Connecting a printer to your computer is sometimes tricky. I got a used black & white (“mono”) laser printer and my computer could not recognize it despite connecting it by the USB cord. Here’s how I finally figured it out. These steps should generally work for adding any older home printer with a USB cord to your laptop or computer, not just the Dell B2360dn Mono Laser printer.
Step 1: Turn devices on. Plug in your printer and computer and power them both on. Connect the printer to the computer by USB cable.
Step 2: Download the printer driver.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/dell-b2360dn/drivers
Search online for your printer brand + model + driver. That should lead you to the official printer brand’s website where you can search for your specific model, then download the corresponding driver for free.
I downloaded the driver for “Dell Printer Driver for PCL5e…” from this list because the File Name contains “signed” (UPD v3 APW Driver Package_signed – PCL5.zip).
The driver is a software that helps the computer recognize and connect to the printer hardware. These are sometimes downloaded automatically upon plugging in a printer and having internet connection. But for some older printers, these are not automatically downloaded.
Step 3: (for Windows 11) Open Windows search bar, type “printer” > choose “Printers & Scanners” or “Add a printer or scanner” > Add Device > wait a few seconds as it searches, then “Add Manually”.
The printer is not detected by the computer and does not appear on the refreshed printer list, so we will add it manually.
Step 4: Choose the last option in the new popup window, “Add a local printer…with manual settings”.
Step 5: Choose “Use an existing port:”, then select your printer from the drop down list > Next.
Troubleshooting if printer not in drop down: Make sure the printer is on and connected by USB cable to the computer.
This is how I confirmed my printer make & model name.
Step 6: Install the Printer Driver you previously downloaded.
I selected Dell on the left side, then “Have Disk”, and pointed it to the signed driver file downloaded in step 1 that ends in ‘.inf’ file extension.
This is where I read about ‘digitally signed’ drivers and thus opted for the signed option from the Dell website. I had to dig a little amongst the downloaded driver files to find the one ending in .inf. In this case it was DKUD1o40.inf.
Mission complete!
Your printer’s driver is now installed and it should show among the printers list. Happy Printing!
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