Abstract:
An improved system for installing a printer on a computer or a network of computers. The disclosed system is capable of installing and configuring a printer on a computer and a network to which the computer is connected. The disclosed system allows a user to specify an arbitrary and intuitive alphanumeric name for the printer so that it may be easily identified among many printers when it is used. The disclosed system allows a user to specify a descriptive location of the printer so that it may be easily located among many printers after it prints a print job.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an improved system for installing a printer on a computer or a network of computers.  
           [0002]    Existing systems for installing a printer on a computer or a network of computers require the completion of several steps to properly configure the printer for use. Because each of these steps requires the entry of specific, critical configuration parameters, the person installing the printer must have detailed knowledge of the printer, the computer network, and the printing environment provided by the operating system.  
           [0003]    For example, when installing a printer within a Windows network environment, many existing systems of installing the printer use vendor-provided utilities to configure the printer while Microsoft-provided utilities configure the client computer and/or the server. With respect to printer configuration, many vendor-provided utilities may require that the Printer IP address be specified, along with the Printer Gateway and, if DNS is supported in the network environment, the Printer DNS name.  
           [0004]    With respect to server configuration, Microsoft Windows allows the printer to be configured in one of two configurations. In the first configuration, the printer may be connected for network, or queue-based printing through a server accessible through one or more remote computers, such as a client. Each remote computer sends all print data to the server and receives status information from the server. The remote computer never communicates directly with the device and is unaware of where or how the printer is connected to the server. The server is configured to share the printer and performs all data spooling for the printer. Microsoft provides software in all versions of Windows to configure both the remote computer and the server for network printing. During the configuration process, the remote computer must receive information as to the Windows printer name, the Windows print driver and the print queue location while the printing device must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer netmask, the printer gateway, and the printer DNS name. In addition, the server must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer DNS name, the Windows printer name, the Windows print driver, any alternate OS print drivers and the print queue location.  
           [0005]    In an alternate configuration, the printer may be configured for remote printing—a special class of local printing where the printer is connected through a network. A computer performs its own data spooling and communicates directly with the printer for status and data output. If more than one computer is connected to the printer for remote printing, the printer will prioritize print job requests. The software component used to communicate directly with the device is called a port monitor. Port monitors are specific to the device that they communicate with, and are usually supplied by the device manufacturer. When configuring a printer for remote printing, the computer must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer DNS name, the Windows printer name and the Windows print driver. If the computer acts as a server for one or more other remote computers, the computer must also receive information as to any alternate OS print drivers and the print queue location.  
           [0006]    When installing and configuring a new printer, the person installing the printer may not know or have ready access to the specific configuration parameters necessary to configure the printer, the computer, and the server, if any. If a printer is connected to a server for use by one or more remote computers, an additional problem often occurs because the remote computer identifies the printer by either the printer&#39;s IP address or DNS name, or some other alphanumeric string that has little meaning to the user. Thus, if more than one printer is connected to the server, the user may not be able to easily identify which printer has received and printed the desired print job.  
           [0007]    Some existing systems for printer configuration have attempted to address these problems. One such existing system, for example, configures the printer and the computer from the same installation tool using a novice-friendly wizard that presents simple questions to the person installing the printer using non-technical terms. This installation tool, though, does not support server usage of the client computer. If the client computer is to be used as a server, the person installing the printer must therefore input all needed parameters. In addition, this system still identifies the printer using only a non-intuitive alphanumeric string, making it difficult for a user to identify which computer is receiving a print job.  
           [0008]    What is needed, then, is a printer installation tool that is targeted towards non-technical users, uses non-technical terms, supports configuration of the client computer as a server, and identifies the installed computer by an identifier that allows a user to intuitively identify that particular printer, even where multiple printers are accessible through a network.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is an exemplary display that may initiate any one of the disclosed printer installation tools.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is an exemplary “Installation Termination” display that may appear in response to the selection of the “Install Software” in the splash screen of FIG. 1 where the disclosed installation tool does not detect Winsock 2.0 on a client computer with a Windows 95 operating system.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is an exemplary “Installer Welcome” screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Install Software” in the splash screen of FIG. 1 where the disclosed installation tool either detects Winsock 2.0 on a client computer with a Windows 95 operating system, or detects that the client computer uses an operating system other than Windows 95.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is an exemplary “Exit Setup” screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “No” button in the Screen of FIG. 3.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is an exemplary “Installer Select” screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Yes” button in the screen of FIG. 3.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is an exemplary “Select Installation Directory” screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 5.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is an exemplary “Select Program Folder” screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 6.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 7, and while the printer installation tool searches for printers available to the client computer.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 7, and after the printer installation tool has identified the printers available to the client computer.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 9, and where the user selected the “Let me configure my network setting” option in the screen of FIG. 5.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11A is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Enter” button in the screen of FIG. 10.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 11B is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Enter” button in the screen of FIG. 11A  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 12 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 11A.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 13 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 12 and if the printer installation tool does not recognize the address provided in response to the screen of FIG. 12.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 14 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 12 and if the address provided in response to the screen of FIG. 12 is already in use.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 15 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in either the screen of FIG. 9 where the user selected the “Automatically configure my network settings” button in the screen of FIG. 5, or in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 12 where the printer installation tool recognize the address provided in response to the screen of FIG. 12, and if that address is not used by another device.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 16 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Next” button in the screen of FIG. 15.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 17 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “OK” button in the screen of FIG. 16.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 18 is an exemplary screen that may appear in response to the selection of the “Install” button in the screen of FIG. 17.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 19 is an exemplary “Printer Reset” Screen.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 20 is an exemplary “Last Install” screen that may appear when the printer installation tool has installed the printer selected in the screen of FIG. 9.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIGS. 21A-25 are diagrams illustrating exemplary steps used by a disclosed printer installation tool. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0031]    The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of existing installation tools by providing a novice-friendly printer installation tool that configures both the client computer and the printer, and is capable of configuring a client computer for use as a network server. In addition, the disclosed printer installation tool allows a user to select a unique and intuitive identifier for the printer being installed, which will be then be associated with the installed printer by the disclosed installation tool so that it may be quickly identified by a person using the client computer to request a print job by the installed printer.  
