Rename a printer in Windows Vista (Changing names of local printers)
By default, when your first plugin a printer to your computer, Windows Vista will use the printer's hardware profile to determine the make and model of the printer, and assign it. From then on, the Print dialog and the Control Panel's listing of printers will show the printer under its official name, something like "HP DeskJet [model name]".
Unless you have a single printer connected to your computer or local network, memorizing printer model names and numbers can become cumbersome: fortunately, Windows Vista lets your rename printers as you wish; you may want to change the name of the living room's printer to something easy, like "Living Room Printer". This tutorial shows you how to assign custom names to your printers in less than a minute.
Accessing your printers in Windows Vista
To quickly access the Printers folder that displays all the local printers, network printers, and print drivers available to Windows Vista, click on the Start Menu, type printers and hit Enter.
Windows Vista will open in Windows Explorer a complete listing of printers currently available to the system, with the default printer displayed with a green checkmark next to its icon.
If you use Windows Vista's Classic Start Menu, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Printers.
Depending on how your network is setup, what "privileges" you have as the network user, etc. you may not be able to rename network printers. For printers directly connected to your computer, however, you should have no problems changing printers' names, even if you are not logged in as an Administrator (a Windows user with plenty of rights).
Renaming your printer
Once Windows Vista has opened the Printers window that contains the list of printers it detected as plugged into your computer and on your local network, locate the printer whose name you want to change and click on it. You now have several ways to rename the printer.
Keyboard shortcut to rename a printer
The fastest is to hit the F2 key on your keyboard: the F2 key is the standard keyboard shortcuts for renaming files, folders (and printers!) Hitting F2 will make the printer name editable: type the new printer name, and hit Enter.
Right-click to rename printers
Another way is to right-click on the printer icon, and choose Rename from the context menu that opened.
Type the printer's new name, and hit Enter to keep your choice; your printer has been renamed.
Renaming a printer from Windows Explorer's toolbar
Yet another way to rename a printer is to select the printer, and click on the Rename this printer button that appeared in Windows Explorer's toolbar. All these ways amount to the same effect, and are just a matter of personal preference.
Once you have chosen a new name for your printer, you can close the Printers window and resume working on whatever you were doing: the next time you need to print a document, the printer you just renamed will appear listed with the new name you picked. Since programs all go through the operating system (Windows Vista) to connect with printers, you only need to change the printer's name one time, and the change will be applied and visible from everywhere!
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