How do I connect a network printer to my XP system?

[Larry Woods]

I give up! I have tried EVERYTHING to connect a printer that is physically
on another computer (Windows 2000 Pro) on my network to my XP computer. I
got it connected once (Don't ask me how I did it!) but then it went away in
about a day. In fact I can't view the other computer from my XP computer at
all. I tried connecting the computers and the XP told me that I had to run
some sort of network program on the Windows 2000 Pro computer but when I
tried running this program on the Win 2000 computer I got a message that
said that could only run this program on an XP system!!!

??????????????????

TIA,

Larry Woods
NOT a fan of XP!

 

[Malke]

I give up! I have tried EVERYTHING to connect a printer that is
physically
on another computer (Windows 2000 Pro) on my network to my XP
computer. I got it connected once (Don't ask me how I did it!) but
then it went away in
about a day. In fact I can't view the other computer from my XP
computer at
all. I tried connecting the computers and the XP told me that I had
to run some sort of network program on the Windows 2000 Pro computer
but when I tried running this program on the Win 2000 computer I got a
message that said that could only run this program on an XP system!!!

Take a deep cleansing breath. Now, you haven't told us how your network
is set up. Ethernet? Router? How many computers, just the two? It
sounds to me like your network is not set up properly. Assuming you are
using a router:

1. On the Win2k box make user accounts/passwords identical to those on
the WinXP box. Share out desired resources, including the printer.

2. Make sure both computers are in the same Workgroup and same subnet
(i.e., 192.168.1.xxx) and have unique computer names. Do not name
computers the same as user accounts. In other words, if you have a user
account named "Larry", do not name one of your computers "Larry".

3. Here are links to networking sites:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/
http://www.wown.info/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

If you need more help, then please post back to this thread with details
about how your network is set up.

Malke

 

[Larry Woods]

O.K., here is "the rest of the story."

There are TWO other computers on the network. The network is centered in a
Linksys Wireless Hub, with the two other computers, both Win 2000 Pro,
connected into the hub via wire. The XP is wirelessly connected. The hub
also connects to a cable modem. The login name on the XP is NOT the same
as the login of either of the other two Win 2000 computers, but all
computers have administrative privileges. I have no problems with the XP
communicating with the Internet.

Additional advice, suggestions?

TIA,

Larry Woods

 

[Malke]

O.K., here is "the rest of the story."

There are TWO other computers on the network. The network is centered
in a Linksys Wireless Hub, with the two other computers, both Win 2000
Pro,
connected into the hub via wire. The XP is wirelessly connected. The
hub
also connects to a cable modem. The login name on the XP is NOT the
same as the login of either of the other two Win 2000 computers, but
all
computers have administrative privileges. I have no problems with the
XP communicating with the Internet.

Are you sure this is a hub and not a router? There is a big difference.
If a hub, then I assume you have assigned static ip's on everything. If
a router, you are probably getting ip's with dhcp from the router.
Again, you need to make sure that you have added user accounts to the
Win2k box that match the ones on other computers. Again, are all
computers in the same workgroup and on the same subnet? Can all the
computers see each other in My Network Places/Neighborhood? Can they
all ping each other? To which machine is the printer connected locally?
What result do you get on the Win2k box when you run ipconfig /all? On
the XP boxen? That's the sort of thing I mean when I say you haven't
described your network.

This is not an XP issue - you've got something set up wrong. I have an
ethernet network with 4 XP boxen, 2 Linux boxen, Win98, and Win2k and a
wirelessly connected laptop all sharing 3 printers - a
network-connected laserjet and two inkjets connected locally to two of
the XP boxen.

Either spend some time reading at the networking links I gave you (and
here they are again for your convenience), or post back with some real
details about network setup so I can help you, or have a local pro come
over and set you up properly.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/
http://www.wown.info/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

Malke

 

[Larry Woods]

It is a router: Linksys Wireless Router. I have assigned static IP's,
though. I'll respond with the additional info later, but...

Are you telling me that if I log onto the XP computer as "Sam" that I need a
user defined as "Sam" on my Win 2000 computer, with printer? And, if I have
defined a second user on my XP system, say "Bill", then I also need a user
defined as "Bill" on my Win 2000 computer? And, could you point me to a
good source to try to understand why XP is so complicated to setup while I
have my Win 2000 computer "jabbering" to each other with NO problems,
including sharing printers, etc. And these computers are logged in using
different user names.

Thanks again for your patience....

Larry Woods

 

[Larry Woods]

I can't ping Win 2000 -> XP but I CAN ping XP -> Win 2000. Also, I need to
tell you that I have good ol' Norton security on all computers. This could
be a problem, also, right?

TIA,

Larry Woods

 

[Malke]

It is a router: Linksys Wireless Router. I have assigned static IP's,
though. I'll respond with the additional info later, but...

Are you telling me that if I log onto the XP computer as "Sam" that I
need a
user defined as "Sam" on my Win 2000 computer, with printer? And, if
I have defined a second user on my XP system, say "Bill", then I also
need a user
defined as "Bill" on my Win 2000 computer? And, could you point me to
a good source to try to understand why XP is so complicated to setup
while I have my Win 2000 computer "jabbering" to each other with NO
problems,
including sharing printers, etc. And these computers are logged in
using different user names.

Yes, in a workgroup setup Win2k needs to have all user accounts with
identical passwords created. It needs to authenticate the users asking
to access resources, and that's how it is done in Win2k in a workgroup
(as opposed to a domain, which you don't need). You don't need to be
logged in as the same user on all computers, of course, but you do need
those users to be in the Win2k system. You probably didn't run into the
problem before when you were just using Win9x boxen because those
older, non-NT operating systems don't have real user accounts,
permissions, etc. More sophisticated operating systems like NT-based
ones (NT, Win2k, XP) and Linux/Unix do.

XP isn't complicated to set up, and I did give you good sources to
understand networking. Here they are again, for the third time:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/
http://www.wown.info/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

Smallnetbuilder is particularly good as it is Dr. Tom's site, of the
famous www.tomshardware.com.

Malke

 

[Larry Woods]

Thanks, Malke,

I should be able to take it from here. Sorry for the "Hardheadedness" but I
am really getting tired of moving to new O/S's...just about the time that I
get the previous one running effeciently.

Larry Woods

 

[Malke]

Thanks, Malke,

I should be able to take it from here. Sorry for the "Hardheadedness"
but I am really getting tired of moving to new O/S's...just about the
time that I get the previous one running effeciently.

Yes, I understand that you just want to get on with things, but that's
just the reality of working with computers. Computers are complex and
setting up a network is not the same as plugging in a toaster. If you
don't want to deal with this yourself - and there is no shame in
admitting that - then hire a professional to come in and set things up
for you. Balance what your time and happiness is worth against what a
few hours' worth of tech support will cost.

Good luck,

Malke