that. Just make sure that you
leave the current Web page open in Internet Explorer so that you can
continue with these steps when the download is complete.

4.

When the download is complete, if the Download Complete dialog

box is still open, click Run. Otherwise, locate the file, and then double-click it.
Your next step will be determined by what happens when you run the
downloaded file. As we have been saying, each Web site does things a bit
differently. So, based on what the download file does when you start to run it,
do one of the following:

If you are asked to specify a location to which to extract the files, go

to Create a new folder on your desktop, and extract the files to the new
folder. (To "extract" just means to save.)

If another program or folder opens and displays additional files, go

to Extract the files to a new folder on your desktop.

If your printer driver appears to be installed automatically, go to Verify

that the printer is installed and try to print a test page.

Create a new folder on your desktop, and extract the files to the
new folder:
Some printer drivers will run a Setup program to extract files to a temporary
location on your computer. If you are prompted to extract files to a location
on your computer, first create a new folder on your desktop. To create a new
folder on your desktop, follow these steps:

Right-click a blank area of your desktop, point to New, and then click
Folder.

Type a name for the new folder, and then press ENTER. For example,
type LexmarkDriver, and then press ENTER.
Second, specify this new folder as where you want to extract the files. The
steps to do this depend on the program that the printer manufacturer is using
to extract the files. You might be able to use the program to browse to your
desktop folder and then locate the new folder that you created. Or, you might
have to type the full path of the new folder in the Setup or the extract
program. If you are not sure how to do this, you might want to ask someone
you know for help, or you might want to contact support.
After you extract the files from the printer driver installation file to the folder,
go to Use the Add Printer Wizard to install the driver.

Extract the files to a new folder on your desktop:

If another program or another folder opens and displays files when you run
the printer driver installation file, you must extract the files to a new folder. To
do this, follow these steps:
1.

Create a new folder on your desktop. To do this, follow these steps:

1.

Right-click a blank area of your desktop, point to New, and then

click Folder.

2.

Type a name for the new folder and then press ENTER. For
example, type LexmarkDriver, and then press ENTER.

2.

Run the extract command. The steps to do this depend on the program
that the printer manufacturer is using. Open the File menu if the program or
folder has menus, and then look for a command that is named Extract All or
something similar.

3.

Specify the new folder that you created in step 1 as where to extract
the files. Again, the steps to do this depend on the program that the printer
manufacturer is using to extract the files. You might be able to use the
program to browse to your desktop folder and then locate the new folder that
you created. Or, you might have to type the full path of the new folder in the
Setup or the extract program. If you are not sure how to do this, you might
want to ask someone you know for help, or you might want to
contact support.

4.

After you extract the files in the printer driver installation file to the
new folder, go to Use the Add Printer Wizard to install the driver.

Use the Add Printer Wizard to install the driver:

Now that all the printer driver files are extracted, you still have to install the
printer driver. You can use the Add Printer Wizard to help you do this. So
follow these steps.
First, open the Add Printer Wizard:
1.

Click Start, and then click Run.

2.

In the Open box, type

control printers

, and then click OK.

The "Printers and Faxes" window opens.
3.

Under Printer Tasks in the navigation pane on the left, click Add a
printer. The Add Printer Wizard opens.
Next, tell the wizard that you want to add a local printer:

1.

On the first page of the Add Printer Wizard, click Next.

2.

On the next page, click Local printer attached to this computer.

Important Make sure that the Automatically detect and install my Plug
and Play printer check box is not selected.

3.

Click Next.
Next, tell the wizard how you want the computer to communicate
with the printer:

On this page, you must select the port that the printer will use to
communicate with the computer. Most computers use LTP ports. If your
printer cable connection resembles the picture that is shown on this page,
click Use the following port, and make sure that LPT1 (Recommended
Printer Port) is selected. If your printer is connected to a USB port, select
the USB port option in the Use the following port list. Then click Next.
Next, tell the wizard where to find the printer driver files that you
extracted:

1.

On this page, click Have Disk. The Install From Disk dialog box
opens.

2.

In the Install From Disk dialog box, click Browse, and then locate the
folder to which you extracted the printer driver files.

3.
4.

When you have located the correct folder, click Open.

The path of your folder should now appear in the Copy
manufacturer's files from box in the Install From Disk dialog box.
Click OK.

Now, supply the wizard with the last pieces of information that it
needs to install the printer driver files:
1.

The printers that you can install should be listed in the Install Printer
Software dialog box. Select the printer that you are trying to connect, and
then click Next.

2.

If you are prompted to use an existing driver, select Replace existing

driver, and then click Next. When you select to replace the existing driver,
Windows will try to replace the current files on your system with the new
ones that you downloaded.

3.

On the next page, click Next if you want to accept the suggested
printer name and use the printer as your default printer. Otherwise, change
these settings to what you prefer, and then click Next.

4.

If you see the Printer Sharing page next in the wizard, you can share
your printer so that other computers on your home network can use it to
print. Click Share name, and then specify a name for the shared printer.
Otherwise, click Do not share this printer. After you have made your
selection, clickNext. You may be asked to enter optional location information
for the printer. Type the location of the printer (for example, Home Office),
and then clickNext.
Finally, see whether you can print a test page:

1.

