Installing a printer in Windows 8. How to install printers without a disk. We open access to the printer for the local network

It happens more and more often that old, reliable and completely working equipment, such as a printer or scanner, can no longer be connected to a new computer due to the lack of drivers for it. What to do: throw it away, buy a new one (of unknown quality)? In this article we will tell you how you can connect any such “outdated” device to a computer running a new operating system (Windows 7, 8, 10).

In short, the situation is resolved as follows: a virtual computer is installed on our computer, with Windows XP (or another under which this equipment can work correctly), drivers are installed, and interaction is configured.

As an example, let's try to analyze step by step the connection of the Canon LBP-800 printer and the Genius ColorPage-HR6X scanner. The printer is connected to the computer using LPT, so it is advisable that the computer be equipped with the following port:

Motherboard with lpt port

If there is no such port, find out if it is possible to add it inside system unit using a PCI-LPT card:

Let's add the missing LPT port to the computer using this board

Various USB-LPT adapters most likely will not work normally (therefore, laptop users in this case cannot count on success):

Connecting USB devices, such as the Genius ColorPage-HR6X scanner, to the virtual machine will not cause any problems.

1. Which virtual machine should I choose?

• Windows Virtual PC (XP Mode)- included in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, does not work well with the LPT port. After updating to Windows 8 or 10, it stops working, all data from it is lost, because Microsoft decided so).

Oracle VM VirtualBox— free, has a Russian interface, does not support working with LPT, is a little buggy, and can sometimes freeze and turn off for unknown reasons.

• VMware Player- free, no Russian interface, latest versions work only on 64-bit operating systems.

2. Setting up a virtual machine

Of all the many programs, we chose VMware Player, so we will base our review on this example.

2.1. Download and install the creation program virtual machine.

2.2. We launch the program and create a virtual computer in it.

2.2.1. Create a New Virtual Machine.

2.2.2. We select the method of installing Windows: either from a disk drive, or from an image file, or later (for example, from a ready-made VMware disk image file).

2.2.3. Select the name and location of the system.

2.2.4. For the XP “virtual”, 10 GB of space is enough and, for convenience, it consists of one file.

2.2.5. Let's review the hardware of the virtual machine.

2.2.6. All the default values ​​are fine for us, we just need to add an LPT port.

2.2.7. Select “Parallel Port” (LPT), click Next -> Next -> Finish.

2.2.8. In order to add a shared folder for exchanging information between computers, click the “Edit virtual machine settings” button:

2.2.9. Go to the Options tab, find the “Shared Folders” item, set the switch to the “Always enabled” position and check the “Map as a network drive in Windows guests” checkbox.

2.3. Install on a Windows XP virtual machine.

We launch the virtual machine, install Windows and the necessary software package.

We will most likely only need those with which we will print (or scan) here, for example: an office software package Microsoft Office, for recognizing scanned text, XnView to facilitate the process of scanning images.

3. Connecting an LPT device

In order to install an LPT device, like our Canon LBP-800 printer, you need to download its driver from the manufacturer’s website, or insert it into the drive installation disk, and, following the manufacturer’s recommendations, install it in our virtual machine.

9. Install the printer driver and check its functionality.

4. Connecting a USB device

In order to connect our Genius ColorPage-HR6X scanner (as well as any other USB device: printer, flash drive, webcam, etc.), you need to right-click on the icon of this device in the drop-down menu and click “ Connect (Diskonnect from host)"

After discovering a new device, install a driver for it, according to the recommendations of the manufacturer of this equipment.

5. Work

To print a file, you need to do the following: copy it to the exchange folder, launch a virtual computer, open this file in it, print it.

To scan something you need to: launch a virtual computer, launch a scanning program, scan (recognize text if necessary), copy the results of the work to the exchange folder. Now the results of the work can be used on the main computer.

6. Conclusions

Now old devices that are not supported by manufacturers are gaining new life, and we save a little money and nerves. After all, new equipment is not always better than old! True, all operations will now have to spend a little more time.

The Genius ColorPage-HR6X scanner driver for Windows 7 and older does not exist and, accordingly, it will not work on our main computer.

