Certainly.
While it used to be difficult to use more than one printer with a PC, these days you can easily connect two or more printers, scanners, and other devices to a single computer.
Using USB
The first thing you have to do is make sure that you have at least one USB port on your system.
One of the main reasons that people can run two or more printers on a single system is the USB port. USB is a communications protocol that works faster and more efficiently than the parallel connections that used to be the main port for connecting printers to computers.
Almost all computers sold today come with more than one USB port -- often, three or four or more. If that's the case (or if your older printer uses your computer's parallel port), then you can simply use a free USB port to connect your new printer to your computer.
If you don't have a free port, don't worry -- you can still get that second printer. It's possible -- even common -- to hook up more than one device to each USB port. For that, all you need is a USB multi-port hub. These hubs are relatively inexpensive -- the cost usually depends on how many ports they support, and whether they have an A/C (electrical) connection.
(The A/C is more for your devices than for the hub itself. While some devices can get enough power through the hub itself, others, many of which are printers, may need more -- so when shopping for a hub, look for one that has an A/C connection.)
Once you have a USB port, you just plug it into your computer's USB port, and then plug in your devices.
Some devices don't work well with hubs, and demand their own USB port. (If you have a wireless network, for example, the hardware may not work with a shared USB.) If you're having problems, just mix and match your devices with your port and hub, until you find a combination that works.
The Driver's Seat
Once you've established that you have a way to connect your printer to your system, then you can proceed with the installation -- just follow the instructions that come with your printer.
During that process, you will invariably install a new printer driver -- the software that helps your printer communication with your PC. You can have more than one printer driver installed on your computer -- in fact, when I had a job testing printers, I had upwards of 20 on my computer at one time. Once the driver is installed, you can then use either printer with the software applications on your PC. Just remember to check which printer is in use when you go to the File/Print choices on your menu. The printer is usually named in a box near the top of the pop-up window; if it's not the printer you want, click on the box to get the pull-down menu and select the right printer.
Occasionally, there will be a problem with the second printer driver. Sometimes, badly coded software can play games with your system -- for example, I once had a problem when I had two Canon printers running at the same time, one of which was using an older driver. If you suspect there is a problem, call your manufacturer's product support. And don't let them tell you it's just because you have two printers -- remember, even Microsoft says that you can have several printer drivers on your system.
Choosing A Default Driver
If you have two or more printers, then one of your printers is usually designated as the "default" printer -- in other words, the one that will be automatically chosen by your software when it comes time to print. If the default printer is not currently the one that you use most often, it's very easy to change.
Go to your Control Panel and choose Printers. You will get a window with a selection of all the printers you have installed. If you are showing the icons (rather than a simple text list), the printer that is currently the default will have a check mark added to it.
Select the icon, or name, that represents the printer you want to be the default. Right-click on it, and look for the menu choice "Set as default." Select that, and the new printer will now come up automatically as your first choice when you print.
