After you create a document or picture, or open a web page or an e-mail, you can use Windows printing options to create a hard copy. You can print files from a folder window or within a program. The Add a Printer Wizard makes it easy to install a printer directly attached to your computer or connected to a network. After you send a print job to the printer, you can check the status, pause and resume the print job, or cancel it. If a printer is not working the way you want, you can change printer properties, such as a printer’s computer connection or network location, sharing options, related software drivers, color management options, graphics settings, installed fonts, and other advanced settings. To customize your print jobs, you can also change printer preferences, such as orientation, page order, pages per sheet, paper size, paper tray selection, copy count, print quality, and color.

Windows also provides you with complete fax facilities from your computer. After the fax is set up, you can configure fax settings, send and receive faxes, track and monitor fax activity, and view faxes. Using Windows Fax and Scan, you can send and receive faxes, fax or e-mail scanned documents, and forward faxes as e-mail attachments from your computer. You can also change the send and receive properties for the fax to work with your phone line.

Although there are many different kinds of printers, there are two main categories: ink-jet and laser. An ink-jet printer works by spraying ionized ink on a sheet of paper. Ink-jet printers are less expensive and considerably slower than laser printers, but they still produce a good quality output. A laser printer utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a drum, which is rolled through a reservoir of toner and transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure. Laser printers are faster and produce a higher quality output than ink-jets, but they are also more expensive. Ink-jet and laser printers are combined with other hardware devices, such as a copier and scanner, into a multi-function device. A multi-function device provides common device functionality at a lower cost than purchasing each device separately. Printers are classified by two main characteristics: resolution and speed. Printer resolution refers to the sharpness and clarity of a printed page. For printers, the resolution indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). For example, a 300-dpi printer is one that is capable of printing 300 distinct dots in a line one-inch long, or 90,000 dots per square inch. The higher the dpi, the sharper the print quality. Printer speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). The speed of printers varies widely. In general, ink-jet printers range from about 4 to 10 ppm, while laser printers range from about 10 to 30 ppm. The speed depends on the amount of printer memory (the more the better) and the page’s contents: if there is just text or the page has only one color, the ppm is in the high range, but when a page contains graphics and/or has multiple colors, the ppm rate falls to the low range.

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After you install a printer, the printer appears in the Printers and Faxes window and in a program’s Print dialog box, where you can view and change printer properties and personal preferences. Every installed printer on your computer is represented by an icon in the Printers and Faxes window. When you select a printer icon, status information for that printer appears in the Details section of the task pane, such as number of documents to be printed, and whether the printer is ready to print. A printer icon appears in the window without a cable indicates a local printer, while a printer icon with a cable indicates a network printer. A local printer is a printer connected directly to your computer, and a network printer is one connected to a network to which you have access. A printer icon that appears with a hand indicates that other network users share the printer directly connected to your computer, known as a shared printer.

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To install a printer, you do not need to shut down your computer. Simply attach the printer cable to the appropriate connector on your computer, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and plug in the power cord. If you connect your printer to your computer through a USB port, Windows detects the new hardware device and installs the printer, and you are ready to print. Otherwise, you can use the Add Printer Wizard in conjunction with the Found New Hardware Wizard to detect and install the printer. The Add Printer Wizard asks you a series of questions to help you install either a local or network printer, establish a connection, and print a test page.

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If your computer is connected to more than one printer, you can choose the default printer you want Windows to use to print your files unless you specify another one. The default printer is typically the printer that you use most often. When you start a print job without specifying a particular printer, the job is sent to the default printer. You can select a default printer in the Printers and Faxes window or when you set up a new printer. The default printer displays a black dot with a check mark in the printer icon.

If you have trouble identifying a printer, or if you just want to change the name, you can rename it. You rename the same way you rename a file or folder. When you rename a printer, the new name appears in the Print dialog box for all your programs. If you no longer use a printer, you can delete it. When you delete the default printer, Windows displays a warning and changes the default printer to another available printer.

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If you have a printer connected to your computer and your computer is connected to a network, you can share your printer with other network users. Before you can share a printer, you need to turn on printer sharing in the Network and Sharing Center window, which you can accomplish by using the Sharing tab in the Printer Properties dialog box. After you share a printer, the printer icon appears with two heads in the Printers window. For security purposes, if Windows Firewall is enabled (the default setting) on the computer with the shared computer, then you need to select the File and Printer Sharing check box on the Exceptions tab in Windows Firewall for others to use the shared printer.

If you have a group of documents that you want to print, you can print them all directly from a folder window without having to open each one in its program. The program needs to be installed on your computer to complete the job.

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After you send a print job to the printer from the Print dialog box in a program, or drag files to the Printer icon in the Printers and Faxes window, you can check the status. To check the status of a printer or manage multiple print jobs, you can double-click the appropriate printer icon in the Printers and Faxes window or on the taskbar in the notification area. A window opens showing the print queue, which is the list of files to be printed. You can use this window to cancel print jobs, temporarily pause print jobs, view printer properties, and so on. If you are having problems with a printer or print job, you can defer, or halt, the printing process to avoid getting error messages. With deferred printing, you can send a job to be printed even if your computer is not connected to a printer. To do this, you pause printing, and the file waits in the print queue until you turn off pause printing.