         [0032]    The disclosed installation tool may be an embedded firmware implementation of a network print server and its associated client software. The disclosed installation tool may be initiated through a CD ROM, the web (both internet and intranet), or from Windows DOS mode with no user interface, for example. The disclosed installation tool may allow a user, who may be either a system administrator or a novice, to install the printer in a small or enterprise network for direct (Peer-to-Peer) printing. The disclosed installation tool preferably supports printer installation and client computer and optionally server configuration in the Win 95/98/ME and WIN NT4.0, WIN 2K and Win XP platforms, for example.  
         [0033]    One preferred disclosed printer installation tool is responsible for the installation of the printer drivers and associated software components for the client computer and any applicable server. The installation application discovers all the available print devices accessible to the client computer, either locally or through a shared network and presents a list of those discovered devices to the user, who can select the interested one for installation. In the discovery process the disclosed printer installation tool discovers one or more of the following: the WINS/DNS name, IP address, Location of the printer, Device type/information, MAC address, Installation flag (indicate whether the printer is previously installed in the network or not), Sharp-Net-Mask, Sharp-Net-Gateway, DHCP ON/OFF printer parameters through SLP discovery. The user has the option of configuring printer parameter like the WINS/DNS name of the printer, location of the printer, Installation flag, Sharp-Net-Gateway, Sharp-Net-Mask, DHCP ON/OFF. The user-configured printer parameters are pushed back from the client computer and/or the server through the SNMP protocol operation. Also, the disclosed printer installation tool may add registry entries and store the discovered devices in a disk file.  
         [0034]    The disclosed invention may be quickly understood in reference to a series of user interface (UI) screens, shown in FIGS. 1-21, that guide a user though one embodiment of a disclosed printer installation tool. It should be understood that the UI screens depicted in FIGS. 1-21 are illustrative only, and that other embodiments of the disclosed printer installation tool may present different UI screens to a user. The UI screens depicted in FIGS. 1-21 are preferably 332×218 Dialog Based Units (DBU) or 498×354 pixels screen units size. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated, the UI scope will always be focused on the button that will lead the user though the default path of the dialogs so that the user can install the device with a minimum number of hits of the Enter key.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary splash screen  10  that may appear when a user inserts a CD that contains an executable printer installation tool into a CD-ROM drive. Preferably, the printer installation tool will automatically run upon insertion of the CD-ROM, however, the installation tool should also preferably be executable from a DOS command, or by manually selecting the installation tool through the client computer&#39;s operating system. Alternatively, the splash screen  10  may appear after the installation tool is downloaded from the web and the user executes a “setup.exe” file, or other executable file that initiates the disclosed printer installation tool.  
         [0036]    The splash screen  10  presents a user with the options of either exiting the program, reading documentation associated with the disclosed printer installation tool, or beginning the installation process. The user may exit the program by selecting the “Exit” button  12 , after which the installation tool will terminate operation. The user may choose to view any associated documentation by selecting the “Read Documentation” button  14 . Associated documentation may include a user&#39;s manual, a networking tutorial, and/or an installation tutorial presents the installation procedure to the user and suggests responses to any foreseen problems that may occur during the installation process.  
         [0037]    Some embodiments of the disclosed printer installation tool may require the presence of a Winsock 2.0 file to install a printer on a computer that operates in a Windows 95 environment. If so, upon a user&#39;s selection of the “Install Software” button  16 , the printer installation tool may check whether the operating system on the client computer is Windows 95, and if so, check to see whether Winsock 2.0 is installed in the Windows directory of the client computer. If it is not, the “Installation Termination” screen  19  of FIG. 2 may be displayed and operation of the installation tool terminated after the user clicks the “OK” button or the “exit window” button  20 .  
