Network Printers

[TonyK]

Until a few months ago I had a HP laserjet 4, a HP laserjet 5 and a QMS
Desklaser all happily connected to my LAN which also included 4 computers
with W98SE installed.
As I moved over to XP PRO I encountered many problems (which were not
resolved after a lot of time spent on relevant NGs).
Accordingly I reverted to the "LPT" route.
I now have all my computers on XP PRO and would like to re-connect my
printers direct to the LAN.
I seem to have forgotten how this was done before - I suspect I was in
control with W98, whereas I feel powerless with XP. It seems to me that if
XP doesn't do the job first time, there is no way the user can do so.
My printers still have their IP adress installed in their respective
hardware and I have confirmed this.
I would urgently like to re-connect my QMS, which has address of
192.168.1.n, mask is 255.255.255.0 and router is correct at 192.168.1.1. The
cable is connected, printer on and light is showing on router (Draytek Vigor
2600).
Please help me to instal this printer as a first step.
Thanks.

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Until a few months ago I had a HP laserjet 4, a HP laserjet 5 and a QMS
Desklaser all happily connected to my LAN which also included 4 computers
with W98SE installed.
As I moved over to XP PRO I encountered many problems (which were not
resolved after a lot of time spent on relevant NGs).
Accordingly I reverted to the "LPT" route.
I now have all my computers on XP PRO and would like to re-connect my
printers direct to the LAN.
I seem to have forgotten how this was done before - I suspect I was in
control with W98, whereas I feel powerless with XP. It seems to me that if
XP doesn't do the job first time, there is no way the user can do so.
My printers still have their IP adress installed in their respective
hardware and I have confirmed this.
I would urgently like to re-connect my QMS, which has address of
192.168.1.n, mask is 255.255.255.0 and router is correct at 192.168.1.1. The
cable is connected, printer on and light is showing on router (Draytek Vigor
2600).
Please help me to instal this printer as a first step.
Thanks.

The steps that have usually worked for me are to open the Printers
window, click on add a new printer, select local printer, select create
a new port, select standard tcp/ip port, and enter the tcp/ip address.

 

[TonyK]

Michael.
Thanks for reply. I agree and that's what I have done. I'll give you an
example. I have a HP LJ4 (192.168.1.n) which does not show in Printers
Configuration. When I go through the routine I get "A port with that name
already exists. Choose another port name". I suppose I could choose annother
port and it would be no great trouble to reconfigure the printer at printer
console. But how then do I get rid of what would be an unused IP?
When working under W98SE I had this and other printers working without
trouble. It is only since I moved to XP that I am having problems.

Tony

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Michael.
Thanks for reply. I agree and that's what I have done. I'll give you an
example. I have a HP LJ4 (192.168.1.n) which does not show in Printers
Configuration. When I go through the routine I get "A port with that name
already exists. Choose another port name". I suppose I could choose annother
port and it would be no great trouble to reconfigure the printer at printer
console. But how then do I get rid of what would be an unused IP?
When working under W98SE I had this and other printers working without
trouble. It is only since I moved to XP that I am having problems.

You could set up the printer using the LPT port and don't print a test
page. Then go into the printer's properties and select the Ports tab.
From there you can delete check the configuration of the port you are
having problems with or delete it. Then change the port for the printer
to the correct one and see if that works.
If you are still having problems try pinging the printer and check to
make sure that you don't have a firewall blocking the port.

 

[Ryan]

Michael.
Thanks for reply. I agree and that's what I have done. I'll give you
an example. I have a HP LJ4 (192.168.1.n) which does not show in
Printers Configuration. When I go through the routine I get "A port
with that name already exists. Choose another port name". I suppose I
could choose annother port and it would be no great trouble to
reconfigure the printer at printer console. But how then do I get rid
of what would be an unused IP? When working under W98SE I had this and
other printers working without trouble. It is only since I moved to XP
that I am having problems.

Tony

Tony,

If you get the message, "A port with that name already exists..." then
you should not be selecting "Create a new port:" in the Add Printer
Wizard. You should be able to find the port you want under "Use the
following port:"

Ryan