Viewing printer properties gives you information about a printer’s computer connection or network location, sharing options, related software drivers, color management options, graphics settings, installed fonts, and other advanced settings, such as spooling. Spooling, also known as background printing, is the process of storing a temporary copy of a file on the hard disk and then sending the file to the print device. Spooling allows you to continue working with the file as soon as it is stored on the disk instead of having to wait until the file is finished printing.

In addition to printer properties, you can also view and change personal printer preferences, such as orientation, page order, pages per sheet, paper size, paper tray selection, copy count, and print quality and color. When you change personal printing preferences from the Printers and Faxes folder, the default settings are changed for all documents you print to that printer. When you change personal preferences from the Print or Page Setup dialog boxes within a program, the settings are changed for individual documents. The available printing preferences depend on the printer.

Windows Fax and Scan is a program that allows you to send and receive faxes, fax or e-mail scanned documents, and forward faxes as e-mail attachments from your computer. From Windows Fax and Scan, you can monitor the progress of incoming and outgoing fax activity.

Before you can use Windows Fax and Scan, you need a fax device for sending and receiving faxes. The fax device can be directly attached to your computer, known as a local fax, or located on a network, known as a fax server. Window Fax and Scan makes it easy to setup a fax device with the Fax Setup Wizard. You can only connect to one local fax, however you can connect to multiple fax servers or devices on a network. To start the Fax Setup Wizard and set up a fax, start Windows Fax and Scan, click Fax in the left pane, click the Tools menu, click Fax Accounts, click Add to start the Fax Setup Wizard. In the wizard, click Connect to a fax server on my network, and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Once your fax is installed, you can use Windows Fax and Scan to send and receive faxes, manage incoming and outgoing faxes, and change fax device properties. You can also send faxes from a folder window or the Print dialog box in a program. When you print using a fax printer, Windows Fax and Scan starts and opens the New Fax window, where you can send a fax just like you send an e-mail message.

With the Fax Cover Page Editor, you can create and edit cover pages to use when you send a fax. The Fax Cover Page Editor is a full page editor that makes it easy to insert common fax page items, such as recipient, subject, number of pages, and message, and to format the page to create a professional look. You can also customize a few samples that come with the program.

If your computer has a fax modem installed, you can send and receive faxes through your computer. If you are not sure, you can use the Phone and Modem Options utility in the Control Panel to check if you have one installed. Using Windows Fax and Scan (New!), you can send and receive faxes, fax or e-mail scanned documents, and forward faxes as e-mail attachments from your computer. The Fax Setup Wizard helps you set up the Fax Service using a modem or a fax server. Afterwards, you can enter some personal information for the fax cover page, a phone number, and some option for the way you want to send and receive faxes.

A cover page is typically a one page cover memo sent along with a fax containing the fax sender, a recipient, number of pages, a short message, and the transmission date and time. You can use the Fax Cover Page Editor to create your own cover pages or to customize cover page templates, known as common cover pages, that come with the program. You can copy and modify common cover pages without affecting the original templates. You can also edit existing cover pages and rename or delete personal cover pages as needed.

After you install and configure your fax, you can send a fax using the New Fax window. You can send a cover page fax from the Printer window or from within Windows Fax and Scan, or a document fax from a program. When you send a fax, the New Fax window opens to help you create and send a fax. When you send a document fax, the program in which you open or create the document prints it to the fax device. When you print to a fax device, Windows Fax and Scan starts and opens the New Fax window where you can send the fax.

After you send a fax, its sent to the Outbox folder of the Fax Console. The Outbox is a storage area for all faxes waiting to be sent, or in the process of being sent. From the Outbox, you can pause and resume faxes, restart failed faxes, and remove individual faxes as necessary. If a fax is being sent to multiple recipients, the fax for each recipient appears separately, so you can pause or delete a fax to one of the multiple recipients without affecting the others. When you change the status of a fax in the Outbox, the Status column changes to indicate the new state of the fax. Once a fax is sent successfully, it is moved to the Sent Items folder.

If you have a phone line attached to your computer, you can set up Windows Fax and Scan to receive faxes automatically or manually. If the phone line is a dedicated fax line and set to receive faxes automatically, Windows Fax and Scan automatically stores the fax in your Inbox, just like an e-mail in your e-mail program. If the phone line is used for voice and fax calls, Windows Fax and Scan waits for you to answer the call before it receives the fax.

After you receive a fax, you can use Fax Console to view, print, save, or e-mail the fax. Windows Fax and Scan informs you when a fax arrived, who sent it, how many pages were received, and the status of the job.

You can change the send and receive properties for a fax device to effectively work with your phone line. You can change the number of times the the fax device tries to resend a fax. You can also change where to store a fax when you receive it. If you need to specify the use of a Transmitting Station Identifier (TSID), which is an identification sent along with a fax to identify the source, and a Called Subscriber Identifier (CSID), which is an identification sent back to the sending fax device to confirm the identity of the source, you can specify those settings as well.

As you send and receive faxes, you can have fax track and notify you when events take place. For example, you can show a progress indicator when faxes are incoming or outgoing and display notifications when faxes arrive. You can also set fax options to automatically open the Fax Monitor when a fax is being sent or received and archive faxes for backup purposes.