         [0038]    Furthermore, some embodiments of the printer installation tool may require that the user have administrative rights to install a printer, as is common within Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, for example. If so, the printer installation tool will check to see whether the user has such rights, and if not, display a termination screen (not shown) informing the user of the his or her lack of authority to install the printer.  
         [0039]    If the printer installation tool does not require the presence of Winsock 2.0 to install a printer on a client computer running in a Windows 95 environment, or if Winsock 2.0 is present on a client computer running in a Windows 95 environment, or if the client computer runs on an operating system other than Windows 95, or if either administrative rights are not required or are present, the splash screen  10  will be replaced with the “Installer Welcome” screen  22  shown in FIG. 3 after a user selects the “Install Software” button  10 .  
         [0040]    The installer welcome screen  22  may present the user with a license agreement that may be selectively browsed in a window  24 . The installer welcome prompts the user to either accept the license agreement by selecting the “Yes” button  26  or decline the license agreement by selecting the “No” button  28 . If the license agreement is not accepted, operation of the printer installation tool may either terminate, or the user may be presented with an additional dialog window, shown in FIG. 4 giving the user the option of either terminating operation of the printer installation tool by selecting the “Exit” button  34  or to resume installation by selecting the “Resume” button  36 , after which the user is once again prompted to either accept or decline the license agreement in the Installer Welcome” screen  22 .  
         [0041]    In one preferred embodiment of the disclosed printer installation tool, the UI scope is focused on the “No” button  28  of the Installer Welcome screen  22  so that a user cannot inadvertently accept the license agreement by carelessly clicking the “enter” button on the user&#39;s keypad. Rather, the license agreement can only be accepted, and the installation program can be completed, only upon the conscious selection of the “Yes” button  26 . Other embodiments. Though, may focus the UI scope on the “No” button  28 .  
         [0042]    Selection of the “Yes” button  26 , which accepts the License agreement, may lead to the “Installer Select” screen  38 , shown in FIG. 5, which gives a user the option of having the disclosed printer installation tool automatically configure a desired printer, or let the user configure the printer. This selection may be made by checking the desired one of the boxes  40  or  42  and subsequently selecting the “Next” button  44 . Selection of the box  40  provides for an easy installation and selection of the box  42  provides for an advanced printer setting configuration for advanced users. Alternatively, the user may choose to go back to the previous screen by selecting the “Back” button  46 , cancel installation by selecting the “Cancel” button  50 , or initiate a help dialog window by selecting the “Help” button  50 . Selection of the help button  50  may present a help dialog window (not shown) explaining the consequences of electing to configure the printer manually, along with a list of parameters which will need to be entered manually. The help dialog window may also suggest that novice users elect to let the installation program proceed with an automatic installation. Selection of the cancel button  48  may either terminate operation of the printer installation tool or present the user with an Exit setup window with the same functionality as the exit setup window  32  of FIG. 4. Unless otherwise indicated, any “back”, “cancel” or “help” buttons in any of the dialog windows discussed in this disclosure are functionally equivalent to the respective buttons  46 ,  48 , and  50  discussed in this paragraph.  
         [0043]    Referring to FIG. 6, if the client computer is running in a Windows 95 environment (e.g., an operating system without a port monitor), the selection of the desired installation option will cause the “Select Installation Directory” window  52  to appear, from which the user may either select a displayed default directory or input a new directory for an installation folder and proceed to a select program folder window  56 , as shown in FIG. 7. The select program folder window  56  permits the user to input a desired program folder in the window  57  by either typing it in manually or selecting one of the existing folders detected by the printer installation tool and displayed in the window  58 . Selection of the “Next” button  60  will cause the “Select Printer” window  62  to appear. Furthermore, if the client computer is operating within a Windows NT 4.0, a Windows 2000, or a Windows XP environment, selection of the “Next” button  44  in the “Installer Select” window  38  (FIG. 5) leads to the “Select Printer” window  62  (FIG. 8).  
         [0044]    Initially, the “Select Printer” dialog window may be overlaid with a “Searching” window  64  that indicates to the user that the disclosed printer installation tool is detecting available printers for installation. The printer installation tool may use any appropriate protocol for this search, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). While the search is proceeding, a running count of detected available printers may be displayed in the box  66  and the user may be allowed to terminate the search by selecting the “Stop” button  68 . Before displaying the “Select Printer” dialog, SLP files (slp.dll) will be copied to the temporary directory. The “select printer” dialog shows a list of discovered devices.  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 9, once the search has been completed, or the user stops the process, the “Searching” window  64  will disappear and the user will be presented with a list of printers, within the window  70 . The disclosed printer installation tool may provide for a filtering tool that filters the list of printers shown in the window  70 . For example, the filtering tool may first show only “new” devices, i.e., devices that were not previously discovered in an earlier iteration of the disclosed printer installation tool, or if this “new” list is empty then only “uninstalled” devices, i.e. those devices that have not been previously configured, or if the “uninstalled” list is empty then all discovered devices. This simplifies the installation of new printers on a network by showing the new printers without showing all the previously installed printers (or less than all). The user may also elect to show all available printers rather than a presented filtered list by selecting the button  72 . If all devices are being shown then the “Show all Printers” button  72  will be gray. Further, the disclosed printer installation tool may include a “refresh” button  74  to be selected if a desired printer is not shown and a further search is desired after connections are checked, etc. In some embodiments of the disclosed printer installation tool, the user can select more than one device to perform a multi device installation.  
