Windows XP in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

Printers and Faxes

Synopsis

Manage local and network printers.

To Open

Start → Settings → Printers and Faxes (Classic Start menu only)

Control Panel → [Printers and Other Hardware] → Printers and Faxes

Command Prompt → control printers

Description

The Printers and Faxes folder contains icons representing your installed printers and fax devices. Once a printer is installed here, you can print to it from within your applications, drag documents to the its icon to print them, or double-click on the printer icon to see or change the status of current print jobs (see Figure 4-77).

Figure 4-77. Use the Printers and Faxes folder to add, configure, and troubleshoot your printers

The Add Printer wizard helps you select the appropriate printer driver for a local or network printer. The context menu for each printer, among other things, allows you to select that printer as the default printer—the one that appears, by default, in all your applications’ print dialogs.

File → Print is the standard way to print for most applications. Right-clicking on a file then selecting Print from its context menu allows you to send a file to the printer without opening it first, although this can have mixed results. You can also create a shortcut to a printer on the Desktop and then drag-and-drop a file on the printer icon.

Warning

If you drag more than one file to a printer icon, the system will open a separate ...