shared printer WinXP Workgroup

[Guest]

Hi,

I have a netowrk with 20 computers, some Win XP Pro, and most of them WinXP
Pro.

One of the WinXP Home machines has a shared USB printer, so all users in the
network use it. We are all in the same Workgroup. The problem is that in the
middle of the day, some machines cannot print, because it gives an error that
the machine sharing the printer can't accept more conections.

Is there some way to reset this connections every 10 minutes por example or
any other solution to this problem?, I read somewhere that a WinXP can't
accept more than 5 connections, but not sure, it's just a shared printer...

Any Advice? thanks..

 

[John John]

XP Pro can have a maximum of ten concurrent connections, XP home can
have a maximum of 5. Move the printer to an XP Pro machine, it will
alleviate the problem a bit. A simple and cost effective solution to
your problem would be to get a print server for the printer.

John

 

[Guest]

OK I already know what u've written, I even wrote it in my post..

I can't change the printer to a WinXP Pro neither a I can get a print
server. I would like to reset the conections with a command or a registry key
or whatever. My problem is solved everytime I restart the XP Home machine,
because it resets the conections, and the error doesn't happen again until 5
users print..

I would like a command to reset the conections withour restarting?.. Does
anyone know it??

Thanks..

 

[John John]

Other than writing "... I read somewhere that a WinXP can't accept more
than 5 connections..." you wrote none of what I said in my post and your
statement was only half correct. Other than the previous
recommendations you can restrict the nul sessions on the box hosting the
printer.

John

 

[Guest]

OK I'm sorry .. my bad..

Do you think the command "net session /delete /yes" will do the deal?.. the
problm with this is it must be ran manually everytime this happens..

Ca you tell me how to restrict the null sessions u're talking about without
disabling the priting service??..

Thanks..

 

[John John]

Killing sessions is one (ackward) way of making room for new sessions.
To kill all the sessions at once you can stop the server service (net
stop server) These are pretty crude and inconvenient ways of trying to
cope with the problem. Put a restrictions on the null sessions and see
if it helps:

Troubleshooting Server Message Block inbound connection limit in Windows
peer-to-peer workgroup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328459/

John

 

[Guest]

man.. thanks but I had already seen that website.. Dunno if u've read it but
it says..

Method 2
Use the following method to avoid null session connections that have a high
session idle time and that have opened a handle to the named pipe
\PIPE\spoolss.
Remove Printer Share on Clients
Identify clients that have local printer shares enabled (see the "More
Information" section for additional information) and remove all local printer
shares on these computers:
1. Open the Printers folder to verify whether you have shared a local printer.
2. Open the Properties window of the shared printer, and then click Sharing.
3. Click to select the Not Shared option.

If I disable the printer sharing.. hmm I think I wnt be able to share the
printer..

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi,

I have a netowrk with 20 computers, some Win XP Pro, and most of them
WinXP Pro.

One of the WinXP Home machines has a shared USB printer, so all users
in the network use it. We are all in the same Workgroup. The problem
is that in the middle of the day, some machines cannot print, because
it gives an error that the machine sharing the printer can't accept
more conections.

Is there some way to reset this connections every 10 minutes por
example or any other solution to this problem?, I read somewhere that
a WinXP can't accept more than 5 connections, but not sure, it's just
a shared printer...

XP Professional is limited to a maximum of 10 simultaneous connections and
XP Home to a maximum of five. If you have a 20-computer network, you are way
beyond the capabilities of a Windows XP workgroup. You should be in a server
(domain) environment, not a workgroup one.

 

[John John]

Do method 1 on the box hosting the printer.

John

man.. thanks but I had already seen that website.. Dunno if u've read it but
it says..

Method 2
Use the following method to avoid null session connections that have a high
session idle time and that have opened a handle to the named pipe
\PIPE\spoolss.
Remove Printer Share on Clients
Identify clients that have local printer shares enabled (see the "More
Information" section for additional information) and remove all local printer
shares on these computers:
1. Open the Printers folder to verify whether you have shared a local printer.
2. Open the Properties window of the shared printer, and then click Sharing.
3. Click to select the Not Shared option.

If I disable the printer sharing.. hmm I think I wnt be able to share the
printer..

:

 

[Guest]

Ok, actuallly we have 3 Windows Server 2003 machines, but the printer is at
the entrance of the office atached to the receptionist's computer, and she
has windows XP Home. We just want to share this printer, and she can't join
the domain because she has Win XP Home, so we have a workgroup, and we've
already spent so much in license, I can't keep on buying licenses for every
computer we buy with WinXP Home OEM. And anyway I don't need more the 5
simultaneos conections, I just want to disconnect a a cliente after it prints
the job. That simple! u're telling me I can't share a simple printer??!!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ok, actuallly we have 3 Windows Server 2003 machines, but the printer
is at the entrance of the office atached to the receptionist's
computer, and she has windows XP Home. We just want to share this
printer, and she can't join the domain because she has Win XP Home,
so we have a workgroup, and we've already spent so much in license, I
can't keep on buying licenses for every computer we buy with WinXP
Home OEM. And anyway I don't need more the 5 simultaneos conections,
I just want to disconnect a a cliente after it prints the job. That
simple! u're telling me I can't share a simple printer??!!

Sorry, I don't anything about disconnecting, but I'm sure someone else here
can tell you whether it's possible, and if so, how.