How do I add networked office printers in Windows?

In This Article:

• Overview
• Adding a Networked Office Printer in Windows
• Alternate Method
• Installing a Printer from a Driver File

Overview:

Department machines using the TCP/IP protocol connection method can access department printers. This tutorial will explain to UI employees networking your workstation to a department or office printer in Windows.

This tutorial applies to the following operating system(s):

 Windows

Request departmental printer assistance

For assistance setting up networked office printers in other operating systems, see our other articles:

• How do I add networked office printers in OSX?

Adding a Networked Office Printer in Windows:

Step 1:

Select the window icon to open the start menu, then select Settings.

Go to Start, then Settings.

Step 2:

From the Settings menu, select Devices.

Select "Devices."

Step 3:

From the Devices panel, under the Printers & scanners tab, select Add a printer or scanner.

Select Printers & Scanners, then "Add a printer or scanner."

Step 4:

The computer will search for a printer. If yours appears, select it. If not, select "The printer that I want isn't listed."

Select "The printer that I want isn't listed."

Step 5:

Once you have selected "The printer that I want isn't listed," check "Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname" and click next.

Check "Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname."

Step 6:

Select "TCP/IP Device" for device type. Next, type the Hostname for your printer in the two entry boxes. If you do not know the hostname of the printer, you can try asking someone that already has it installed on their computer. You can find the name by first finding the IP address of the printer. It should say the IP address on the screen of the printer or in the network settings on the printer.  It should start with 129.101. Once you have that, open up a CMD window on your computer by typing in CMD into your search bar in the start menu and opening it up, then type in nslookup, followed by a space and then the IP address of the printer 129.101.**.**. That will give you the printer's hostname. Which should be a name followed by .printer.uidaho.edu. Finally, make sure "Query the printer and automatically select the driver to use" and press Next. (Note: it is a good idea to set "Device Type" to "TCP/IP Device, as Audodetect may create the printer using a WSD port, which will not work. In addition, if you have the driver file on your computer, you can uncheck the "Query the printer" checkbox and browse for the driver manually on the next screen.)

Enter the hostname.

Step 7:

The computer will proceed by connecting to the printer using the name you entered, and automatically detect the correct driver to use with your printer.

The driver should be automatically detected by the computer.

If your machine is not able to automatically detect the driver you may need to manually select this.

You may need to manually select a driver.

If the driver is not listed for your printer will need to visit the manufactures webpage to download the correct driver. Recommend downloading the PCL6 driver or a universal one for that specific model. Then extract the files from the download but do not run any installer from there, just note where the files are extracted/downloaded to.

You can also use the Windows Update button to download current drivers automatically.

You can use the Windows Update button to download current drivers automatically.

Windows Update can take some time to download drivers for supported printers.

This can take some time.

After the Windows update select your manufacture and driver you wish to install. If your printer driver is not shown after the Windows Update you will need to use the Have Disk option and point it to the drivers you downloaded from the manufactures page. Navigate to that downloaded/extracted folder with the print driver. Search around in there, look for a folder named driver, until you see a file name automatically fill in in the "File name:" field at the bottom of the window. Open that file and then choose the printer driver from the list on the right that most closely fits for the series of printer model. Any should work if you just aren't sure, but still.

After the Windows update select your manufacture and driver you wish to install.

Step 8:

Once the printer has been connected to your computer, Type in a display name for your printer and then click Next. It is recommended to use the printer's hostname but you can name the printer anything.

Enter in a name for your newly installed printer.

Step 9:

In order to keep your printer private, select "Do not share this printer" on this screen, and then click Next.

Check "Do not share this printer."

Step 10:

Finally, print a test page to make sure your printer is working.

If you run into trouble completing this tutorial, contact your TSP.

Once installed, print a test page to ensure it was installed properly.

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Alternate Method:

The above method showed how to add the printer through the newer Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) settings interface. For power users in Windows 8 or 10, you can follow these steps instead:

1. Press the Windows Key and type "Control Panel" to open up the Control Panel
2. Open Devices and Printers
   • If you're in the Category View, this section appears under Hardware and Sound
3. At the top of the page, select "Add a Printer"
4. On the following popup Window, click the link that says "The printer that I want isn't listed"
5. Select "Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname"
6. Select "TCP/IP Device" from the dropdown menu and type in the hostname or IP Address in the text field
   • If you do not select "TCP/IP Device", then Windows may add the printer as a Web Services Device and use a WSD port instead of a TCP/IP port, which will almost always cause problems in the future for UI printers
   • If you have a specific driver you would like to use, then uncheck the "Query the printer and automatically select the driver to use" box
7. If you are asked for a driver, then either find it in the list, press "Have Disk" if you have a specific driver file to install, or "Windows Update" if you want Windows to try to find the best match for a driver
   • Most general black and white printers will be fine with a generic driver, but getting a driver that matches a make and model of a printer will ensure that any advanced features provided by that printer work (such as color printing, two-sided printing, and print codes)
8. Once you click next on the previous field, Windows may ask for administrative privileges to install the printer
9. When installed, Windows will want you to provide a friendly name for the printer that is local only to that computer
10. If the dialog box asks if you want to share the printer, select the "Do not share" radio button
11. Once you reach the end, it is good practice to press the "Print a Test Page" button to ensure the printer works correctly

If you run into any problem along the way, your TSP should be able to help!

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Installing a Printer from a Driver File:

Some printers allow you to set up the printer completely through a printer setup wizard. If you go this route, then you will often need to find the part of the wizard that you input information about the driver to get it to install correctly. Most of these wizards will ask whether the printer is directly connected, over the internet, or have you specify custom port. On modern HP installers, it will give you the option to install by IP address or Hostname; whereas some Lexmark or Canon installers may ask you to "Specify a Port" instead, which will send you to a window that appears in the above tutorials.

If you downloaded what you thought was an installer but it just turns out to be a self-extractor, then you will have to go through one of the tutorials listed above and select "Have Disk" at the driver selection step. Typically if this happens, then the folder will be located under C:\users\[your username]\downloads, or C:\temp.

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