Modern man is not limited to the acquisition of only computer equipment. Quite often, PC owners acquire additional peripherals that greatly enhance the capabilities of users. In particular, a printer that allows you to quickly print the necessary documents, photographs and other materials is in active demand.
Whenever possible, users try to use a wireless connection.
However, in order for this magic machine to be ready for operation, the user must know how to connect the printer to the laptop, and what changes to the settings should be made.
Technical connection
Experienced users will confidently confirm that the printer can be connected to a laptop in several ways, among which connection via the USB interface cable is considered to be common, and it is also possible to connect and operate the device wirelessly via Wi-Fi. The user himself is guided by the connection option, the most acceptable for him and accompanied by lower costs.
USB connection
If the owner of the laptop wants to learn how to connect the printer to the laptop, then you can use the instructions, which always come bundled with the new technology. It is not only possible to read, but also to see the connection diagrams, thanks to which the whole process will become absolutely clear.
Most often, manufacturers supply drivers with a new technique that can be read and installed from the supplied disk. Initially, the user must insert this disk into the drive of the laptop.
In most cases, driver discs are equipped with auto start, so the process will start automatically. If the automatic launch did not occur, then you should review the contents of the disk, find the setup file there and start the installation of the drivers manually.
During the installation of the drivers from the disk, the program will ask the user to connect a printing device, of course, you must comply with such requirements, especially since there is nothing difficult about it. The connection is made via a USB cable that plugs into any USB connector. Also at this moment it is important not to forget to plug in the power supply, providing a device for printing with power supply, and to load the paper, because at the end you will need to print a test page.
If the installation of the driver from the disk is completed successfully, then a reassuring phrase will appear on the laptop screen, after which you can immediately proceed to printing documents.
Wireless connection
Many advanced users want to learn how to connect the printer to a laptop via Wi-Fi, providing a comfortable wireless connection.
The possibility of such a connection exists, but, unfortunately, not for every technical means, so it is very important that its parameters meet the requirements. There are three options for wireless connection via Wi-Fi:
- performing all actions in manual mode;
- based on driver installation;
- thanks to the WPS function.
If the print device is equipped with the HP Smart Install feature, then initially connect it via USB, then run the above function. The installation process starts automatically, at some stage a connection option will be requested. At this point, the user must specify a connection via Wi-Fi.
The installation wizard will independently make the appropriate changes to the settings, providing a wireless connection, after which the USB cable of the printing device is disconnected from the laptop.
Can I connect my printer to my laptop using the HP Smart Install feature? This can be found by reading from the documentation with the technical capabilities.
In the case when the printer and router support WPS, there is another amazing opportunity to understand how to connect the printer to a laptop without a disk.
Both the printing technology and the router should activate the WPS function. Such actions can be done by going to the printer and router menus. In many cases, there is a special button on the hardware that, after pressing for some time, you can simply activate WPS. You can get information about the availability, location of this button and the duration of the hold by studying the instructions of the purchased equipment.
It is also possible to connect the printer via Wi-Fi by making some settings manually. To do this, in the settings start the installation of a wireless connection, then search for all available networks. Having found your own network, you should connect to it by entering the set password.
The printer has a Wi-Fi icon, it is he who will announce the correctness of all the prescribed actions, because if the connection is successful, the Wi-Fi indicator will light up. In this case, you will have to start the full installation of the driver from the disk, and upon completion print the test page.
Print setting
Very often there are problems with printing, even after successfully connecting the printer. This indicates that the printer settings are accompanied by errors, so the user must know how to set up printing correctly.
Running a print document
You can start printing in several ways. The first one allows you not even to open the program interface, it is enough to simultaneously click on the two buttons Ctrl + P. However, in this case it should be borne in mind that printing will start, but only the complete document and strictly in one copy. This is not very convenient, because there are cases when it is necessary to print only individual pages or to release several copies simultaneously.
In this regard, experienced users recommend making separate settings through the interface of the program used. The owner of the laptop should click on the line "Print", after which a dialog box opens, where several options will be offered, among which you must select those that the user needs.
Here you can set multiple copies at once, print out only the specified pages, run two-sided printing, as well as several pages on one sheet.
Before the final image is printed, you can use the preview function. This will avoid unnecessary waste of toner or ink if the image needs additional adjustment. Also in the settings you can set an economical printing mode, while consuming less toner or ink.
So, the installation of the printing device can be carried out by any user, even without skills in this matter. It is important to consistently follow the recommendations for installing the driver from disk so that the process of connecting the printer to the laptop is successful.