But for a VMware virtual machine, connecting and normal operation of outdated devices is a completely feasible task.

Question from a user

Good afternoon.

Can you help me with one problem... I have 3 computers at home: one PC and 2 laptops. All of them are connected to a Wi-Fi router. A printer is connected to the PC.

How can I set up my PCs, laptops and network so that I can send documents to the printer from my laptops? I tried to configure it, but nothing... Now I write the files onto a 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 (of course, if you can print to it from any of the computers local network).

Actually, myself Windows setup to make a printer available to the public for a local network is not particularly difficult and any “average” user can handle it. In this article I will show you an example of how this is done...

We open access to the printer for the local network

Before describing the settings, I think important to report a few points:

1. you must include a PC, printer, and laptops (other PCs) that will be configured;
2. On the PC to which the printer is directly connected (to a USB port, for example), drivers must be installed (that is, printing should work normally on the PC itself). To find and install a printer driver - ;
3. The local network must be configured: computers have the same workgroups (you can see if you go to properties of my computer ), and different computer names (in general, if your local network is working, then this is so...).

Here, by the way, is a relatively good (because it’s mine) article on setting up a local network, I recommend that you read it if you have problems with your local network. Link below.

Setting up a local network -

Note: all settings below are shown and are relevant for Windows 7, 8, 10.

Now let's start setting up. The first thing you need to do is set up the computer to which the printer is directly connected (i.e., “share” the printer: we give access and permission to use it to another PC on the local network).

1) First we 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 this below.

Note: in some cases there will be not 3 tabs, but 2. Then open those tabs that exist and do according to the screenshots below.

3) Expand the tab , and set the sliders to the following positions (according to the screenshot below):

• enable network discovery (enable automatic setup on network devices);
• enable file and printer sharing;
• Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections.

4) Then open the next tab - "Guest or public" . We exhibit:

• enable network discovery;
• enable file and printer sharing.

5) Last tab , here we display:

• disable sharing;
• Use 128-bit encryption to secure shared connections;
• disable password protected sharing.

Important!

A similar setting in these three tabs (private, guest, all networks) must be done on all computers on the local network (and not just on the one to which the printer is connected)! Otherwise, you will subsequently not be able to connect to the local printer.

Allowing access to the printer

First you need to go to: control panel/hardware and sound/devices and printers . If you have the drivers installed and everything is OK with the printer, here you should see it in the tab "Printers" .

Right-click on the printer you want to make network (public) and go to it properties. In properties, open the tab "Access" and check a couple of boxes:

1. Share this printer;
2. rendering print jobs on client computers.

Save your settings.

Printer sharing (clickable!)

To check whether your printer has become local, open a regular Explorer (you can open any folder). On the left in the menu you should see your computer name . In my case - the computer name is "Desktop-UGHM5R" - click on it and see that ours is present in the window that opens "shared" printer.

Now you can begin 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.

How to connect a network printer and start printing

Important! Before you start connecting the printer, you must configure three network tabs: private, guest, all networks (I wrote about this just above). If you do not give permission to use shared folders, printers, etc., you will not see the printer or connect it!

1) Turn on the computer from which we want to print (note: the PC is connected to a local network in which there is a computer with a connected printer).

Open File Explorer and click on the tab "Net"(on the left in 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 or close this window (example in the screenshot below).

4) Next, if everything went well, the printer appears in the tab "Printers" and it can be used. Try opening a Word document, press the Ctrl+P key combination and send the document to print (don’t forget to select the printer; the default printer is usually not the one you added).

Printer connected // task completed

Actually, that’s all there is to setting up Windows to create a public local printer. As you can see, in this regard, in Windows (7, 8, 10) everything is organized quite simply - you can figure it out yourself.

An even more convenient and versatile option would be to connect the printer directly to a Wi-Fi router. This way there will be no need to keep the PC connected to the printer turned on. In principle, there is nothing complicated there either - usually a special one goes to the router. Software that performs similar settings in automatic mode.

