A question about printer sharing

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul Hoffmann
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Paul Hoffmann

Okay, here's the situation:

My household has 2 computers - a Pentium II running Windows 98 and a brand
new Pentium 4 running Windows XP Pro. Both computers have firewalls (the
old one has Tiny Personal Firewall, the new one has Sygate) and both are
connected to the internet via a cable box and router...

Old computer
--Router-----Shaw Cable----Internet
Click to expand...
New Computer
|
Printer

As you can see the new one has a printer connected.

What I would like to do is share the printer with the older Win98 computer.

I have tried working with Win98's 'Network Neighborhood' feature

I have also checked XP Pro's help section and it suggested installing the
printer's win98 driver (which I had some trouble finding and, when I did
find it, XP said it wasn't 'digitally signed', as in, don't bother using
it)

So, does anyone here have any ideas?

As a side note, Norton SystemWorks 2003 is having a problem connecting to
the net (but that's for another thread).

Thanks in advance for your help.

Signed
Paul Hoffmann
 
Hello Paul
You will have to disable the firewall on the XP machine for it is blocking
access from the 98 machine.
You will have to install File and Print Sharing, Client For MS Networks, Net
Bios TCP/IP in the Network Connection Properties.
Then you will need to run the Network Wizard on the XP machine for it is
the host computer, then make a floppy when it ask you to and run the floppy
on the 98 machine.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/addxp.htm

Be sure visit MS Windows Update site and download all the critical updates,
this is for you security and safety.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
 
If you network is already up and running. On the new machine share the
printer. And on the second "add printer" and select network printer.
 
Paul Hoffmann said:
Okay, here's the situation:

My household has 2 computers - a Pentium II running Windows 98 and a brand
new Pentium 4 running Windows XP Pro. Both computers have firewalls (the
old one has Tiny Personal Firewall, the new one has Sygate) and both are
connected to the internet via a cable box and router...

Old computer
New Computer
|
Printer

As you can see the new one has a printer connected.

What I would like to do is share the printer with the older Win98 computer.

I have tried working with Win98's 'Network Neighborhood' feature

I have also checked XP Pro's help section and it suggested installing the
printer's win98 driver (which I had some trouble finding and, when I did
find it, XP said it wasn't 'digitally signed', as in, don't bother using
it)

So, does anyone here have any ideas?

As a side note, Norton SystemWorks 2003 is having a problem connecting to
the net (but that's for another thread).

Thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...

Firewalls can interfere with local file sharing activity. Turn off
the firewall on both computers, at least temporarily. You can also
disconnect the Shaw Cable input to the router if you are concerned,
although the NAT protection found in most routers is fully adequate
for stopping hackers and viruses such as msblast.

On the Windows XP Machine make sure the guest account is active
(Control Panel - User Accounts). Then open Control Panel - Network
Connections. Right-click on the icon for the LAN connection and
select Properties. Make sure that "File and Printer sharing for
Microsoft Networks" is installed.

Next open Control Panel - Printers and Faxes, right-click on the icon
for the printer you want to share and select Sharing. Click on the
"Share this printer" button to select it and then give it a share name
that is understandable to you, is not more than 10 or 12 characters
long, and which contains no blank spaces, punctuation, or other
special characters.


Then on the Windows 98 computer use Control Panel - Printers - Add New
Printer - Network Printer and browse the network to see if the shared
printer on the XP computer shows up.

If the printer is still not showing up check your network
configuration and make sure that the Workgroup name is *exactly* the
same on both computers.
On the Windows XP machine check this in Control Panel - System -
General - Identification.
On the Windows 98 machine check this in Control Panel - Network -
Identification.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
I have a similar setup. I share a printer connected to a WinXP
computer with two Win98se laptops on a network with a router and a
cable modem. I don't have firewalls in any of the computers. The
router provides firewall protection. If I remember correctly, I had to
install printer drivers in the Win98se machines. Then I had to
"install" the printer on each Win98se machine.

Regards, jimbo
 
I gave Mr. Martell's solution a try and it worked like a charm, but I'll be
keeping Haus' solution in mind if any other problems occur.

Thank you all again.

Signed,
Paul Hoffmann
 
I have a similar setup. I share a printer connected to a WinXP
computer with two Win98se laptops on a network with a router and a
cable modem. I don't have firewalls in any of the computers. The
router provides firewall protection. If I remember correctly, I had to
install printer drivers in the Win98se machines. Then I had to
"install" the printer on each Win98se machine.
Click to expand...
You could do it that way, but its also possible to install Additional
Drivers for the XP machine in the Sharing tab of the Printer including
Windows 95,98,2000 or NT4 drivers and when you Connect to the printer
from the 98 machine, it will auto install the drivers from the XP
machine!

Peter Hutchison
Windows FAQ
http://www.pcguru.plus.com/
 
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