setting up a shared printer on xp pro

[cat1947]

I know that this is a simple question, but I seem to having some trouble setting this up. I have an XP pro on a desktop with a shared printer. I am trying to access the shared printer with a laptop that has win 2000 on it.
Both computers are in the same work group and I have the printer shared. When I try and install the printer on the laptop I cannot see the shared printer. I can see the computer but I can't see the printer let alone connect to it.
Do I have to set up the login on the laptop as a local user on the xp machine.
Thanks in advance for the help.
CAT

[JohnE.]

Did you install the printers drivers on the Win2K machine first? If you did, try uninstalling them, then go to Printers on the Win2K box, delete the default printer, (if any) and then use the "Add Printer" instead... you'll get the option to install a Network printer and then you can browse for the shared printer and it'll install the drivers from the WinXP box. I just did this yesterday and it worked for me on 2 WinXP boxes.

[cat1947]

No I didn't install the drivers on the win2000 box And I was using the printer wizard on the win2000 box. the problem is that the shared printer doesn't show up in the printer wizard. The xp machine does but the printer doesn't.
The question I have is do I have to set up a user on the xp machine that matches the user on the laptop to see the shared printer on the xp machine.

[rrcn]

If you have a firewall running on your desktop, you will need to disable it or add the IP address of the laptop to the firewall as a trusted zone. Otherwise you will not see the printer. This happened to me and it took me two weeks to figure that out.

[muno]

The easiest way to set it up, would probably be to type \\<xpcomputername> in explorer, and when it finishes looking for it's shares, right click the shared printer and select install.

If you don't see a printer shared, it isn't.

[JohnE.]

To answer your question, "The question I have is do I have to set up a user on the xp machine that matches the user on the laptop to see the shared printer on the xp machine." - no, not under normal circumstances. It's supposed to work the way myself and others have described and how you've probably tried to do it.

One idea... when you go to "Add Printer" are you not seeing a share name in the dialog box when you select the "Connect to this printer" (or something similar in Win2K) option? If that's the case, you won't see a share name there until you click "Next" or "Browse for a printer", only then does a list of all the shared printers on the network appear (hopefully). Maybe you're doing it correctly and there's some other problem (firewall, driver install gone bad, etc.) but what I mentioned kinda messed me up too... I didn't see the share name either at first so I thought there was a problem until I clicked "Next".

[cat1947]

I decided to go home and try this on my network. The only difference is two xp machines and not a win2000.
Shared printer on one and tried to install the printer on the other .
No go. The printer doesn't show up in the shares. I made a new user on the one sharing the printer that is the same as the user on the computer that i am trying to install the printer. Now I can see the shared printer.
One thing to remember this is a workgroup not a domain.
I guess I will go back to the customer and make a new user on the sharing machine the same as the user on the laptop.
Any other thoughts.
Thanks
CAT

[LeftCoast]

Like rrcn, I think your problem may well lie in your firewall file/printer share settings...

[curiouslybaffled]

sharing or any kind of access beteen xp, 98, me, to a 2k machine is very difficult I find. The xp and 98 and me and even linux machines will share long before you get access to a w2k , you get sort of used to the way you just click share this folder or piece of equipment in the others and then in w2k there is every kind of hoop to jump through and most of the time you can't get through,I don't know what the idiot machine wants,I click share It says ok, I try to access it, and it wants a password, there aren't any , did set any , don't want any , but it does, so I set one, and thats not the right one, so I don't know what one it wants and it won't tell me LOL . So I gave the damn thing its own printer so I don't have to mess trying to get it to use a shared one. Anything it needs comes on disc or internet.Too fustrating. Heck I got longhorn to share when w2k wouldn't

[nodnerb2]

Hi,

I did this the other way around.

I had my Laptop with XP Pro hooked with a crossover cable to Win 2k Desktop sharing an Epson C82 Printer that is installed on the W2K Machine.

In the W2K Machine I set the sharing permission on the printer and then on the XP Machine pointed it at it when I wanted to use it.

In the printers folder on the XP Machine all the printers are shown as sharing ( I don't recall setting this )and on the W2K One just the Epson C 82 is shown to be sharing.

The one thing I really noticed however was how slow it is to print when sending docs from the Laptop directly to it it takes ages to spool up and get going.

Cheers

Nodnerb2