Quarrelling printer manufacturers couldn’t agree on how printers should be installed. As a result, you install your printer in one of two ways:

- Some printer manufacturers say simply to plug in your printer, usually by pushing its connector into a little rectangular USB port. Flip your PC’s On switch, and Windows Vista automatically recognizes and embraces your new printer. Add any needed ink cartridges, toner, or paper, and you’re done.

- Other manufacturers took an uglier approach, saying you must install their bundled software before plugging in your printer. And if you don’t install the software first, the printer may not work correctly. The only way to know how your printer should be installed is to check the printer’s manual. (Sometimes this information appears on a colorful, one-page Installation Cheat Sheet packed in the printer’s box.) If your printer didn’t come with installation software, install the cartridges, add paper to the tray, and follow these instructions to put it to work:

1. With Vista up and running, plug your printer into your PC and turn on the printer. If your printer’s rectangular connector slides into a rectangular hole or port on your PC, you have a USB printer, the type used by most printers today. Vista may send a message saying that your printer is installed successfully, but follow the next two steps to test it. If your printer’s evil-looking, pronged connector pushes into a long oval connector full of holes, it plugs into your PC’s printer port. (That connector is called LPT1: in computer language.)

2. Choose Control Panel from Vista’s Start menu. The Control Panel displays its categories of settings.

3. Open the Hardware and Sound category and choose Printers. The Printers window appears, listing icons for any currently attached printers. If you spot your USB printer listed by its model name, rightclick its icon, choose Properties, and click the Print Test Page button. If it prints correctly, you’re finished. Congratulations. If your printer’s name doesn’t appear, though, move to Step 4. Vista lists a printer named Microsoft XPS Document Writer that’s not really a printer. Choosing to print to that printer creates a special file much like Adobe’s PDF files, which require a special program to view and print. Vista can view or print XPS files; Windows XP, by contrast, first requires you to download and install Microsoft’s XPS Viewer (www.microsoft.com/downloads).

4. Click the Add a Printer button from the Printers window’s top menu. When the Choose a Local or Network Printer window appears, choose Add a Local Printer. (If you’re installing a printer on a network, see Article 14 for the lowdown.)

5. Choose how you’ve connected the printer to your PC and click Next. Choose LPT1 (the oblong connector). If you’re using a USB printer, click Cancel, install the printer’s software, and start over. No software? You need to download it from the printer manufacturer’s Web site.

6. Choose your printer’s port and click Next. When Vista asks which printer port to use, choose LPT1: (Printer Port).

7. Click your printer’s manufacturer and model names when you see them listed and click Next. The Add Printer dialog box lists the names of printer manufacturers on the left; choose yours from the list. The right side of the box lists that manufacturer’s printer models. (Vista knows how to talk to hundreds of different printer models.) Windows Vista may ask you to stick the appropriate set-up CD into a drive. Stuck? Click the Windows Update button; Vista connects to the Internet to find software for that printer. After a moment, you see the new printer listed. If Vista offers to print a test page, take it up on the offer. That’s it. If you’re like most people, your printer will work like a charm. If it doesn’t, I’ve stuffed some tips and fix-it tricks in Article 7’s printing section. If you have two or more printers attached to your computer, right-click the icon of your most oft-used printer and select Set As Default Printer from the menu. Windows Vista then prints to that printer automatically, unless you tell it otherwise.

- To remove a printer you no longer use, right-click its name and then choose Delete from the menu. That printer’s name no longer appears as an option when you try to print from a program. If Vista asks to uninstall the printer’s drivers and software, click Yes — unless you think you may install that printer again sometime.

- You can change printer options from within many programs. Choose File in a program’s menu bar and then choose Print Setup or choose Print. From there, you can often access the same box of printer options as you find in the Control Panel. That area also lets you change things such as paper sizes, fonts, and types of graphics.

- To share a printer quickly over a network, right-click its icon and choose Sharing. Select the Share This Printer option and click OK. That printer shows up as an installation option for all the computers on your network.