         [0046]    The printer device itself may include a flag (memory location) that may be set by the installation tool to indicate that the printer has now been installed with the flag being unset as default (or vice versa). In this manner, the installation tool may query the printer for the flag. The flag may be reset in any suitable manner.  
         [0047]    The filtering criteria may be achieved by processing installation flag values retrieved from the client computer and/or server through SNMP operation and a file containing a list of previously discovered devices. The Installation Flag value will give the information on whether the printer is installed or not configured at all in the network.  
         [0048]    Optionally, the location of the printer may be displayed when the focus of the mouse is on the row of the printer.  
         [0049]    At this point, the user has the option of choosing an advanced configuration or an automatic configuration. The advanced configuration option will be discussed first.  
       Advanced Configuration  
       [0050]    If the User opted for “Let me configure my Network Setting”  42  in the “installer select” dialog box  38  (FIG. 5), upon selecting the “next” button  76  the disclosed printer installation tool will check to see whether the SNMP Community string of the selected device is the default value. If the SNMP community string is not the default value (see box  238  of FIG. 25), the user will be presented with the dialog window so that he can enter the correct string for the selected device in the window  80  and press the “enter” button  82  or return to the “Select Printer” dialog by pressing the button  84 , as illustrated in FIG. 10. If the SNMP community string is incorrect the user will again be prompted to enter the correct SNMP Community string.  
         [0051]    The “Advanced Printer Configuration” window  98  (see FIG. 12) allows the entry of an IP address for the printer, a subnet mask identifier, and a default gateway, by entries into the appropriate windows  99 ,  100 , and  101 . These entries may be made automatically by selecting the box  102  via DHCP or the values may be specified manually after selecting the box  103 . Specifying either an invalid address or an address already being used, and selecting the “next” button  104  will result in the Error Message Windows  106  and  107 , respectively where the user will be prompted to enter correct values (see FIGS. 13 and 14).  
         [0052]    In either automatic or advanced configuration, the “Configure the Printer” window  108  (see FIG. 15) will appear in response to the selection of the “next” button  104  (see FIG. 12 advanced configuration) or the next button  76  (see FIG. 98 automatic configuration) in the case that it is a first time installation (see FIG. 24). The window  108  allows the user to name the device and optionally provide a location description in the appropriate windows  109  and  110 . The description  110  may subsequently be displayed together with the name of the device, such as with a mouse or other window. This provides additional descriptive information to a subsequent installer of the same printer. A default name may be initially displayed in the window  109 . The default name that is displayed should be the device name retrieved from the printer, and is preferably limited to 15 characters and follows the DNS naming convention (no spaces, no special characters). The user can change this name so long as it follows the aforementioned length limitations. This name and location string is written back to the printer using SNMP or CMIP and the printer will register this name with the WINS/DNS server.  
       Continued Automatic/Advanced Configuration  
       [0053]    Typically, when a user selects the “Next” button  112  of the “Configure the Printer” window  112  (see FIG. 15), the “Name the Printer” window  118  will appear (see FIG. 17).  
         [0054]    The “Name the Printer” window  118  is similar to the Add Printer Wizard dialog used in the Windows operating system. The “Name the Windows Printer”  118  allows the user to give a Windows name of the printer. The default will be the name of the printer in the installed machine. Using this window, a user has the option of giving the printer an intuitive name by which the user may subsequently recognize that particular printer when sending it a print job so that the user can locate the printer and easily retrieve the completed print job. This eliminates difficulty in distinguishing identical printers on a network that all have the same or similar default identifications.  
         [0055]    In the advanced configuration, if the printer is shared in, the “Select Print Type” window may be displayed (See FIG. 11B) so that the user has the option, by selecting the appropriate box  94  or  95 , of installing the printer as a peer-to-peer, i.e. connected directly to a network or as a network printer, i.e. connected to a network server through another network computer (e.g., a server). Selection of the “Next” button  96  will show the “Driver Location” window  114  (shown in FIG. 16).  
         [0056]    In either the automatic or advanced configuration the “Driver location” window allows the user to select the appropriate driver to install. Normally this is only displayed when the system can not locate the appropriate driver.  
         [0057]    Insert C  
         [0058]    In the case of advanced configuration for non-win 9x, if direct printing as a result of FIG. 11B is selected a “Share Printer” window  86 , shown in FIG. 11A may be displayed by which the user may indicate whether the printer is to be shared or not by selecting the appropriate box  88  or  89 , give a share name in the window  90  and select the operating system of all the computers printing to the selected printer from the list shown in the window  91 .  