2.

On the Print Test Page page of the wizard, click Yes to print a test
page. Then click Next, and then click Finish.
If the test page is printed successfully, you are finished.
Unfortunately, if the test page was not printed successfully, you still have
some troubleshooting to do that is beyond the scope of this article. First,
clickTroubleshooting in the Add Printer Wizard to see whether it can offer
you helpful information. If that does not resolve your printer problem, go
to Next Stepsfor some next steps that you might want to take.

Verify that the printer is installed and try to print a test page:
When the installation process is complete, you can go to the "Printer and
Faxes" folder to verify that the printer is installed. To do this, follow these
steps:
1.

Depending on how your Start menu looks, do one of the following:

Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.

Point to Settings, and then click Printers and Faxes.

2.

See whether your printer is listed.

3.

If your printer is listed, try to print a test page.

If you can print a test page successfully, you are finished. Unfortunately, if
the test page was not printed successfully, you still have some
troubleshooting to do that is beyond the scope of this article. So please
see Next Steps to see what you can try next.
If you are comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to try
the steps in Advanced Troubleshooting.

What do I do if no printer driver was listed for your printer or

Windows XP platform type?
If no printer driver was listed for your Windows XP platform type, here is what
you want to try next:

If no printer driver is listed by your manufacturer for Windows XP,

download a Microsoft Windows 2000 driver if one is available.

If you are running a 64-bit Windows XP platform, and no 64-bit

Windows XP driver is listed, download a 32-bit Windows XP driver if one is
available.
If no Windows 2000 or Windows XP driver is listed for your printer, see
whether a compatible printer driver exists for your printer make and model. A
compatible driver is also known as an "emulation printer driver." An
emulation printer driver imitates another printer driver. This step is a bit more
involved, so if you have trouble, you might want to ask someone for help or
contact support.
To find a printer driver that will function as an emulation printer driver for
your printer driver, first search your printer manufacturer's Web site. If you do
not find any mention of an emulation printer driver on your printer
manufacturer's Web site, you can do the same search on the Internet. The
steps to do this are as follows:

1.

Either on your printer manufacturer's Web site or on the Internet, type

the make and model of your printer followed by the word "emulation" in the

search box. For example, your search entry might resemble the following:
Canon BJ20 emulation

2.

Look through the search results to see whether there is any mention of
an emulation printer driver for your printer.
To download a compatible driver, you might have to visit a different printer
manufacturer's Web site. For example, the Epson LQ510 printer emulates the
Canon BJ20 printer. Therefore, you would have to visit the Epson Web site to
download the latest printer driver for the Epson LQ510 printer for use with a
Canon BJ20 printer.
If no printer driver is available in any form for your printer, the rest of this
content cannot help you. At this point, you might want to read Next
Steps orAdvanced troubleshooting. Or you might want to ask someone you
know for help, or contact the manufacturer of your printer.If you found the
driver, go on to Download and then run the file that you located.
If you download and install the latest printer driver from the manufacturer
and still have problems with the printer, visit this tutorial to see step-by-step
instructions on solving your issues:
Printer problems in Windows

Next Steps:
If you were unable to complete the steps in this article to install a printer
driver, or if you still have problems printing, you might have to ask someone
for help or contact support.
To contact support for your printer, visit the printer manufacturer's Web site
again and look for information about how to contact them. To view Microsoft
support options, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Contact Support
If you are familiar with forums and you read and post with others, try the
Windows forums at Microsoft Community.
If you are comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to try
the steps in Advanced Troubleshooting.

Advanced Troubleshooting:
If you are still having printer problems, and if you are comfortable with
advanced troubleshooting, you might want to try the steps in the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
You cannot add a printer, and you receive printer spooler error messages
Advanced troubleshooting for when you cannot print in Windows XP
Error message: The current printer driver is not compatible with a policy
enabled on your computer

7.

1.

Click the Start button, type Control Panel, and press Enter.
This step opens the Control Panel.

2.

Double-click the Network and Sharing Center icon and then click
Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
This step opens the Advanced Sharing Settings page, which lists network
settings for each network youre connected to.
o

For a home computer running Windows 7: Two networks are listed:

Home or Work, and Public.

In Windows 8: The Home or Work network is called Private.

For a computer connected to a domain network: A third network named

Domain is listed.

Click the down arrow next to the network you want to enable file
and printer sharing for.
o

For a home computer: Click the down arrow next to Home or Work
(Windows 7) or Private (Windows 8).

For a computer connected to a domain network: Click the down arrow

next to Domain.

The figure shows the settings for a Domain network. The settings for a Home or
Work network are the same.
Do not enable file or printer sharing for the Public network. Enabling file or printer
sharing on a public network exposes your computers data to other users on the
same public network.

Select the Turn on File and Printer Sharing option.

Click the Save Changes button.

This action saves your changes and closes the Advanced Sharing Settings page.