AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURING THE SETTINGS OF PERIPHERAL DEVICES

1 . A system for configuring the settings of a peripheral device, the system comprising:

a host device including memory for storing at least an operating system and a peripheral device driver; and

a peripheral device adapted to perform at least one function in response to receiving instructions from the host device;

wherein the peripheral device driver is adapted to determine when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with the host device;

wherein, when the peripheral device is determined to be powered up and in communication with the host device, the peripheral device driver is further adapted to read configuration settings associated with the operating system; and

wherein the host device further includes an interface adapted to communicate the configuration settings associated with the operating system to the peripheral device for configuring the peripheral device.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device is a printer or label printer.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the host device is a workstation or laptop computer.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the configuration settings associated with the operating system include parameters related to language, date, time, time zone, and a daylight savings setting.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the configuration settings associated with the operating system include geographic region parameters, network environment parameters, and/or unit of measurement parameters.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the host device communicates with the peripheral device via a wired connection using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the peripheral device driver determines when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with the host device by analyzing a connection event related to the USB interface.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second host device including memory for storing at least a second operating system and a second peripheral device driver, wherein the peripheral device is adapted to perform at least one function in response to receiving instructions from the second host device, wherein the second peripheral device driver is adapted to determine when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with the second host device, wherein, when the peripheral device is determined to be powered up and in communication with the second host device, the second peripheral device driver is further adapted to read a second set of configuration settings associated with the second operating system and communicate the second set of configuration settings to the peripheral device for reconfiguring the peripheral device.

9 . A printer driver incorporated in a host device, the printer driver comprising:

a first set of logic functions for determining when a printer is powered up and in communication with the host device;

a second set of logic functions for reading configuration settings associated with an operating system of the host device when the printer is determined to be powered up and in communication with the host device;

a third set of logic functions for communicating the configuration settings associated with the operating system of the host device to the printer for configuring the printer.

10 . The printer driver of claim 9 , wherein the printer is adapted to perform at least one printing function in response to receiving instructions from the host device.

11 . The printer driver of claim 9 , wherein the host device is a workstation or laptop computer.

12 . The printer driver of claim 9 , wherein the configuration settings associated with the operating system include network environment parameters and/or geographic-related parameters of language, date, time, and time zone.

13 . The printer driver of claim 9 , wherein the host device communicates with the printer via a wired connection using at least one Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

14 . The printer driver of claim 13 , wherein the first set of logic functions determines when the printer is powered up and in communication with the host device by analyzing a connection event related to the at least one USB interface.

15 . A method for configuring the settings of a peripheral device, the method comprising the steps of:

determining when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with a host device;

reading configuration settings associated with an operating system of the host device when the peripheral device is determined to be powered up and in communication with the host device; and

communicating the configuration settings associated with the operating system of the host device to the peripheral device for configuring the settings of the peripheral device.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the peripheral device is a printer or label printer and the host device is a workstation or laptop computer.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the configuration settings associated with the operating system of the host device include parameters related to the geographic region of the host device, parameters related to the network environment of the host device, and/or parameters related to a unit of measurement used by the host device.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of connecting the host device to the peripheral device using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the step of determining when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with a host device further comprises analyzing a connection event related to the USB interface.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the steps of:

determining when the peripheral device is powered up and in communication with a second host device;

reading a second set of configuration settings associated with a second operating system associated with the second host device; and

communicating the second set of configuration settings to the peripheral device for reconfiguring the settings of the peripheral device.