         [0059]    Clicking the “Install” button  120  leads to the copy files and configure printer screen  122  of the installation process (see FIG. 18). When displaying the window  122 , the disclosed printer installation tool may do three additional things. First, it may push the configurable attribute values to the installed printer. Second, it may check whether the installed printer started using those values. Finally, the disclosed printer installation tool may configure the client computer so that it can print to the printer  
         [0060]    The disclosed printer installation tool starts configuring the print server with user configured new values, the Copy files and Configure printer window  122  may tell the user to “Please wait while configuring the device” above a progress bar. The message “Please wait while configuring the device” should preferably be displayed for approximately ten seconds beyond the actual download time or until the printer installation tool has detected that the client computer has started using the new parameters whichever is shorter.  
         [0061]    After pushing the configurable values to the printer, the disclosed printer installation tool checks whether the printer is using the configured values. If it finds that the device is not using the currently configured values, it may shows the “reset printer” window  124  (see FIG. 19). This dialog should be displayed only as long as the device still contains its old/original parameters. For example: if the address has been changed and the printer is still answering pings on its old address. (If the device has started using the new parameters, this dialog can be skipped.)  
         [0062]    After the reset, if the device is not responding to any queries, another window (not shown) may display the text, “Waiting for the device to initialize, Please make sure that the power is on” in the Copy files and configure printer. This message should be shown only as long as the device is not responding to any queries on any address. (If the device has started using the new parameters, this dialog can be skipped.)  
         [0063]    If the device started responding, the next message displays is the “Waiting for the device to initialize” in the copy files and configure printer dialog. This should be shown only as long as the device is responding but has not set all parameters. For example: the printer is responding to Pings but the new Name is not set. (If the device has started using the new parameters, this dialog can be skipped.)  
         [0064]    Once the installed printer configuration and validation is done, the disclosed printer installation tool may start configuring the client computer. First it copies the port monitor. Then it installs and configures the port monitor while optionally displaying the text “Configuring the port monitor”. Then the tool installs the printer driver while optionally displaying the text “Installing the printer driver” in the “copy file and configure the printer”  122 .  
         [0065]    On completing host and printer configuration, the disclosed printer installation tool displays the “Last Install” window  126  (See FIG. 20).  
         [0066]    The foregoing installation tool may be used with any computer operating system, such as Windows, DOS, Linux, Unix, etc. Some embodiments of the installation tool may be configured for use with an individual one of these operating systems, or alternatively may be capable of installing a printer on any number of operating systems. For example, FIGS. 21A to  25  illustrate an embodiment for the disclosed installation tool that is able to install and configure a printer on a host computer that operates under either Windows 9x, Windows NT, Windows 2K or Windows XP.  
         [0067]    Referring specifically to FIGS. 21A and 21B, this embodiment of the disclosed installation tool begins by displaying  150  an introductory screen, such as the splash screen  10  shown in FIG. 1 or any other similar screen. The introductory screen may be initiated from either the insertion of a CD that contains an executable installation tool into CD-ROM drive, by downloading the installation tool from the internet, or by selecting an executable installation tool program file within a Windows operating system, including a DOS prompt. The introductory screen preferably presents a user with the option  152  of proceeding with the printer installation, reviewing any associated documentation, or exiting the installation tool.  
         [0068]    If the user elects to exit  154  the installation tool, the installation tool may then terminate  156 . If the user elects to review associated documentation, the installation tool may display  158  the associated documentation to the user so that it may be read. Once the user has indicated that he or she has finished reading the documentation, the user may once again be presented with the introductory screen and given the option of whether continuing with the installation or terminating the installation.  
         [0069]    If the user elects to continue with the installation, the installation tool may identify  160  the operating system of the host computer. If the host computer is operating on a Windows 95 operating system, the installation tool may check  162  whether Winsock 2.0 is installed in the windows directory. If Winsock 2.0 is not installed, then the installation tool may terminate  164  after preferably indicating to the user that installation cannot proceed because of the missing file. If Winsock 2.0 is available in a Windows 95 operating system, the installation tool may proceed and display and Installer Welcome Dialog  170 .  
         [0070]    Similarly, if the host computer is operating on a Win NT 4.0, Windows 2k, or Windows XP operating system, the installation tool may check  166  whether administrative rights are needed to install a printer, and if so, determine whether the user has such administrative rights. If not, the installation tool may terminate  168 , else proceed and display the installer welcome dialog  170 .  
         [0071]    The installer welcome dialog  170  may be presented in a user interface such as that shown in FIG. 3. Preferably, the installer welcome dialog  170  warns the user to terminate any other application that may be running on the host computer and to make sure that the printer to be installed is turned on and connected to the host computer either locally or through a network. Also, the installer welcome dialog  170  preferably presents the user with a license agreement that may be either accepted or declined. If the user declines the license agreement, the installation tool may be terminated  174 . If the user accepts the license agreement, the installation tool may proceed and display an installer select dialog  176 .  
