HP 2500 HP Color LaserJet 2500 series - User Guide - Page 20

Software for Windows When you install the software for Windows, you can directly connect the printer to a computer using a USB or parallel cable or you can connect the printer to the network using an optional HP Jetdirect print server card. Different software is available depending on the type of installation you chose. See the getting started guide for installation instructions, and see the Readme for latest software information. The following software is available to all users of the printer, whether you connected the printer directly to a computer using a parallel cable or USB cable, or whether you connected the printer to the network using an HP Jetdirect print server card. Printer drivers A printer driver is a software component that provides access to printer features and provides the means for the computer to communicate with the printer. Choose a printer driver based on the way you use the printer. For help using your printer driver, see "Gaining access to printer driver settings" on page 37. q Use the PCL 6 printer driver to take full advantage of the printer features. Unless complete backward compatibility with previous PCL drivers or older printers is necessary, the PCL 6 driver is recommended. q Use the PCL 5c printer driver if you need print results to look consistent with those from older HP LaserJet printers. Certain features are not available in this printer driver. (Do not use the PCL 5c driver for this printer with older printers.) q Use the PS printer driver for compatibility with PS needs. Certain printer features are not available in this printer driver. The printer automatically switches between PS 3 emulation and PCL printer languages depending on the driver you have selected. Using Help The printer driver has Help dialog boxes that can be activated from the Help button in the printer driver, the F1 key on the computer keyboard, or the question mark symbol (?) in the upper-right corner of the printer driver. These Help dialog boxes give detailed information about the specific printer driver. Help for the printer driver is separate from the Help for your program. HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox is only supported for Windows 98 and later. You must have performed a complete software installation in order to use the HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox. The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox provides links to printer status information and help information, such as this user guide; and tools for diagnosing and solving problems. You can also view explanations and animations of light messages on the control panel. The HP Color LaserJet 2500 Toolbox also provides printer status and settings information from the embedded Web server. See "Managing the printer" on page 55 for more information. 18 Printer basics ENWW