For full operation of the printer, you need to install additional software - drivers. Usually, they come complete with the device, on a special boot disk. Without them, the computer will not detect the connected device. Of course, we are not talking about devices that are automatically recognized by the system. I would like to immediately note that you need to read the entire article, since there are complex and more simple ways installing drivers and therefore you need to read the article to the end. Almost at the very end of the article there is information on how to install a printer driver automatically, keep this in mind. When the question arises of how to install a printer without a disk, inexperienced users think that it is very difficult. But in fact, this procedure can be mastered in 15-30 minutes. Let's check if this is true.

There are two main ways to install a printer without boot disk, namely, download the necessary drivers from the Internet

• Using basic Windows tools Update;
• Independently, knowing the device identification code or using the printer model.

The first method is perfect for simple printer models (only printing and scanning documents, without additional settings), because Windows Update installs a basic driver package.

The second method allows you to download the most latest version software, so after installing them, the user will have access to absolutely all printer functions, including more “advanced” ones.

In addition, the reason for installing drivers may be not only their complete absence, but also a malfunction of the device itself. Sometimes, using one driver or another, the printer refuses to print documents, and all because the driver you installed was not suitable for your device. This is, of course, one of the reasons why the printer may not work correctly, but as you understand, it’s not for nothing that we are talking about this right now. After all, below we will tell you how to download your driver to your computer, but if you are in a hurry, you may have difficulties. Therefore, proceed step by step.

If you have previously studied this issue somewhere and none of the methods were successful, then you can try downloading the drivers again. This article is universal - here we will tell you how to do it in different versions of Windows.

Therefore, before installing a printer without a disk, you must:

1. Disconnect the device connected to the computer;

2. Go to the “Start” menu - “Control Panel” - “Devices and Printers” or “View devices and printers”;

3. Here you will need to find the line “Install a printer” or “Add a printer” in the top panel;

4. The Add Printer Wizard will open, select “Add a local printer” from the options provided and click “next” (for Windows 7). If you have Windows 8 or 10, then at the bottom click “The printer you need is not in the list” - and then select “Add a local or network printer with manually specified parameters” and click “Next”.

5. The Wizard for Installing Printers and Other Equipment will prompt you to select a port, leave the default parameters (LPT1, but in some cases you need to select DOT4_001) and go to the next step;

6. Click on the "Center" button Windows updates"and wait for the available drivers to update;

7. A list of printer manufacturers and main models will be loaded. May take from 5 to 30 minutes. Find the manufacturer on the left and the printer model on the right. Then click “Next”. In this case, we chose the HP brand and the LaserJet 1022 model.

8. The installation wizard will ask you to come up with a name for the device (leave the default name or create your own), click “Next”;

9. Wait for the installation to complete;

10. The “Use general settings” window will open, here you need to select the “No sharing of this printer” option and click “Next” (the window will appear if Windows 7 is installed). If you have Windows 10, then you will see a window where you need to click “Finish” (the same window will appear later in Windows 7).

The next thing to do is to remove the newly installed device. To do this, right-click on the printer icon that appears and select “Remove device” in the context menu (in this case installed drivers will remain).

After these steps, you will be able to connect the printer to your computer. When you connect the printer, you need to wait a little for the computer to automatically recognize the printer and perform the installation. Then you can print any document to verify that the driver is installed.

How to do this on Windows 7:

Official sites

If you do not have a disk with printer drivers, you can download them from the manufacturer’s official website. To do this, it is enough to know the brand and model of the printer. You can find them in the documentation, on the case or back of the device. If you do not understand the instructions below, you can download the required driver on our website without any fears (all drivers are virus-free).

Open any browser and enter in the search bar: “HP LaserJet p1102 printer driver download.” In this article I will look for drivers for the above-mentioned device, but you need to indicate your model.

As a rule, the link to the official website of the developer will be on the first page of the search, at the very top. But this does not always happen and therefore you need to be careful. To avoid downloading malware instead of drivers, make sure that you actually went to the official website of the developer. To do this, pay attention to the site link in the search engine. There should not be anything “extra” (the address will be something like this: “hp.com” or “samsung.com”, etc.

If you doubt the authenticity of the site you found, you can enter only the name of the printer company without the model and other information. And from the main page, go to the “drivers and other software” section.