         [0072]    The installer select dialog  176  may be presented in a user interface such as that shown in FIG. 5. The Installer select dialog preferably gives the user the option of selecting an automatic configuration where the installation tool configures the selected printer using default network settings, or an advanced configuration where the user customizes the settings of the selected printer. Once the user has made the desired selection, the installation tool may identify  178  the operating system of the host computer.  
         [0073]    The embodiment of the disclosed installation tool presently being discussed is capable of installing a printer within any of the Windows 9x, Win NT 4.0, Win 2K, or Windows XP operating systems. In this embodiment, four possible installation procedures may be used: a Win 9x automatic configuration  180 , a Win 9x advanced configuration  182 , a Win NT 4.0/2k/XP automatic configuration  184 , or a Win NT 4.0/2k/XP advanced configuration  186 .  
         [0074]    Referring to FIG. 22, if the user selected an automatic configuration and the host computer operates on a Win 9x operating system, the user may be presented with a dialog  188  in which the user can select an installation directory. The dialog  188  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 6. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool will have default directory indicated within the user interface so that the user only needs to hit the enter key to proceed, or may alternately override the default selection and either choose another, existing directory or create a new directory.  
         [0075]    Once an installation directory has been selected or created, the user may be presented with a dialog  190  in which the user can select a program folder for the installation tool. The dialog  190  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 7. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool will have default program folder indicated within the user interface so that the user only needs to hit the enter key to proceed, or may alternately override the default selection and either choose another, existing program folder or create a program folder.  
         [0076]    Once a program folder has been created, the installation tool may perform a search to identify  192  the available printers that can be installed and present a list of such computers to the user. The printer installation tool may use any appropriate protocol for this search, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). While the search is proceeding, a running count of detected available printers may be displayed to the user. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool may allow the user to terminate the search at any time. If the user stops the search while it is proceeding, the user may still be allowed to select from the list already compiled.  
         [0077]    Once the user selects an available printer from the presented list, the installation tool performs a check  194  to see whether the selected printer is being installed for the first time. If so, the user may be presented with a dialog  196  to configure the printer. The dialog  196  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 15. In the dialog  196 , the user is allowed to name the device and optionally provide a location description for the printer. A default name may be initially displayed by the dialog  196 . The default name that is displayed should be the device name retrieved from the printer, and is preferably limited to 15 characters and follows the DNS naming convention (no spaces, no special characters). The user can change this name so long as it follows the aforementioned length limitations. This name and location string is written back to the printer using SNMP or CMIP and the printer will register this name with the WINS/DNS server. This step may be skipped if the printer has previously been installed. This permits subsequent installations for the user to merely select next to install the printer properly.  
         [0078]    Once the printer has been configured by the user, or alternately if the printer had been previously configured, the user may be presented with a dialog  198  to name the printer. The dialog  198  may be presented in a user interface similar to that shown in FIG. 17. The dialog  198  allows the user to give a Windows name of the printer. The default will be the name of the printer in the installed machine. Using this window, a user preferably has the option of giving the printer an intuitive name by which the user may subsequently recognize that particular printer when sending it a print job so that the user can locate the printer and easily retrieve the completed print job. The dialog  198  may also preferably allow the user to select the printer as the default windows computer for local print jobs.  
         [0079]    Once the user has configured and named the selected printer, the installation tool may request the driver location as illustrated in FIG. 16 and then the disclosed installation tool may push the configuration parameters back to the host computer/server using SNMP protocols and updating the printer&#39;s DNS name. This step may not be necessary if no values have changed, i.e. the default values were selected. If, however, any value has been changed, the installation tool will preferably check whether the printer started using the new values pushed to the printer. If the printer is not started using the new values, the installation tool may reset  200  the printer and verify the printer on resetting starts using the new values.  
         [0080]    Once the printer has been verified to use the new parameters, the installation tool may create a new LPR port and add registry entries, install the Printer driver on to the newly created port, and prompt the user to print a test page, send the test printer data to the printer. The user may then be presented with a last install dialog  202  and the installation tool will then terminate.  
         [0081]    Referring to FIG. 23, if the user selected an advanced configuration and the host computer operates on a Win 9x operating system, the user may be presented with a dialog  204  in which the user can select an installation directory. The dialog  204  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 6. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool will have default directory indicated within the user interface so that the user only needs to hit the enter key to proceed, or may alternately override the default selection and either choose another, existing directory or create a new directory.  
         [0082]    Once an installation directory has been selected or created, the user may be presented with a dialog  206  in which the user can select a program folder for the installation tool. The dialog  206  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 7. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool will have default program folder indicated within the user interface so that the user only needs to hit the enter key to proceed, or may alternately override the default selection and either choose another, existing program folder or create a program folder.  