- If your printer’s software confuses you, try clicking the Help buttons in its dialog boxes. Many buttons are customized for your particular printer model, and they offer advice not found in Windows Vista. Installing or adjusting other items The Control Panel’s Hardware and Sound area lists items tethered to most PCs: the mouse, keyboard, scanner, digital camera, game controllers, and perhaps a telephone. Click the name of any item to adjust its settings. The rest of this section explains how to tweak the most common lazy gadgets into behaving. To reach any of the following areas, choose Control Panel from the Start menu and choose Hardware and Sound. Click the area’s name to see and change its settings. Mouse You’ll find lots of settings inside here for standard-issue, two-button mice, but most are frivolous: Dressing up your mouse pointer’s arrow, for example. Southpaws should click here to swap their mouse buttons. Click the Switch Primary and Secondary Buttons box. (The change takes place immediately, even before you click Apply.) People with slow fingers should fine tune their double-click speed. Test your current speed by double-clicking the test folder. If it opens, your settings are fine. If it doesn’t open, though, slow down your mouse’s double-click speed with the sliding control. Owners of mice with extra buttons or wireless connections often hide extra settings in here, as well. Scanners and Cameras Click here to see your currently installed (and turned on) scanners and/or cameras. Or, to install new scanners or cameras, just plug them in and turn them on. Windows Vista almost always recognizes and greets them by name. On the rare occasion Windows doesn’t recognize your model, though, take these extra steps:

1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu and choose Hardware and Sound.

2. Click the Scanners and Cameras icon. The Scanners and Cameras window appears, listing all the attached scanners and cameras Vista currently recognizes.

3. Choose the Add Device button and click Next. Windows brings up its Scanner and Camera Installation wizard.

4. Choose the manufacturer and model, and click Next. Click the manufacturer’s name on the window’s left side and choose the model on the right.

5. Type a name for your scanner or camera, click Next, and click Finish.

Type a name for the device (or keep the suggested name), click Next, and then click Finish. If you’ve turned on your camera or scanner and plugged in its cable correctly, Windows should recognize it and place an icon for it in both your Computer area and your Control Panel’s Scanners and Cameras area. Unfortunately, the installation of older cameras and scanners doesn’t always work this easily. If Windows doesn’t automatically accept your gear, fall back on the scanner or camera’s bundled software. The scanner or camera should still work — you just won’t be able to use Windows Vista’s built-in software tools to grab its images. Article 16 explains how to grab photos from a digital camera, and that article’s same tips apply to scanners: Vista treats digital cameras and scanners the same way. Keyboard If your keyboard is not working or not plugged in, your computer usually tells you as soon as you turn it on. If you see your computer’s startled Keyboard Error message — and Windows can’t find the keyboard, either — it’s time to buy a new one. When you plug in the new one, Windows Vista and your computer should find it automatically. If your new keyboard comes with extra buttons along the top for things like “Internet,” “Email” or “Volume,” you need to install the keyboard’s bundled software to make those buttons work. (Wireless keyboards almost always require their own software, as well.) Enter this area mainly for minor keyboard adjustments like how fast the keys rrrrrrrepeat when you hold them down. Phone and Modem Options You’ll rarely use these phone and modem options unless you’re a traveling laptop owner who constantly encounters different area codes. If you fit that description, click this area’s Set Up Dialing Rules option and then add your new location and area code. Windows thankfully saves all your previously entered area codes. Should you revisit the same place, reselect that location from the list to spare yourself from re-entering the information. Game Controllers Windows Vista almost always recognizes a newly plugged-in game controller (a fancy word for joystick, gamepad, flight yoke, rudder control, and similar gaming gear). Click the Game Controllers area to make any necessary sensitivity adjustments. Adding new hardware When you plug something into your PC’s USB port, like iPods, cameras, or scanners, Vista almost always recognizes it and leaves it ready for action. But if Vista doesn’t recognize something, call in the Add Hardware Wizard. Here’s the process:

1. Choose Control Panel from the Start menu and choose the Classic View. Classic View shows all your icons — it’s a hidden route to the Add Hardware icon.

2. Double-click the Add Hardware icon, click Continue (if prompted), and then click Next to let the wizard search for and install the hardware automatically. The Add Hardware Wizard introduces Windows Vista to whatever part you’ve plugged into your computer — if Vista recognizes one. Here’s where the path branches off:

• If Windows Vista locates your new part, click the newly installed part’s name from the Windows Vista list, click Finish, and follow the rest of the wizard’s instructions.

• If the wizard doesn’t find your new part, click Next and follow the instructions. If you get lucky, rejoice — and click the device’s name for Windows to install it. But if Windows can’t locate your newly installed part automatically, you need to contact the part’s manufacturer and ask for a Windows Vista driver — a piece of software that lets Vista understand the new part. (Drivers are often downloadable from the manufacturer’s Web site.) Some drivers come bundled with installation software to minimize installation chores. I cover driver-hunting in Article 12. Adding or Removing Programs Whether you’ve picked up a new program or you want to purge an old one, the Control Panel’s Programs category handles the job fairly well. You click the one you want to discard or tweak. The next two sections describe how to remove or change existing programs, and how to install new ones.