Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Surprisingly, Windows doesn't have a monopoly on annoying behavior. One of the senseless things that OS X does is
set the default printer to whatever printer you used or added most recently. To fix this, choose System Preferences
→Print & Scan. Then, in the Default Printer list, choose the printer you want to use as the default.
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If MacBook Air recognizes your printer, it appears in the Printers list in the Print & Scan preferences.
Connecting a printer manually
What happens on those rare occasions when MacBook Air doesn't recognize your printer? In that case, you
need to do a bit more legwork and install the printer manually. Here's how it's done:
1. Connect and turn on the printer if you haven't done so already.
2. Click System Preferences in the Dock, click Print & Scan, and then click the Add button (+).
MacBook Air displays the list of connected printers.
3. Choose your printer.
• In OS X Mountain Lion or Lion, if your printer appears in the list of nearby printers, click it and then
skip the rest of these steps; otherwise, click Add Other Printer or Scanner.
• If your printer appears in the list of available printers, simply choose it from the list.
• If you don't see your printer in the list, install the printer driver by hand as follows:
1. Insert the disc that came with your printer.
Note that you'll need to connect an external optical
drive to your MacBook Air, or use a remote optical drive, as described in Chapter 2.
2. Choose Other in the Print Using list.
3. Open the printer disc (or the folder where you downloaded the printer driver), choose the print-
er driver, and then click Open.
