Among the most useful peripherals in the office and at home we certainly find the printer, with which we can print documents, graphics but also photographs (in the case of color printers). When using Windows, installing a printer should be simple and straightforward, to the point that it should automatically install immediately after the cable is connected.
If this does not happen, just follow the guide that we have made below to be able to add a printer on Windows and solve any driver problems .
At the end of the reading we will be able to operate the printer correctly with any program, without having to configure it in the future (the settings will be kept by the Windows operating system).
Article Index
- Add a new printer on Windows
- How to update the driver manually
- Remove a problematic printer on Windows
- Sites where to download specific drivers
- Programs to update the drivers
Add a new printer on Windows
Installing a new printer is very simple on Windows 10 operating system, since the suitable driver is automatically downloaded when adding.
First, we then connect the printer to the computer via USB cable, turn on the printer, open the Start menu and look for the Printers and Scanners menu.
In the window that appears, click on Add a printer and a scanner, wait a few seconds and, as soon as the name of the printer is available, click on it and then on Add device .
The system will immediately search for a compatible driver, also via the Internet; at the end of the process (which may take a few minutes), the printer will be available among those listed in the window, ready to be used.
To test it we can click on it, open the Manage menu and finally select the Print test page item.
If we have Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 as the operating system, we can add the printer through the Control Panel.
This procedure is also valid for Windows 10, but it is less precise regarding the search for drivers (on Windows 10 better follow the procedure above).
We open the Control Panel looking for it from the Start menu at the bottom left, click on Add a device, present under the Hardware and Sound section.
The search for new devices will start immediately: if the printer is connected via USB, it should appear among the devices that we can add to the system, by clicking Next on all the screens that will appear.
If the printer is connected via Wi-Fi to the modem (so we have a network printer in our hands), the steps to follow are the same as we have seen for a printer connected via USB; in some cases it may be necessary to use the printer management program in order to correctly configure the wireless connection, especially if the printer is not yet connected to the network. The programs and their drivers can be downloaded in the dedicated chapter, found later in the guide.
READ ALSO: How to configure a network printer shared between PCs
How to update the driver manually
If we want to update the driver of a printer already present in the system, we right-click on the Start menu at the bottom left and select the Device Manager item. In the list of all computer devices, scroll down to find the Printers section, right click on the name of the printer then use the Update driver button.
The system will start looking for an updated printer driver, also searching the Internet if necessary.
If the update does not solve the problems we have with the printer, we will have to follow the more "rough" procedure available in the next chapter.
Remove a problematic printer on Windows
If the printer does not want to know it works, to solve the problem we will have to uninstall it completely and deprive it of the driver used so far (cause of almost all problems with modern printers). As already indicated in the previous chapter, we right-click on the Start menu at the bottom left and select Device Manager .
In the list of all devices, go back to the Printers section, right-click on the name of the printer and this time we use the Uninstall device button. In the small window that will appear we add the check mark next to the item Delete the driver software for the device, then click on Uninstall .
The printer will be removed from the system and the driver used so far. Immediately after the removal we can try to reinstall the printer as seen in the previous chapters: we can use both the Control Panel and the new Windows 10 Settings menu, so we can get a working driver.
READ ALSO: Solutions to the most frequent printer problems on Windows
Sites where to download specific drivers
If we want to use a specific driver and the programs associated with the printer, we will have to download everything necessary from the manufacturers' websites. Below is the list of sites to be used:
- Hewlett Packard (HP)
- Canon
- Epson
- Lexmark
- Brother
- Xerox
- Samsung
On all sites, simply enter the model of the printer in use or choose the model from a drop-down menu, so you can download both the specific driver for the printer and the operating system in use and the support software, which can provide additional features.
Programs to update the drivers
If the printer is too old and we cannot find the drivers necessary to make it work in any way, we can rely on some programs designed to automatically find the right driver for peripherals not recognized by the system.
The best free programs to update the drivers are:
- Driver Booster Free
- DriversCloud
- Driver Easy
- Snappy Driver Installer
- Slimware Driver Update
READ ALSO: If the printer does not print (HP, Epson and others), what to do
