If you are a user on a client-server network and would like to print to a network printer there are a few ways to connect to the printer. The most commonly used method involves using the Add Printer wizard. However, in certain cases this method does not always work. Fortunately, there is another method than can be used to connect to a network printer that is being shared by a server.
Note: In order for this method to work you will need to know the name of the server that hosts the network printers.
1. Open a "Run" prompt either by clicking on the Start Menu and choosing "Run" or hitting Ctrl + R on the keyboard.
2. Type "\\servername" without the quotations. Be sure to replace "servername" with the actual name of the print server.
3. Press "Enter". If the server is available and the current user profile has the proper permissions, Windows Explorer should come up displaying all of the shared folders on the server that can be accessed by the current user profile.
4. Locate the folder labeled "Printers" and double click to open it. This folder should display all the printers that are currently being shared by the server.
5. From here you will be able connect to the printer you want by either double clicking on it or right clicking and choosing connect.
Note: The drivers for the printer (for any operating system that the printer is being installed on) must be already installed on the server for this method to work without having to download the drivers manually.
Article ID: 64, Created On: 11/12/2010, Modified: 11/12/2010