Add a Printer via a Standard TCP/IP Port (Windows XP)

IT supports the use of HP Printers on EN machines. For a complete list of How To's for these printers, go to this Printers page.

This How To is written for computers with Windows XP Professional only.

Points to Consider

1. The network printer or device will need a static IP address to be seen on your network by the computer. To verify the HP Printer's IP Address, see print the Printer's Configuration page . Look for the LAN HW ADDRESS or IP ADDRESS value. This number is the printer's TCP/IP address.
2. You will need to obtain the printer driver for the device. This may be on a CD. You should also be able to download the driver from the manufacturer's website.

Verify that you can PING the device

1. Click Start and choose Run.
2. In the Open: box, remove any existing text. Then enter CMD. Click OK.
3. At the following prompt, type PING press the spacebar , enter the IP Address , and then press ENTER. Here are two examples

   PING 192.168.1.15
   PING 128.118.82.15

4. If the PING was successful, you will see a message like this:

   Pinging 128.118.82.15 with 32 bytes of data:
   
   Reply from 128.118.82.15: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=59 
   Reply from 128.118.82.15: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=59 
   Reply from 128.118.82.15: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=59 
   Reply from 128.118.82.15: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=59
   
   Ping statistics for 128.118.82.15: 
       Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), 
   Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: 
       Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms

5. If the PING was NOT successful, you will see a message like this:

   Pinging 128.118.82.15 with 32 bytes of data: 
   
   Request timed out. 
   Request timed out. 
   Request timed out. 
   Request timed out.
   
   Pinging 128.118.82.15 
        Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

6. If you can PING the device, you can proceed with the next section. If not, please refer to the documentation and assign a Static IP address to the device. Then attempt to PING it again.

Configure Windows XP to print via a TCP/IP port

1. Click Start and select Printers and Faxes.
2. Under Printer Tasks, click Add a Printer. Click Next.
3. Select the Local Printer attached to this computer radio button.
4. Uncheck the Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer check box.
5. Click Next.
6. Select the Create New Port radio button.
7. From the Type of port: drop down list choose Standard TCP/IP Port. Click Next.Click Next.
   Note: You will now be prompted for 2 items: the Printer Name or IP Address and the Port Name. The 1st item is the Static IP address that has been assigned to the device. The 2nd item may be edited by you or left alone.
8. In the Printer Name or IP Address box, enter the IP Address of the device.
9. In the Port Name box, you may leave the default or edit. Ex: Port names can't have spaces. They should be short but descriptive.
10. Click Next. Click Finish.
11. If Step 10 completed successfully, you are now ready to install the driver.
12. Choose your driver. Click Next.
    Note: If you are prompted to replace or keep existing driver, click on Keep Existing Driver. Click Next.
13. Edit the Printer Name if needed.
14. If you want this to be the default printer, click Yes. If not, click No. Then click Next.
15. Select the Do not share this printer radio button. Click Next.
16. Leave the Print a test page (recommended) button checked. Click Finish.
17. When asked if the Test Page printed correctly, click Yes. At this point, you should have the device listed in the Printers and Faxes folder. You can attempt to use it as a printer.
    

You can Right Click on the Device Name and choose Properties. Look through the settings to see if it is configured correctly. Look for an Device Settings or Configure tab. You may need to install an extra tray. Then Enable it. You may also want to look at the Advanced tab for other Printing Defaults.

It is possible to create more than one "printer" that will print to the same device. You would do this in order to use a different DRIVER (see step 8 above). Separate drivers allow you to different options. Example: the PS or Postscript driver will allow you to 'scale' the print job (print at 150%) whereas a PCL6 driver won't allow this option.

You can also update the Print Driver for an already installed printer. You need to have access to the other driver when you reach step 4.

1. In the Printers and Faxes folder, Right Click the desired Printer and choose Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click New Driver. Click Next.
4. If you can, select a new driver from the built-in list and click Next... OR... click Have Disk. Locate the folder with the new driver and pick the.INF file in that folder and click Next.
5. Click Finish.
6. Click Apply. Click OK.