Printer Drivers - How To Install Them

Printer drivers are programs developed to translate the language of an application to a language the printer can understand. You must have a driver installed to print. Printer drivers are easy to find and install and are your secret weapon against diminishing print quality over the life of your printer. For instance, PPrinter Driver Type 103 PCL printers ensure a provision of innovative and practical solutions for network printing. Printer drivers are typically implemented in code and are available from various vendors such as, for example, Hewlett-Packard.

Printer drivers differ depending on what operating system and printer you're using. You need to be sure you download and install the correct printer driver to get your machine up and running. If you have recently bought yourself a new printer, follow the directions in the manual for setting up cables. Put the installation CD into the CD drive and follow the set up instructions.

If you are using Windows 95/98, select Start Menu, then select Printers. Now select Add Printer, select Local Printer. Choose your printer (If your printer is not listed, choose the one closest to yours and select OK).

For the Mac, select go to server, (or chooser) and then select printer. Then choose your printer. (If your printer is not listed, then select the closest one.) Then select install.
If you are using Windows XP, then the PC will prompt you for the drivers and install the relevant one from the CD itself (if the appropriate driver is not in the database already).

If you have any problems printing, first check your cable connections. If you get repeated error messages, then reboot your computer and redo the steps above.
If you would like to upgrade the driver of your currently installed printed, then follow the steps given in the next sub-topic.

Installing Printer Drivers
A printer driver is a piece of software that allows the computer to communicate with the printer. Without this software, the printer would be hopelessly lost since it does not speak the same language! Printer manufacturers often update the drivers and these they can be easily downloaded form the company's website for free. It is a good idea to keep a check on your printer driver version and upgrade if it is too far out of date.
Here is how you can check your print driver version number:
Windows XP

1. Click the Windows Start button, choose Control Panel, and then choose ‘Printers and Faxes.'
2. Right-click your default printer and choose Properties. (Your default printer will have a checkmark within a black circle above the printer icon.)
3. Click the General tab, click the ‘Print Test Page' button, and then click OK to print the test page.
Windows 95/98

1. Click the Windows Start button, choose Settings, and then Printers.
2. Right-click your default printer and choose Properties. (Your default printer will have a checkmark within a black circle above the printer icon.)
3. Click the General tab, click the ‘Print Test Page' button, and then click OK to print the test page.

Look on the test page for Driver Version.
All major printer manufactures have web sites that allow you to freely download their printer drivers. To do so, you will need your printer's manufacturer and model number. When you go to the web site, look for words such as ‘Downloads', ‘Drivers', ‘Software', or ‘Support' and shortlist your model.
Given below are the website URLs for the popular brands:

1. Hewlett Packard — http://welcome.hp.com/country/uk/en/support.html?pageDisplay=drivers

2. Canon — http://software.canon-europe.com/

3. Epson — http://emeasupport.epson-europe.com/downloads.aspx?LNG=en-EU

4. Lexmark — http://support.lexmark.com/cgi-perl/selections.cgi?ccs=227:5:0:0:0:0&target=http://downloads.lexmark.com/cgi-perl/downloads.cgi&&req=:::::

5. Xerox — http://www.support.xerox.com/go/prodselect.asp?Xlang=en_GB&metrics=HDR

6. Brother — http://www.brother.com/E-ftp/info/index_eu.html

Talking networking, printers designed for use in a network environment offer greater functionality than the simple desktop printer. In addition to offering more printing and post-print options (collation, binding, etc.), network printers frequently come withbuilt-in processors, hard drives for data storage, a web server for communicating on a network and sophisticated management software. Printer drivers may contain viruses or scripts that can be harmful to your computer. It is important to be certain that the computer sharing this printer is trustworthy.