sharing printers

I have my PC with two printers connected to it. My husband's PC is wirelessly
connected to internet via my router. How can I get him to access my printers?

Chantal wrote:

> I have my PC with two printers connected to it. My husband's PC is
> wirelessly connected to internet via my router. How can I get him to
> access my printers?

All you need to do is set up your local area network and share out the
printers.

You didn't say what operating systems the two machines are running, but
I will assume Windows XP. First, for the network:

Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. 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 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation.

Then create shares as desired, including sharing the printers. XP Home
does not permit sharing of users' home directories (My Documents) or
Program Files, but you can share folders inside those directories. A
better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.

For the printers - your husband's computer may pick up the two printers
automatically. If it does, then you're done. If it doesn't, then how
you set them up depends on the printer installation instructions. For
instance, most HP printers require you to use the installation disk
that came with the printer on each computer where you want to add the
printer. So you'll need to look at your printer instructions. If you
didn't keep the setup instructions, most printers have a Help file when
you install them and you can also go to the printer mftr.'s website.

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

I'm going to do what you suggest. And yes you are correct we both have
windows XP and Windows 2003 Professional. I will get back to you when I have
tried. Thanks for repying to my message. Chantal

"Malke" wrote:

> Chantal wrote:
>
> > I have my PC with two printers connected to it. My husband's PC is
> > wirelessly connected to internet via my router. How can I get him to
> > access my printers?
>
> All you need to do is set up your local area network and share out the
> printers.
>
> You didn't say what operating systems the two machines are running, but
> I will assume Windows XP. First, for the network:
>
> Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
> File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. 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 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
> third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
> Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
> IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
> substitute your correct subnet.
>
> If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
> Simple File Sharing enabled.
>
> Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
> that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
> resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
> matters in your situation.
>
> Then create shares as desired, including sharing the printers. XP Home
> does not permit sharing of users' home directories (My Documents) or
> Program Files, but you can share folders inside those directories. A
> better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
>
> For the printers - your husband's computer may pick up the two printers
> automatically. If it does, then you're done. If it doesn't, then how
> you set them up depends on the printer installation instructions. For
> instance, most HP printers require you to use the installation disk
> that came with the printer on each computer where you want to add the
> printer. So you'll need to look at your printer instructions. If you
> didn't keep the setup instructions, most printers have a Help file when
> you install them and you can also go to the printer mftr.'s website.
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

I have tried but no connection. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

"Chantal" wrote:

> I'm going to do what you suggest. And yes you are correct we both have
> windows XP and Windows 2003 Professional. I will get back to you when I have
> tried. Thanks for repying to my message. Chantal
>
> "Malke" wrote:
>
> > Chantal wrote:
> >
> > > I have my PC with two printers connected to it. My husband's PC is
> > > wirelessly connected to internet via my router. How can I get him to
> > > access my printers?
> >
> > All you need to do is set up your local area network and share out the
> > printers.
> >
> > You didn't say what operating systems the two machines are running, but
> > I will assume Windows XP. First, for the network:
> >
> > Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
> > File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. 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 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
> > third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
> > Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
> > IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
> > substitute your correct subnet.
> >
> > If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
> >
> > a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> > Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> > accounts/passwords on all computers.
> >
> > b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
> > Simple File Sharing enabled.
> >
> > Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
> > that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
> > resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
> > matters in your situation.
> >
> > Then create shares as desired, including sharing the printers. XP Home
> > does not permit sharing of users' home directories (My Documents) or
> > Program Files, but you can share folders inside those directories. A
> > better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
> >
> > For the printers - your husband's computer may pick up the two printers
> > automatically. If it does, then you're done. If it doesn't, then how
> > you set them up depends on the printer installation instructions. For
> > instance, most HP printers require you to use the installation disk
> > that came with the printer on each computer where you want to add the
> > printer. So you'll need to look at your printer instructions. If you
> > didn't keep the setup instructions, most printers have a Help file when
> > you install them and you can also go to the printer mftr.'s website.
> >
> > Malke
> > --
> > Elephant Boy Computers
> > www.elephantboycomputers.com
> > "Don't Panic!"
> > MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
> >

Chantal wrote:

> I have tried but no connection. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Me neither, because I can't see your computers from here and I don't
know what you did. Go through the network troubleshooter by MVP
Hans-Georg Michna thoroughly:

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

It takes a bit of time but is worth it. If you still can't figure it
out, your best course of action would be to have a local professional
come on-site and set you up properly. This will not be someone from
your local version of BigStoreUSA/Geek Squad. This will not take long;
much less time than you have already spent on it.

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

I have tried again today and now it is working. I went first into my own PC,
shared my two printers, then went back to my husband's pc which automatically
found the two printers I was ready to share. As simple as that! I don't know
why I hadn't first allowed my printers to be shared.

"Malke" wrote:

> Chantal wrote:
>
> > I have tried but no connection. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
>
> Me neither, because I can't see your computers from here and I don't
> know what you did. Go through the network troubleshooter by MVP
> Hans-Georg Michna thoroughly:
>
> http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
>
> It takes a bit of time but is worth it. If you still can't figure it
> out, your best course of action would be to have a local professional
> come on-site and set you up properly. This will not be someone from
> your local version of BigStoreUSA/Geek Squad. This will not take long;
> much less time than you have already spent on it.
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

Chantal wrote:

> I have tried again today and now it is working. I went first into my
> own PC, shared my two printers, then went back to my husband's pc
> which automatically found the two printers I was ready to share. As
> simple as that! I don't know
> why I hadn't first allowed my printers to be shared.

I'm glad to hear you got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to let me
know.

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