Using Printer Drivers

A printer driver is a small software program that translates the information sent from your computer into commands the printer understands. Once the printer receives the translated data from the driver, a file can be printed. Your computer’s operating system is free to do other tasks  while the printer driver processes print jobs in the background.

In general, there are three types of printer driver files. First, a configuration, or printer interface file (.dll file) that displays the Properties and Preferences dialog boxes each time you configure a printer. Second, a data file that provides information about specific printer capabilities, such as resolution or paper print size (.dll, .pcd, .gpd, or .ppd extension). And finally, a printer graphics driver file (.dll) that translates device driver interface commands into a language that the printer can understand. You can get more information about the three types of printer driver files by accessing Help from within the print queue.

Problems can occur if computers with different operating systems share a network printer. For example, suppose you have a network on which one computer is running Windows XP while three other computers are running Windows 98. In this case, installing additional printer drivers to support each of these operating systems can prevent these users from being prompted to install new printer drivers each time they want to print.

Keep in mind that you must be logged on as an administrator to install printer drivers.

To add printer drivers for other versions of Windows

1.	Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar, and click Control Panel.

2.	Click Printers and Other Hardware, and click Printers and Faxes.

3.	Right-click a printer that needs to have additional drivers installed, and click Properties on the shortcut menu.

4.	Click the Sharing tab, and click Additional Drivers.

5.	In the Additional Drivers dialog box, select all check boxes that apply to a specified operating system, and click OK.

To install new or updated printer drivers

1.    Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar, and click Control Panel.

2.	Click Printers and Other Hardware, and click Printers and Faxes.

3.	Right-click the printer for which you want to change drivers, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.

4.	On the Advanced tab, click New Driver to open the Add Printer Driver Wizard.

5.	Follow the remaining steps in the wizard.