Setting up a Print Share

[LG]

I am a home user - Windows 2000.

I have a desktop PC hooked to an old laser printer by a
standard printer cable. It is not specifically a
networked printer.

I also have a wireless LAN set up which is used by a
notebook computer in another room.

How do I set things up so that the notebook computer can
print to the printer connected to my PC? Can it print
directly? Do I need to first transder files from the
notebook to the desktop and then print?

Whats the best way to achieve this without buying new
equipment?

Thanks for the help.

 

[David Dickinson]

What are the operating systems on the other machines?

On the Windows 2000 host, right-click the printer and configure Sharing. If
you use the Add Printer wizard on a network client, it should be able to
detect that the printer is being shared given:

1) that the User ID exists on both machines and has permission to access the
printer on the host,

2) the host's security settings permit access to the printer via the
network, and

3) the network is configured to allow communication between computers on the
LAN.

If you can see the host in the client's My Network Places or Network
Neighborhood, then you should be able to access the host's printer.

One other thing: The host undoubtedly has the Windows 2000 driver for the
printer. If the printer requires different drivers for Windows 98/ME/XP/2K3
and the client is NOT a Windows 2000 machine, then you'll either have to
load those drivers on the host (right-click the printer, select Properties,
click the Sharing tab, click the Additional Drivers button) or have the
correct driver available to install on the client. If you use the setup
disk on the client, just tell the setup program that the printer is located
at \\HostComputerName\PrinterShareName rather than on LPT1:

 

[LG]

Thanks.

I think I have a more basic question which is how do I set
up the network to allow communications between the 2
computers?

Both are running Windows 2000 but I dont have the first
idea how to set them up so they can share or communicate
with one another...

 

[David Dickinson]

I'll assume that you have the necessary hardware: a network interface on
each machine and either a crossover cable or a hub connecting them.

1. On both machines, in Control Panel\System, on the Network Identification
tab, give each machine a unique name and make them a member of the same
workgroup. If you change these items, you'll have to restart the machine.

2. On both machines, right-click My Network Places and left-click
Properties.

3. Right-click on the Local Area Connection. (If there is more than one,
click the one for the network interface for your LAN.) Left-click
Properties. The Local Area Connection Properties dialog box appears.

4. Make sure that these items are installed:
a. Client for Microsoft Networks
b. File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
c. Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

If any of these items are missing, click the Install button to install
them.

5. Click Internet Protocol and then click the Properties button. Its
Properties dialog box will appear.

6. On both machines, click the radio button next to "Use the following IP
address". Assign one machine the address 192.168.0.1 and give the other
192.168.0.2. The subnet mask will automatically be filled in if you press
the tab key, but it should be 255.255.255.0. It is not necessary to put
anything else in the other fields.

7. Click the Advanced button and then the WINS tab on the Advanced TCP/IP
Settings dialog that will appear.

NOTE: If you plan to use Internet Connection Sharing, skip steps 5 through
7. The Internet Protocol Properties for machine (the "client") which will
connect through the other (the "server") should be set up to "Obtain an IP
address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically".

8. If you will not be using Internet Connection Sharing, on both machines
click the radio button next to "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP." If you will be
using Internet Connection Sharing, do this only on the "server". On the
"client", use the "Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP Server".

Click the OK buttons.

If you now double-click My Network Places\Computers Near Me, you should be
able to see both machines. If not, then some default settings were not used
someplace or you have some other problem.

 

[LG]

Thanks for all the help Dan.

They are both hooked into the same wireless LAN - should
that be sufficient for the steps you describe?

 

[LG]

Thanks for your help David. I followed these instructions
(I think) and Im almost there...

The client computer, when I click on Computers Near Me, is
seeing the host as present. However, when I click on
Computers Near Me on the host/server computer, I get the
following message:

"<WorkgroupName> is not accessible. The list of servers
for this workgroup is currently not available."

Any idea what Im doing wrong?

One other thing that I didnt understand: I am using
Internet Connection Sharing so do I do step 6 in yoru
instructions below on the Host/Server at all? Or do I
just leave it as "Automatic IP"? When I tried to use the
IP address you suggested it told me it was already in use
in the network (dont know where that could be)...

Any thoughts?