Printer sharing questions

[Dennis]

I have a cable connection to the net and use a Linksys 4 port wireless router.
My desktop system is connected to the router via a Ethernet cable and my laptop
is connected to the router with a wireless connection. My printer is connected
to my desktop system. Is it possible for me to share the printer on my desktop
system with my laptop via the wireless connection? It defeats the benefit of
the wireless connection if I need to connect my printer to my laptop directly.
If it is possible to share what is the process to accomplish this? Do I have to
load the printer drivers on my laptop, are there any security concerns, etc.?
And assuming it is possible to share does my desktop system always have to be on
to print from my laptop or can the print data be queued by the spooler until the
desktop system is turned on? Both systems run XP Pro. Any help on this would
be greatly appreciated.

Dennis

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Dennis,

Yes, it's quite possible and quite common. On the desktop (which must be on
for the print function to work), ensure that file and printer sharing for ms
networks is installed in the properties of your network connection.
Right-click the printer in the printers folder and select properties. Go to
the sharing tab and allow it to be accessed. Both systems should also be in
the same workgroup (the default is mshome).

From the laptop, go to the printers folder, use the add printer wizard.
Select network printer, then use the browse option to select the printer
attached to the other machine.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Dennis]

Hi Dennis,

Yes, it's quite possible and quite common. On the desktop (which must be on
for the print function to work), ensure that file and printer sharing for ms
networks is installed in the properties of your network connection.
Right-click the printer in the printers folder and select properties. Go to
the sharing tab and allow it to be accessed. Both systems should also be in
the same workgroup (the default is mshome).

From the laptop, go to the printers folder, use the add printer wizard.
Select network printer, then use the browse option to select the printer
attached to the other machine.

Rick thanks for your reply. For the life of me I still can't get this working
though. On the desktop system I went through the network connection wizard and
the printer is set to be shared. Both systems are in workgroup MSHOME but when
I try to add the printer on the laptop system it says it can't connect to the
printer. Do I also have to go through the network wizard on the laptop system?
That I did not do. Your help is appreciated.

Dennis

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Dennis,

Do you see the printer when you browse the network neighborhood? Is so, then
this is a sharing error. Don't use the wizard, but rather check the settings
in the properties of the printer from the printers folder.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone