Sharing a Printer

I just got two new computers with windows vista, one is a desk to and one is
a laptop, the laptop is wireless, I'm using a netgear routor for my wireless
conection, I have both of the computers set as sharing when I try to setup a
printer on the laptop I am unable to access the desktop computer, I was on
with curcuit city to fix the problem, but they want me to hook up with their
firedog service so they can fix it which I don't think is necessary to spend
that extra money

luna 1570 wrote:

> I just got two new computers with windows vista, one is a desk to and one is
> a laptop, the laptop is wireless, I'm using a netgear routor for my wireless
> conection, I have both of the computers set as sharing when I try to setup a
> printer on the laptop I am unable to access the desktop computer, I was on
> with curcuit city to fix the problem, but they want me to hook up with their
> firedog service so they can fix it which I don't think is necessary to spend
> that extra money

You are quite right that you don't need to spend any money to get this
set up. It simply requires that you read through the instructions to set
up your Local Area Network file/printer sharing and then patiently go
through the process. It is not hard.

This link will take you through Vista networking very well:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/net.../vista_fp.mspx

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; 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.

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

1. 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. 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.

2. With earlier Microsoft operating systems, the name of the Workgroup
didn't matter. Apparently it does with Vista, so put all computers in
the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control
Panel, Computer Name tab.

3. Create identical user accounts and passwords on all machines. 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

Then just set your sharing on the printer, install the printer drivers
on each machine, and you should be good to go.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

I have been attempting to access a network printer on a laptop with Vista
Premium. The printer itself is hooked-up to a desktop computer with XP Home
Edition that connects to the internet via a PCI wireless card. It has no
issues connecting to a Netgear wireless router using a DSL modem.

The XP Home computer and the Vista laptop both have the same workgroup names.
Both are set-up as a Private Network, The printer on the XP machine is set
to be shared. Network discovery, File sharing, Public folder sharing and
Printer sharing are set to on in Vista.

When I try to add a wireless, network, or bluetooth printer in Vista it
cannot find the printer that hooked up to the XP Home desktop.

The XP nor the Vista machine cannot find each other.

Any suggestions to help these computer find each other would be appreciated.
--
Cheers,
John

Can they ping each other by IP? If not, I would check the firewall first.

--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com


"happydude" <happydude@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:36EBF23C-9208-48C2-902D-7506DD10C202@microsoft.com...

>I have been attempting to access a network printer on a laptop with Vista
> Premium. The printer itself is hooked-up to a desktop computer with XP
> Home
> Edition that connects to the internet via a PCI wireless card. It has no
> issues connecting to a Netgear wireless router using a DSL modem.
>
> The XP Home computer and the Vista laptop both have the same workgroup
> names.
> Both are set-up as a Private Network, The printer on the XP machine is set
> to be shared. Network discovery, File sharing, Public folder sharing and
> Printer sharing are set to on in Vista.
>
> When I try to add a wireless, network, or bluetooth printer in Vista it
> cannot find the printer that hooked up to the XP Home desktop.
>
> The XP nor the Vista machine cannot find each other.
>
> Any suggestions to help these computer find each other would be
> appreciated.
> --
> Cheers,
> John

Bob,
Thanks. I will give that a shot.
--
Cheers,
John


"Robert L (MS-MVP)" wrote:

> Can they ping each other by IP? If not, I would check the firewall first.
>
> --
> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
> http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
> http://www.HowToNetworking.com
>
>
> "happydude" <happydude@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:36EBF23C-9208-48C2-902D-7506DD10C202@microsoft.com...

>
>
>