You clicked next when 'Search for a printer in Active Directory' was checked in the add printer dialog, unless your PC is a domain member on an AD network you did it wrong.
The USB port being taped off is a standard thing on a lot ofprinters where the manufacturer wants you to install their software/driver before you plug in the printer.
It is preferable to use the Ethernet port instead of USB anyway, it's way easier to share the printer around a network that way.
No, I opened Word, clicked File->Print. Then there is the current default printer listed on a button. Click that button to get a drop-down list of available printers, and at the bottom of the list is the Add Printer selection, without any checkmarks or etc.... Click that and I get instant active directory unavailable message. I think that is a MS bug as there are many people having that issue with various solutions.
This is entirely a Windows problem.
An iPad saw the printer and printed NO PROBLEM! No Driver. No Nothing. Why can an Apple app see the printer and print but not a MS app?
MS Stinks...and the chipped toner cartridge stinks too.
But the printer printed something, so Yeah! (I was doing my taxes and that happens on an offline PC - which may end up using the parallel port)
Oh, I recall at work when we got network printers. We just opened Explorer, navigated to the printer on the network, and double clicked the printer and it seemed to become instantly available in all MS apps.