         [0083]    Once a program folder has been created, the installation tool may perform a search  208  to identify the available printers that can be installed and present a list of such computers to the user. The printer installation tool may use any appropriate protocol for this search, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). While the search is proceeding, a running count of detected available printers may be displayed to the user.  
         [0084]    Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool may allow the user to terminate the search at any time. If the user stops the search while it is proceeding, the user may still be allowed to select from the list already compiled.  
         [0085]    Once the user selects an available printer from the presented list, the installation tool performs a check  210  to see whether the SNMP Community string of the selected device is the default value. If the SNMP community string is not the default value, the user will be presented with a dialog  212  so that the user can enter the correct string for the selected device or return to the dialog  208 . If the SNMP community string is incorrect the user will again be prompted to enter the correct SNMP Community string.  
         [0086]    Once the disclosed installation tool has verified that the correct SNMP community string has been entered, the user may be presented with an advanced printer configuration dialog  214 . The dialog  214  allows the entry of an IP address for the printer, a subnet mask identifier, and a default gateway. These entries may be made automatically via DHCP or the values may be specified manually. Specifying either an invalid address or an address already being used will preferably result in an error message where the user will be prompted to enter correct values. Otherwise, a printer configuration dialog  216  will appear.  
         [0087]    The dialog  216  allows the user to name the device and optionally provide a location description. A default name may be initially displayed in the dialog  116 . The default name that is displayed should be the device name retrieved from the printer, and is preferably limited to 15 characters and follows the DNS naming convention (no spaces, no special characters). The user can change this name so long as it follows the aforementioned length limitations. This name and location string is written back to the printer using SNMP or CMIP and the printer will register this name with the WINS/DNS server.  
         [0088]    Once the printer has been configured in the dialog  216 , the user may be presented with a “Driver location” window (not shown) where the user may select the appropriate driver to install, at which point the dialog  218  will appear to name the printer.  
         [0089]    The dialog  218  may be presented in a user interface similar to that shown in FIG. 17. The dialog  218  allows the user to give a Windows name of the printer. The default will be the name of the printer in the installed machine. Using this window, a user preferably has the option of giving the printer an intuitive name by which the user may subsequently recognize that particular printer when sending it a print job so that the user can locate the printer and easily retrieve the completed print job. The dialog  218  may also preferably allow the user to select the printer as the default windows computer for local print jobs.  
         [0090]    Once the user has configured and named the selected printer, the installation tool may request the driver location as illustrated in FIG. 16, the installation tool may select the print type as illustrated in FIG. 11B, and the disclosed installation tool may push the configuration parameters back to the host computer/server using SNMP protocols and updating the printer&#39;s DNS name. This step may not be necessary if no values have changed, i.e. the default values were selected. If, however, any value has been changed, the installation tool will preferably check whether the printer started using the new values pushed to the printer. If the printer is not started using the new values, the installation tool may reset  220  the printer and verify the printer on resetting starts using the new values.  
         [0091]    Once the printer has been verified to use the new parameters, the installation tool may creates a new LPR port and add registry entries, install the Printer driver on to the newly created port, and prompt the user to print a test page, send the test printer data to the printer. The user may then be presented with a last install dialog  222  and the installation tool will then terminate.  
         [0092]    Referring to FIG. 24, if the user selected an automatic configuration and the host computer operates on any of a Win NT 4.0, a Win 2k, or a Win XP operating system, the user need not select any installation directory or program folders. Instead the user may be immediately presented with a dialog  224  following a search is performed to identify the available printers that can be installed and present a list of such computers to the user. The printer installation tool may use any appropriate protocol for this search, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). While the search is proceeding, a running count of detected available printers may be displayed to the user. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool may allow the user to terminate the search at any time. If the user stops the search while it is proceeding, the user may still be allowed to select from the list already compiled.  
         [0093]    Once the user selects an available printer from the presented list in the dialog  224 , the installation tool performs a check  226  to see whether the selected printer is being installed for the first time. If so, the user may be presented with a dialog  228  to configure the printer. The dialog  228  may be presented in a user interface like that shown in FIG. 15. In the dialog  228 , the user is allowed to name the device and optionally provide a location description for the printer. A default name may be initially displayed by the dialog  228 . The default name that is displayed should be the device name retrieved from the printer, and is preferably limited to 15 characters and follows the DNS naming convention (no spaces, no special characters). The user can change this name so long as it follows the aforementioned length limitations. This name and location string is written back to the printer using SNMP or CMIP and the printer will register this name with the WINS/DNS server. This step may be skipped if the printer has previously been installed.  
         [0094]    Once the printer has been configured by the user, or alternately if the printer had been previously configured, the user may be presented with a dialog  230  to name the printer. The dialog  230  may be presented in a user interface similar to that shown in FIG. 17. The dialog  230  allows the user to give a Windows name of the printer. The default will be the name of the printer in the installed machine. Using this window, a user preferably has the option of giving the printer an intuitive name by which the user may subsequently recognize that particular printer when sending it a print job so that the user can locate the printer and easily retrieve the completed print job. The dialog  230  may also preferably allow the user to select the printer as the default windows computer for local print jobs.  
