How to Connect the HP 4200 With a USB
By Ken Burnside
The HP LaserJet 4200 printer was released by HP in November of 2002, and it was updated in mid-2003 with a slight refresh. The first series of these printers sold did not have an integrated USB port. The updated model had the USB port built in, and it was later called the HP 4250. If you have an HP 4200 printer without a built in USB port, you can install a JetDirect EIO expansion card to give it network and USB capabilities. Inserting a JetDirect card into an HP printer is similar to inserting an expansion card into a PC.
Installing the JetDirect Card
Turn off the power at the back of the printer. Unplug the power cable.
Remove the screws holding the accessory panel at the back of the printer. This panel is low and on the left side of the printer. Slide the panel to left to remove it.
Remove the screw holding the expansion card slot from the printer and remove. Depending on your printer configuration, there may be a card already present; remove it. You need to expose the access panel for the second slot underneath it.
Insert the JetDirect card into the second expansion slot. Slide it in carefully, so that the golden edge of the card goes into the socket in the back of the printer.
Use the screw you removed in Step 3, to secure the expansion card.
Insert the original card back into slot one; use its screw--which was removed in Step 2--to secure it into place.
Plug in the printer; turn it on.
Connecting the Printer Via USB Cable
Plug the square end of the USB cable into the port on the back of the printer.
Plug the flat end of the USB cable into the USB port on your printer.
Put the CD-ROM that came with the printer into the CD-ROM drive when prompted for drivers.
Click on the "Start" button. Select "Control Panel" from the options present. Double click on the "Printers and Faxes" icon and look for the icon for your HP LaserJet 4200 printer.
Right click on the Printer icon; select "Print Test Page" from the menu that comes up.
Writer Bio
Ken Burnside has been writing freelance since 1990, contributing to publications as diverse as "Pyramid" and "Training & Simulations Journal." A Microsoft MVP in Excel, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Alaska. He won the Origins Award for Attack Vector: Tactical, a board game about space combat.