Can't change default printer

Question

Installed new printer on network yesterday. Everything worked fine. I printed and scanned, everything worked perfectly. This morning, not so much. OneNote has become the default printer. I don't get the option to select the new printer as the default printer when I right click on it, nor is it in the list of options of where to print  in my print windows even thought it on my printers and devices screen. I tried the "printer troubleshooter and fix it", it says there are no problems with the printer. I desperately need to print a document by tomorrow or carry my laptop to my doctor's office. Help!

Answer 1

It's a bit unusual for an already-installed printer to be completely missing from the list of printers in a program's Print dialog ... which is what I understand you to be saying.

1. What is the make and model of the printer?
2. What is the make and model of your router?
3. Is the printer connected by wi-fi or is it physically connected to your router?
4. If the printer is physically connected to your router, is that connection by USB or an Ethernet cable?
5. How is your laptop connected to your router -- wireless or Ethernet?

Open Devices and Printers and click on the icon for any printer.  You should see "Manage default printers" in the menu bar.  Click on that button.

In the next window, select the radio button to "Always use the same printer as my default printer."

Click OK

Reboot the computer

Can you set the printer as the default now and does it show up in the list of printers in a program's Print dialog?  If not ...

1. Using the printer's front panel controls, print a network configuration page.  Instructions for doing this should be in your printer's User Guide.  If you can't figure it out, provide the make and model of your printer and I'll try to give you instructions.
   • Please provide the following from the printer's network configuration page:
     • Printer's IP address
     • Default Gateway IP address
2. Open Devices and Printers, right-click on the icon for your printer, and select Open.  What happens?  You should get a window similar to the following.

3. Assuming that you get a window similar to the above, what are the 3 items that you see corresponding to the items circled in red in the image above? 4. Double-click the icon to "Customize your printer" and then select the "Ports" tab 5. What is the "Port" for the line that is highlighted and checked?  Note that you may have to click and drag on the vertical line in the header between "Port" and "Description" in order to see the whole entry.  Please avoid clicking in the body of the window in order to avoid making any unintended changes.

Answer 2

Thanks, LemP Unfortunately I couldn't get anywhere.

The printer is a HP Officejet 4500 G510n-z

The router is an Actiontec M1424WR

Both the printer and my laptop have wireless connections to the network.

For the first option, I don't get a "manage default printer option" only "add a device", "add a printer" or "remove a device".

For the second option, I did print a configuration page. The IP address is 192.168.1.5, the default gateway is 192.168.1.1.

I can't get very far because I do not get an "open" option when I right click the printer, only "create shortcut" "troubleshoot" "remove device" and "properties". When I click "troubleshoot" the diagnostic says that the printer is fine.

What's can I try next? Would it help to remove onenote?