Advantages of downloading drivers from the official website:

1. Security (drivers have a digital signature, no built-in malicious code);
2. The developer posts only the latest, “fresh” versions of drivers on the site.

As soon as you get to the desired page (“Drivers and other files”, “Software”, “ Software", "Download", as well as "drivers" on the English version of the site), you just need to enter your printer model and search.

In addition, some sites allow you to automatically determine the device model and the necessary drivers, for example, there may be a “Detect Product” button. So, if we are on the HP website, we click “Product Search” and in our case, varieties of this model appear. We need to select the desired model by left-clicking.

Once the necessary drivers are found, you will need to provide information about the version of your operating system and the system bit depth. If this window does not appear, then simply click on the link or button to download drivers.

A situation may also arise that the site will offer to download a driver version to choose from:

1. Basic - to access the basic capabilities of the device;
2. Advanced - for access to additional functions.

You don’t have to worry about which version you download, the main thing is to indicate the correct bit size of your system (discussed above).

Once the download is complete, you need to run the downloaded file and follow the instructions of the installation wizard.

Windows Update

The Windows operating system by default contains all the main drivers for the most popular peripheral devices. Including for printers and scanners. To do this, connect the device to the computer and wait a few minutes. If an attempt automatic installation printer will not be positive, you must do the following:

1. Open “Control Panel”;

2. Find “Hardware and Sound”;

3. Left-click on “Devices and Printers”;

4. A new window will appear with icons of connected devices. Find the image of your computer or laptop (in my case it's a laptop) and right-click on it. In the context menu that opens, click on the line “Windows Update”.

5. After this, a window will open where you need to click “Check for updates” in the menu on the right. It should start automatically searching for available updates for all your devices. We must tell you that it is advisable to have fast Internet, as this procedure may take 10-30 minutes.

6. Now you need to wait for Windows to download the found updates automatically;

7. After the search is completed and all found updates are downloaded and installed on your computer or laptop, you need to restart the device.

After restarting the computer, the printer should work. If after rebooting the computer still does not see the device, the root of the problem may not be in the drivers. Try connecting the printer to a different USB input.

Determining the Printer ID

Each device that connects to a computer has a unique identification code. If you know the hardware ID, then you can download the driver you need without any problems. If the instructions described above did not help you and you do not understand, how to install a printer without a disk, you need to find out its identification code. I recommend using this option in the most extreme cases, and if you downloaded the drivers from the official website, you can skip this option.

So, to find out the ID:

1. Right-click on the computer and select “Properties”, then on the left click “Device Manager”;

2. In the window that opens, find your printer. Right-click on the desired line and in the menu that appears, click on “Properties”;

3. A dialog box will open where you need to go to the “Details” tab. Next, in the “Property” line, select “Equipment ID”.

4. A value will appear in the window below, which will be the printer identification code (if there are several values, you must select the first one);

5. Copy the ID. Go to the official website of your printer manufacturer and enter the copied identification number into the search. You can also use search engines to find the driver you need using the hardware ID. But don’t forget that our website has all the drivers for existing printers. All that remains is to download the found driver.

Remember that you need to download drivers only from official resources. It's absolutely free and as safe as possible.

Installing drivers automatically

To ensure that this problem never bothers you again and drivers for any external devices are installed automatically, just change the basic Windows settings. For this:

1. Go back to the “Devices and Printers” menu (we told you how to get here above) through the control panel. Right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Device installation options” in the context menu that appears;

2. A dialog box will open where you need to select “Yes (recommended)” (recommended default settings) and click “Save”;

Now, after connecting a new device, Windows will automatically search for and install the necessary drivers from its own database or using the Internet connection.

Hello.

I think the benefits of having a printer configured on a local network are obvious to everyone. Simple example:

If access to the printer is not configured, then you need to first transfer files to the PC to which the printer is connected (using a flash drive, disk, over a network, etc.) and only then print them (in fact, to print 1 file, you need to make a dozen “ unnecessary" actions);

If the network and printer are configured, then on any PC on the network in any of the editors you can click one button “Print" and the file will be sent to the printer!

Comfortable? Comfortable! This article will tell you how to set up a printer to work over a network in Windows 7, 8...

