Adding a Home Printer to Your Laptop
25.April.2010 19:26 Filed in: Tech Tips
When
home, the process to add a printer is very simple. If
your printer uses a USB cable to connect to the
computer, the first thing you want to do, is plug in
your printer to one of the two USB ports on the left
side of your MacBook. If your printer is wireless,
you want to make sure that both the printer and the
computer are on the same wireless network and that
they both can “see” the network with no apparent
problem. (To test this, be sure that an already
existing computer can print to the printer and be
sure that the computer can get on the Internet.)
Then open System Preferences, which is found in the menu underneath the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen on the left side of the Menu Bar.
Next, from among the buttons in System Preferences, choose Print and Fax.
Once this Print & Fax preference pane opens up, you will see the already configured printers for your school. Under that, you will see the + button. It is important to note, that although the lock is shut, you do not need to unlock it, nor use the computer’s administrator password to add these printers.
At this point, your printer should be recognized and pop up in a new window. Click on the printer you would like to add. Then, click on the Add button.
Now, you will see the computer “thinking” and determining if/what options should be installed. Many printer drivers come packaged with Snow Leopard (this Mac Operating System on your computer at the time we distributed the machines, which is also known as 10.6), so it is often unnecessary to add drivers. This is the step in which the Operating System is installing the options necessary for your printer to function with the computer and the applications installed on your computer.
Once this process is complete, you will notice that your printer has been added to the list of printers for the computer.
Now, you can go ahead and use this printer just like any of the school printers that appear on the list. Just remember, you must select the correct printer to which you want to print before printing!
Then open System Preferences, which is found in the menu underneath the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen on the left side of the Menu Bar.
Next, from among the buttons in System Preferences, choose Print and Fax.
Once this Print & Fax preference pane opens up, you will see the already configured printers for your school. Under that, you will see the + button. It is important to note, that although the lock is shut, you do not need to unlock it, nor use the computer’s administrator password to add these printers.
At this point, your printer should be recognized and pop up in a new window. Click on the printer you would like to add. Then, click on the Add button.
Now, you will see the computer “thinking” and determining if/what options should be installed. Many printer drivers come packaged with Snow Leopard (this Mac Operating System on your computer at the time we distributed the machines, which is also known as 10.6), so it is often unnecessary to add drivers. This is the step in which the Operating System is installing the options necessary for your printer to function with the computer and the applications installed on your computer.
Once this process is complete, you will notice that your printer has been added to the list of printers for the computer.
Now, you can go ahead and use this printer just like any of the school printers that appear on the list. Just remember, you must select the correct printer to which you want to print before printing!
