Does the firewall need to be on when installing printer?

Assuming that you're talking about a "standard" printer, then the firewall is completely irrelevant - it only affects network communications, not USB, parallel or anything else.

It isn't possible to tell you how to install the printer (other than RTFM) because you haven't provided any useful information at all:

- Which version of Windows (assuming that you're using Windows!)
- Which printer
- What connection type (USB or parallel - probably USB)
- What is giving the error message; you say "printer says", but I'm unaware of any printers with voice output.

Please forgive my abruptness, but for heaven's sake, it isn't possible to answer questions that don't supply basic information. The only answer that can be given is "it looks as if the printer can't communicate with the computer", which is exactly what the error message says. But without knowing how it's *trying* to communicate, how on earth can someone tell you how to fix it?

BOFH
December 2007