Use a Network Printer without Installing the Driver

When I started working with my current company we had a HP CN2025n printer on the network. Everytime I tried to install the printer I would, of course, search for the printer but it would never show up in the list nor manually add it. In order to manually add it, I had to first get the driver on the pc I was installing it on. Later, when I was tasked to setup our own network I simply dedicated an old windows XP machine to serving the printer even though the printer plugs into the network and obviously has an onboard print server. In the winXP machine I just set the printer to be shared and allow users to print to it. IMO, this worked better cause the XP machine shows up during the search for network printers and then when selected it installs everything needed to print, I'm assuming the driver.

Now, We're opening a new office and only 1-2 people will be there at any given time. They also all use their own laptops which I'm not going to have access to, but I want them to be able to print once they get on the router and get the internet. There's no other authentication on the network as it's just a router because all we need is for these people to have internet access and the ability to print to a small office printer. Do I have to setup an old winXP machine at this office or is there an easier way?

I noticed HP has a printer that has print by email... The HP comes with its own email address like 1z423hp423@hp_eprint.net (something like that). Any attachments sent to that email address are printed. If an email is sent without an attachment the body is printed. Does anyone have any experience with this and can it be used for a small office environment?

Good question, can it be done remotely as well? I'd. Like to know.


- Todd Charske

We setup the HP last week. The email is not perfect as it is more of a pain to attach the document to an email than I thought. You know, as opposed to just going to FILE -> PRINT. The print by email does work nicely.

I assume you mean access the hp eprint email remotely. If you're talking about the WinXP print machine then it would need remote access or you would have to VPN into the network and then you could print to any printer in the office from your remote location.
The printer/email function does have several security settings to prevent unwanted usage. However, any attachment sent to your printer's email address will be printed.

why don't you just give limited access to your workers and access to the network then it will make your life very easy.

if more computers then ports connect to a hub/switch but your going to save a lot of time with a proper network

My problem isn't an access/permission restriction. The network is entirely open and there's no DC. Furthermore, I doubt any of the users even have a winPro edition on their PC. They will be using their personal PC, ie not furnished by the company. I'm sure like most windows users they are logged on as administrator so they would have not problem installing a printer, but I doubt they know how. I was wanting a slipstreamed method for loading the print drivers onto their machine or bypassing it altogether.

I'm a days drive from this office. Ultimately, I left the print software/drivers in a drawer for them but I was just wanting to make it transparent.

o.k well really how can each computer detect what to print when it does not understand what it is looking for.

So how about you download the driver and have it on a shared folder on the network. I hope that your using a office printer that you can connect directly to the network and you will need to set up via network.

But wait that is ????? read the manual on how to set it up or hire a system administrator to do it for ya. Really you should have your own computers linked up in the office all talking to each other.

My suggestion is that you hire someone to take care of the network.

Yes, I believe we are going to have to budget a small computer company at that location that will be able to handle support.

They may also just allow me to remote into their PC and install the printers whenever the office people need it. This is good cause really once it's installed I'm done. I could only setup a few of the people that would be using that office when I was there last and I was really just wondering if there was maybe some neat, simple way to fix ID10T erros with installing a printer and make it easy for people who have 0 computer experience to hook their own PCs to an office printer.