Shared Printer Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter tymcconnell
  • Start date Start date
Forgive me, but I'm new to all this.

Question: What does "O/Ses" mean?

Question: How can I tell if the two computers are in the same Workgroup?

3) The computers are connected by a router on a wireless connection.

4) Yes, the "host" computer is connected to the Canon printer by a USB port.
(I think that's part of the problem. I don't know which port it is. It's the
first port on the lower-left side of my Hewlett-Packard Home Premium
computer, next to the "Digital Media Slot."

I hope this helps, a little.
 
Ty McConnell wrote:

Answers inline:
Question: What does "O/Ses" mean?

Operating Systems.
Question: How can I tell if the two computers are in the same Workgroup?

Vista - System>Advanced Settings (provide elevation authority)>Computer
Name.
XP - System>Computer Name tab.

3) The computers are connected by a router on a wireless connection.

4) Yes, the "host" computer is connected to the Canon printer by a USB
port. (I think that's part of the problem. I don't know which port it is.
It's the first port on the lower-left side of my Hewlett-Packard Home
Premium computer, next to the "Digital Media Slot."

Your issue has nothing to do with ports. It is that you need to set up
file/printer sharing and then install the correct drivers for your printer
on the Vista machine. See below for general networking steps.

=====
Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
third-party firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall. DO
NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances,
certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside
of this response.
=====

Malke
 
Thanks for all your help so far.

Another thing that is bothering me.

When I click on "status" in the "Maintenance" tab, I get a message:

"Printer status cannot be displayed with port that is currently running."

The printer is turned on, so shouldn't its status be available? I've tried a
lot of port combinations, but nothing seems to be working.

If you can provide additional advice and counsel about this problem, I'd be
very grateful.
 
Ty said:
Thanks for all your help so far.

Another thing that is bothering me.

When I click on "status" in the "Maintenance" tab, I get a message:

"Printer status cannot be displayed with port that is currently running."

The printer is turned on, so shouldn't its status be available? I've tried
a lot of port combinations, but nothing seems to be working.

If you can provide additional advice and counsel about this problem, I'd
be very grateful.

On which machine do you get this error message? If on the XP "host" machine,
uninstall/reinstall your printer. If on the Vista machine, did you in fact
ever install Vista drivers for it?

Again, you need to set up LAN file/printer sharing correctly before you can
print from the Vista machine to a printer connected to another computer on
the LAN.

Malke
 
Oops!
One thing I guess I didn't make clear: BOTH computers are using Vista Home
Premium. The host computer has a 32-bit operating system. The routed computer
has a 64-bit operating system.

Also, I'm not using LAN. I have a wireless, routed connection supplied by
Linksys.

And, yes, printer drivers are installed on both computers.

Does this help you?
 
P.S.:
I forgot to answer your question: The message about not being able to
display the port that is currently running appears on the routed computer.
 
Oh! Let me clarify something: BOTH computers are equipped with Vista Home
Premium. The host is a 32-bit operating system, the routed computer is a
64-bit operating system.
 
Ty said:
Oops!
One thing I guess I didn't make clear: BOTH computers are using Vista Home
Premium. The host computer has a 32-bit operating system. The routed
computer has a 64-bit operating system.

Also, I'm not using LAN. I have a wireless, routed connection supplied by
Linksys.

And, yes, printer drivers are installed on both computers.

Fine. You need 64-bit printer drivers for your Vista 64-bit operating
system. Get them from the printer mftr.

You *do* have a Local Area Network. It is created by the router. And you
still have to set up file/printer sharing on the LAN to print to a printer
connected to another computer, no matter what operating system it's
running.

Malke
 
OK.

1) Per your instructions, I've downloaded 64-bit printer drivers for my
routed computer.

2) Sorry, but you'll have to tell me how to set up file/printer sharing on
LAN, so I can be sure I've done it correctly.
 
Ty said:
OK.

1) Per your instructions, I've downloaded 64-bit printer drivers for my
routed computer.

2) Sorry, but you'll have to tell me how to set up file/printer sharing on
LAN, so I can be sure I've done it correctly.

I already told you how to set up file/printer sharing, in great detail. Read
my first answer to you in this thread. There's no reason for me to repeat
it.

Malke
 
Ah, OK, then. I've done that already.

I thought there was something special to do in setting up the LAN and
file/printer sharing. As you no doubt have realized by now, I'm rather new to
this shared network stuff.

Sorry to bother you on Saturday, "Malke."
 
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