Installing Network Printer to Windows Server 2012 Essentials

Section 1 – Prerequisites
  • Go to your vendor’s web site and download the appropriate x86 and x64 print drivers. For my needs, I downloaded the drivers for Windows 7 (32bit) and Windows 2012 (64 bit).
  • Next, extract the driver files to subfolders. In my case, the HP files I downloaded are self-extracting files. But be sure you uncheck the option to run the install immediately after extracting the files.
  • Finally, before proceeding, make sure you know the IP address of your network printer.
Section 2 – Add the Network Printer
  • Go to Control Panel –> View Devices and Printers (under Hardware)
  • Click on Add a Printer. It will scan for new printers, and we should expect that it will not find any. 
  • Click on The printer that I want isn’t listed link.
  • On the next screen, click on the Add a local or network printer as an administrator link.
  • The scan will run again, and (again) we will click on The printer that I want isn’t listed link.
  • Select the Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname option, then click Next.    
  • On the next screen, enter the printer’s IP address in the Hostname or IP address field, and click Next.
  • Wait while Windows looks for the printer. If the printer has a built in network adapter, you should see an appropriate Printer Class Driver selected.
  • However, in my case, the Laserjet 4100 is connected to the network via a D-Link print server adapter. Windows lists it as a generic network port and ask that I confirm that I had entered the correct IP address. Let’s click Next and it will rescan that IP address again.
  • This time it will ask me to identify the type of printer. I scroll through and locate the HP Laserjet 4100 Class Driver
  • Be sure to select Do not share this printer for now and click Next. We can share the printer later on.
  • Press Finish.
Section 3 – Install the required Print Drivers
  • Open up the Devices and Printers window, select your printer, and then click on Print server properties
  • Click on the Drivers tab, and then click on Change Driver Settings. The window will refresh.
  • Install the x64 (64 bit) print driver
  • Select the Printer we are installing, and then click Add.
  • This will start the Add Printer Driver Wizard. Click Next.
  • Select the x64 box (leaving the x86 box unchecked) and click Next
  • Click Have Disk… and then click Browse… and locate the x64 print driver folder. For this HP printer, there was a list of .inf files available I followed Robert’s suggestion, and selected the first one in the list (immediately below the Drivers folder)
  • I then select the HP Universal Printing PCL 6 driver, click Next and then Finish.
  • But wait, we still have to install the 32 bit driver in a similar fashion! 
  • Install the x85 (32-bit) print driver 
  • So repeat steps 3-7, but check the x86 box and install the x86 driver.
Section 4 – Change the Selected Print Drivers
  • Return back to the Devices and Printers window
  • Double click on your printer, and then double click on Customize your printer
  • Click on the Advanced tab, and change the print driver to the one we just installed.
  • If you wish, you can also click on the Sharing tab, and make the printer available.

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