HOW TO: Connect to a Printer by Using a Web Browser in Windows XP

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Article ID: 307847 - View products that this article applies to.

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SUMMARY

This article describes how to connect to a printer using a Web browser.

How Internet Printing Works

With the Internet printing feature of Microsoft Windows XP, you can use your Web browser to connect to shared printers on a print server that is running Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). Printing is implemented by way of the Internet Print Protocol (IPP), which is encapsulated in the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). By typing the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a remote printer in the Address bar of your browser, you can connect to, and print from the printer in the same way as if it were attached to your own computer.

You can view a Web page on which all printers on a print server are listed, or a page that is specific to the printer to which you want to connect. From the Web page of a specific printer, you can view information about the printer, such as printer model, location, the number of documents waiting to print, as well as properties, such as print speed and whether the printer supports color printing. You can pause, resume, and cancel the printing of any document that you send to the printer. In addition, if you have Manage Printers permission for the printer, you can also pause or resume operation of the printer.

Connect to a Printer Using a Web Browser

To connect to a printer using a Web browser:

Start Microsoft Internet Explorer.
In the Address bar, do one of the following:
- If you do not know the name of the printer to which you want to connect, type the following, where PrintServer is the name of the print server:
  http://PrintServer/printers/
  For example, to view a list of all printers that are located on a print server named MyPrintServer, type the following:
  http://MyPrintServer/printers/
  A list of all printers on the print server is displayed in your browser window. In the list of available printers, click the name of the printer that you want.
  
  -OR-
- If you know the name of the printer to which you want to connect, type the URL of the printer by using the following format, where PrintServer is the name of the print server and Printer is the name the printer:
  http://PrintServer/Printer/
  For example, if you want to go directly the page of a printer that is named Laser that is shared from a server called MyPrintServer, type the following:
  http://MyPrintServer/Laser/
In the browser window, a Web page opens in which the printer properties are displayed. Click the links to view more information about your printer, or perform a printer or document action.
To connect to the printer, click Connect under Printer Actions.

You are connected to the printer, and Windows installs the appropriate printer driver for your computer.

After the installation is complete, the icon for this printer is added to the Printers and Faxes folder on your computer. You can then use, monitor, and administer the printer as if it were attached to your computer.

Note: To connect to an Internet printer, you can also type the URL of the printer in any window or folder with an Address bar, such as Windows Explorer, My Computer, or the Printers and Faxes folder.

View the Printers Installed on Your Computer

To view the printers installed on your computer, click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes. The printers installed on your computer are displayed in the Printers and Faxes folder.

Set a Default Printer

To specify a default printer:

Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
Right-click the printer that you want to use as the default printer, and then click Set as Default Printer.

A check mark is displayed next to the printer icon.

Troubleshooting

When you attempt to connect to a printer, you receive the following message in your browser:

This page cannot be found

This may occur if the URL of the printer is incorrect.

To resolve this issue, verify that you have the correct URL for the printer to which you want to connect, and that it is typed correctly in the Address bar of your Web browser.