Chapter 10
Installing and Configuring Printers
The following CompTIA A+ 220-801 Exam objectives are covered in this chapter:
- 4.1 Explain the differences between the various printer types and summarize the associated imaging process.
- Laser
- Imaging drum, fuser assembly, transfer belt, transfer roller, pickup rollers, separate pads, duplexing assembly
- Imaging process: processing, charging, exposing, developing, transferring, fusing and cleaning
- Inkjet
- Ink cartridge, print head, roller, feeder, duplexing assembly, carriage and belt
- Calibration
- Thermal
- Feed assembly, heating element
- Special thermal paper
- Impact
- Print head, ribbon, tractor feed
- Impact paper
- 4.2 Given a scenario, install and configure printers.
- Use appropriate printer drivers for a given operating system
- Print device sharing
- Wired: USB, Parallel, Serial, Ethernet
- Wireless: Bluetooth, 802.11x, Infrared (IR)
- Printer hardware print server
- Printer sharing:
- Sharing local/networked printer via Operating System settings
- 4.3 Given a scenario, perform printer maintenance.
- Laser:
- Replacing toner, applying maintenance kit, calibration, cleaning
- Thermal:
- Replace paper, clean heating element, remove debris
- Impact:
- Replace ribbon, replace print head, replace paper
Let’s face it. No matter how much we try to get away from it, our society is dependent on paper. When we conduct business, we use different types of paper documents, such as contracts, letters, and, of course, money. And because most of those documents are created on computers, printers are inherently important. Even with electronic business being the norm in many situations, you will likely still have daily situations that require an old-fashioned hard copy of something.
Printers are electromechanical output devices that are used to put information from the computer onto paper. They have been around since the introduction of the computer. Other than the display monitor, the printer is the most popular peripheral purchased for a computer because a lot of people want to have paper copies of the documents they create.
In this chapter, we will discuss the details of each major type of printer, including impact printers, inkjet printers, laser printers, and thermal printers. Once we cover the different types, we’ll talk about installing and configuring printers and finish up with a section on printer maintenance.
