Using laptop as print / file server

  • Thread starter Thread starter Queryman
  • Start date Start date
Q

Queryman

I have an old Dell laptop that I was planning to hook up to an external
hard drive and my printer, and use it as a printer / file server for my
home wifi network.

The idea of having this laptop churning away 24 hours a day doesn't
thrill me, both because of the cost and because it will burn out
faster.

If I set the laptop to go into standby mode after, say 10 minutes, will
a command coming to it from another computer on the network (such as a
command to print or to access a file on the hard drive) "wake" the
laptop up?

If not, any ideas as to how I can minimize the running time of the
laptop and still use it has a printer and file server?
 
Queryman said:
If I set the laptop to go into standby mode after, say 10 minutes, will
a command coming to it from another computer on the network (such as a
command to print or to access a file on the hard drive) "wake" the
laptop up?
Click to expand...

Probably not.
If not, any ideas as to how I can minimize the running time of the
laptop and still use it has a printer and file server?
Click to expand...

Don't use it is the best solution,..for exactly the reasons you stated.

The printer is easy to deal with,..add and Ethernet Printer Server to it.
These may be in the form of an internal Card that goes in the printer
(similar to a NIC card in a PC) and others are just small external boxes.
You assign them IP#s so that the Printer has its own IP# and functions all
by itself on the LAN without requiring a PC. You access the Printer via the
IP# instead of having it "shared" by a PC. This type of printer setup,
contrary to what you might think, is *not* considered a "network
printer",...it is considered a *local* printer and uses a TCP/IP port
instead of a LPT port. A "network printer" is a printer shared by another
PC.

For the file sharing,...you will just have to find a more suitable machine.


--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com
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