         [0095]    Once the user has configured and named the selected printer, the installation tool may request the driver location as illustrated in FIG. 16, and the disclosed installation tool may push the configuration parameters back to the host computer/server using SNMP protocols and updating the printer&#39;s DNS name. This step may not be necessary if no values have changed, i.e. the default values were selected. If, however, any value has been changed, the installation tool will preferably check whether the printer started using the new values pushed to the printer. If the printer is not started using the new values, the installation tool may reset  232  the printer and verify the printer on resetting starts using the new values.  
         [0096]    Once the printer has been verified to use the new parameters, the installation tool may creates a new LPR port and add registry entries, install the Printer driver on to the newly created port, and prompt the user to print a test page, send the test printer data to the printer. The user may then be presented with a last install dialog  234  and the installation tool will then terminate.  
         [0097]    Referring to FIG. 25, if the user selected an advanced configuration and the host computer operates on any of a Win NT 4.0, a Win 2k, or a Win XP operating system, the user may be immediately presented with a dialog  236  in which the user is presented with a list of available printers for configuration after the installation tool has completed a search. The printer installation tool may use any appropriate protocol for this search, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). While the search is proceeding, a running count of detected available printers may be displayed to the user. Some embodiments of the disclosed installation tool may allow the user to terminate the search at any time. If the user stops the search while it is proceeding, the user may still be allowed to select from the list already compiled.  
         [0098]    Once the user selects an available printer from the presented list, the installation tool performs a check  238  to see whether the SNMP Community string of the selected device is the default value. If the SNMP community string is not the default value, the user will be presented with a dialog  240  so that the user can enter the correct string for the selected device or return to the dialog  236 . If the SNMP community string is incorrect the user will again be prompted to enter the correct SNMP Community string.  
         [0099]    Once the disclosed installation tool has verified that the correct SNMP community string has been entered, the user may be presented with an advanced printer configuration dialog  242 . The dialog  242  allows the entry of an IP address for the printer, a subnet mask identifier, and a default gateway. These entries may be made automatically via DHCP or the values may be specified manually. Specifying either an invalid address or an address already being used will preferably result in an error message where the user will be prompted to enter correct values. Otherwise, a printer configuration dialog  244  will appear.  
         [0100]    The dialog  244  allows the user to name the device and optionally provide a location description. A default name may be initially displayed in the dialog  244 . The default name that is displayed should be the device name retrieved from the printer, and is preferably limited to 15 characters and follows the DNS naming convention (no spaces, no special characters). The user can change this name so long as it follows the aforementioned length limitations. This name and location string is written back to the printer using SNMP or CMIP and the printer will register this name with the WINS/DNS server. Once the printer has been configured the user may be presented with a dialog  246  in which the printer may be named by the user.  
         [0101]    The dialog  246  may be presented in a user interface similar to that shown in FIG. 17. The dialog  246  allows the user to give a Windows name of the printer. The default will be the name of the printer in the installed machine. Using this window, a user preferably has the option of giving the printer an intuitive name by which the user may subsequently recognize that particular printer when sending it a print job so that the user can locate the printer and easily retrieve the completed print job. The dialog  246  may also preferably allow the user to select the printer as the default windows computer for local print jobs.  
         [0102]    Once the printer has been configured and named in the dialogs  244  and  246 , respectively, the installation tool may request the driver location as illustrated in FIG. 16, the installation tool may select the print type as illustrated in FIG. 11B, and the installation tool may present the dialog  248  in which the user may elect to share the printer with other network computers. If the printer is to be shared, the user should preferably give a share name the operating system of all the computers printing to the selected printer. If the printer is shared, a dialog (not shown) may be displayed so that the user has the option of installing the printer as a peer-to-peer, i.e. connected directly to a network or as a network printer, i.e. connected to a network server through another network computer.  
         [0103]    Once the user has configured and named the selected printer, and indicated whether or not the printer is to be shared, the disclosed installation tool may push the configuration parameters back to the host computer/server using SNMP protocols and updating the printer&#39;s DNS name. This step may not be necessary if no values have changed, i.e. the default values were selected. If, however, any value has been changed, the installation tool will preferably check whether the printer started using the new values pushed to the printer. If the printer is not started using the new values, the installation tool may reset  250  the printer and verify the printer on resetting starts using the new values.  
         [0104]    Once the printer has been verified to use the new parameters, the installation tool may creates a new LPR port and add registry entries, install the Printer driver on to the newly created port, and prompt the user to print a test page, send the test printer data to the printer. The user may then be presented with a last install dialog  252  and the installation tool will then terminate.  
         [0105]    All references disclosed herein are incorporated by reference.  
         [0106]    The terms and expressions that have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only the claims that follow.