Problem with shared printer

[SteveShark]

I'm coming out of lurk mode to ask for help. I don't have enough hair
left to tear out any more..........

I have a W2K desktop system with a Netgear DGB34G router. Connected
via USB is an Epson RX520. I'm trying to get a laptop running Vista
Home Premium to print with no success, although an XP laptop has no
problems.

The Vista laptop keeps asking for an updated printer driver, although
I've installed all updated drivers both in the desktop and the Vista
laptop.

The wireless connection between the Vista laptop and the rest of the
network is fine - everything sees everything else and I can surf the
interweb from the Vista machine with no problems.

Is this an example of Vista incompatibility, user stupidity or
something else?

I've searched as much as I can elsewhere but I can't find anything
else useful to try.

Many TIA.

Steve.

 

[TJ]

I'm coming out of lurk mode to ask for help. I don't have enough hair
left to tear out any more..........

I have a W2K desktop system with a Netgear DGB34G router. Connected
via USB is an Epson RX520. I'm trying to get a laptop running Vista
Home Premium to print with no success, although an XP laptop has no
problems.

The Vista laptop keeps asking for an updated printer driver, although
I've installed all updated drivers both in the desktop and the Vista
laptop.

The wireless connection between the Vista laptop and the rest of the
network is fine - everything sees everything else and I can surf the
interweb from the Vista machine with no problems.

Is this an example of Vista incompatibility, user stupidity or
something else?

I've searched as much as I can elsewhere but I can't find anything
else useful to try.

Many TIA.

Steve.

I probably won't be much help, but I'll try anyway. You've no doubt
considered all this stuff already, but none of us is perfect and it's
usually the simple, stupid stuff that gets us.

Logic says that if the XP laptop has no problems, the difficulty rests
with the Vista laptop, probably with Vista itself. My knowledge of
Windows is with an ancient version, but have you tried uninstalling the
printer driver before installing the newer one? It was important with
the older Windows. Also, are you sure Vista has properly identified the
printer? Or maybe Vista is looking for a driver to communicate with the
W2K computer's usb system, not necessarily the printer itself. The fact
that you can access the Internet indicates you're probably communicating
with the router ok, but not necessarily that you're communicating with
the rest of the network. There's a long line of communication there, and
I can imagine a break anywhere along the line could turn up in Vista
identified as a printer problem.

TJ

 

[SteveShark]

I probably won't be much help, but I'll try anyway. You've no doubt
considered all this stuff already, but none of us is perfect and it's
usually the simple, stupid stuff that gets us.

Logic says that if the XP laptop has no problems, the difficulty rests
with the Vista laptop, probably with Vista itself. My knowledge of
Windows is with an ancient version, but have you tried uninstalling the
printer driver before installing the newer one? It was important with
the older Windows. Also, are you sure Vista has properly identified the
printer? Or maybe Vista is looking for a driver to communicate with the
W2K computer's usb system, not necessarily the printer itself. The fact
that you can access the Internet indicates you're probably communicating
with the router ok, but not necessarily that you're communicating with
the rest of the network. There's a long line of communication there, and
I can imagine a break anywhere along the line could turn up in Vista
identified as a printer problem.

Many thanks for your reply.

Yes, I'm thinking driver issues here in view of Vista's reputation in
this area, although the printer is supposed to be supported.

I hadn't considered the USB angle though, so I'll now follow that lead
after a complete uninstall and then reinstall of all printer drivers
in both machines as if I was setting up the printer from scratch.

Many thanks again,

Steve.