Datasheet

Installation and Configuration of Printers

with printer port. It sends data 8 bits at a time (in parallel) and uses a cable with a male

DB-25 connector at the computer and a 36-bin Centronics male connector at the printer. Its

main drawback is its cable length, which must be less than 10 feet.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) The most popular type of printer interface as this book is being

written is the USB. It’s the most popular interface for just about every peripheral. The beneﬁt

for printers is that it has a higher transfer rate than either serial or parallel and it automati-

cally recognizes new devices. USB is also fully Plug and Play, and it allows several printers to

be connected at once without adding ports or using up additional system resources.

Network Most large-environment printers (primarily laser and LED printers) have a

special interface that allows them to be hooked directly to a network. These printers have

a network interface card (NIC) and ROM-based software that let them communicate with

networks, servers, and workstations.

The type of network interface used on the printer depends on the type of network the printer

is being attached to. For example, if you’re using a Token Ring network, the printer should

have a Token Ring interface.

IEEE 1394/FireWire This is a high-speed serial alternative to USB. It’s less commonly

used for printers than USB is, but FireWire printer interfaces do exist.

Radio Wave Bluetooth is an infrared technology that can connect a printer to a computer

at a range of about 35 feet, provided there is an unblocked line of sight.

Wireless A network-enabled printer that has a wireless adapter can participate

in a wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11b, a, or g) network, just as it would as a wired

network client.

Firmware Updates

Printers resemble computers in many ways. Like a computers, they can have their own

motherboard, memory, and CPU. They also have ﬁrmware—that is, software permanently

stored on a chip. If you’re using an old computer with a new operating system, an update

may be available for the printer’s or scanner’s ﬁrmware. You can ﬁnd out that information

at the printer or scanner manufacturer’s website and download the update from there along

with a utility program for performing the update.

Printer Configuration

To add a printer, whether it’s local or networked, you start the Add Printer Wizard found

in Windows by accessing Start  Printers and Faxes (or Start  Printers) and then choosing

Add a Printer. Once the printer is installed, you can right-click its icon at any time beneath

this dialog box and choose Properties from the context menu. From here, you can print a test

page and conﬁgure such items as sharing, ports, device settings (including tray selection), and

so on. Figure 1.37 shows the spooling options and the settings that allow you to conﬁgure the

printer to be available only at certain times, and Figure 1.38 shows the tray settings.

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