STEP 1 - Setting up the computer to which the printer is connected (or how to “share” the printer for all PCs on the network).

To be able to use the printer on any PC on the network, you must correctly configure the computer to which it is connected.

To do this, go to the Windows Control Panel, to the section: Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center.

In the window that opens, you need to open three tabs one by one (Fig. 2, 3, 4). In each of them you need to check the boxes: enable file and printer sharing, disable password protection.

Rice. 2. public access parameters - expanded “private (current profile)” tab

Rice. 3. expanded “guest or public” tab

Rice. 4. expanded “all networks” tab

Here select your printer, right-click on it (right mouse button) and select the “ Printer properties". In properties, go to the “Access” section and check the box next to “ Share this printer"(see Fig. 5).

If access to this printer is open, then any user on your local network can print on it. The printer will not be available only in certain cases: When the PC is turned off, in sleep mode, etc.

Rice. 5. Sharing the printer for public access over the network.

You also need to go to the “Security” tab, then select the user group “Everyone” and allow printing (see Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. Now printing on a printer is available to everyone!

STEP 2 - How to connect a printer over a network and print to it

Now you can proceed to setting up computers that are on the same local network as the PC to which the printer is connected.

The first step is to launch a regular explorer. At the very bottom left, all PCs connected to your local network should be displayed (relevant for Windows 7, 8).

In general, click on the PC to which the printer is connected and if in step 1 (see above) the PC was configured correctly, you will see the shared printer. Actually, right-click on it and select the connection function in the pop-up context menu. Typically, connection takes no more than 30-60 seconds. (automatic connection and driver configuration occurs).

Then select the connected printer, right-click on it and enable the option “ Use as default«.

Rice. 8. use network printer as default

Now, in whatever editor you are in (Word, notepad, and others), when you click the “Print” button, the network printer will be automatically selected and you will only need to confirm printing. The setup is complete!

If when connecting printer an error appears on the network

For example, a common error when connecting a printer is the standard “Windows cannot connect to the printer…. "and some error code is issued (such as 0x00000002) - see fig. 9.

It is impossible to consider all the variety of errors in one article - but I will give one simple piece of advice that often helps me get rid of such errors.

That's all. By the way, if the printer does not print, I recommend reading this article:

As always, thank you in advance for any additions to the article! Good luck!

If you can't get your printer to work with new Windows 8, you can try a few things. As with all new updates, printers and Windows 8 may have compatibility issues. You can resolve these issues by following the steps below.

Before you get too technical, I would recommend looking at your connections first. Every expert will tell you that the cords are secure and everything is plugged in correctly. If that's not the problem, I'd say you might have a driver issue.

Installing the Printer Driver

Many older printers and Windows 8 are not compatible at first. This is because the printer is using a driver that does not recognize the new operating system. A driver literally makes your printer work with your computer. It recognizes Windows commands to get the job done. You may have to look for updates before your printer works.

Check your printer manufacturer's website for updates. Even if your printer is more old version, the manufacturer may have an update for your printer and Windows 8. You will need your printer's model number visible on the front.

HP Printer Driver Location

You can also look at your computer manufacturer's website for drivers for various devices, including your printer. To do this, you'll need your PC's model number, which is usually located on the back or bottom. Finally, it will update your old, non-working printer driver to the latest possible version, which can often include Windows 8 compatibility.

Running in compatibility mode

Another problem I have found with printers and Windows 8 is that even with the correct driver, the driver refuses to install. To get it to work, you may need to convince it that it works with Windows 7. To do this, you will need to run in compatibility mode.

1. Once you find the driver you need, you will need to right-click on the " Settings" for driver
2. Click " Properties" .
3. Go to the tab Compatibility
4. In the second section, you will see a box that says “Run this program in compatibility mode for” with a drop-down list. Make sure the box says Windows 7 even if you have Windows 8
5. Select field
6. Click Apply

Runs on Windows 7 for compatibility

Connecting to a Windows 8 system

You may have more than one computer and need to connect them together. If your printer is already connected to an older machine, you will simply need to connect it to your new Windows 8 PC. To do this, go to the Control Panel on your Windows 8 computer to create a HomeGroup.