Printer Sharing

[black_magiic]

Im trying to set up printer sharing so I can print things off my computer on the printer in the family computer room. When ever I try to add a printer it just gives me an error message "Operation not completed" any ideas.

[wonderboy2005]

a) make sure printer sharing is enabled on the family computer.
b) download netscan - a small program that scans for file & printer sharing within a given IP range
Here: http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?17000000036565
c) enter 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255 for the ip adresses
d) find the family PC & open it
e) copy the printer shortcut into printers in control pannel
f) install drivers if neccessary

note: Ive never actually done this, but it SHOULD work.

note 2: for others reading this: netscan is not a toy. You should NOT use it to print off dirty pictures on your neighbor's printer.

[black_magiic]

ITs not letting me drag the printer short cut

[Malakai1911]

If you were so inclined to give the PC a fixed IP address....

If your router is at 192.168.1.1...
...set an IP between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.49
... your Gateway is 192.168.1.1
... primary DNS server is 192.168.1.1
... secondary DNS server is <intentionally left blank>

If your router is at 192.168.0.1 then...
... set an IP between 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.49.
... your Gateway is 192.168.1.1
... primary DNS server is 192.168.1.1
... secondary DNS server is <intentionally left blank>
(Why assign a Fixed IP? It's useful for P2P because you can "forward" the port range to a fixed IP without having to worry about what IP each computer might be randomly assigned every bootup by DHCP.)
(Why between 2 and 49? Because 1 is used by your router, and your router assigns DHCP addresses usually starting at 50 or 100, so 49 is a good upper limit.)
(FYI: To find your internal IP, start -> run "msconfig /all".)



ANYWAY!!!

It doesn't really matter what IP your computer has. Microsoft announces your shares to the network using UDP. You only need to know the "computer name" and "share name"

For example if computer "Cathy" has a share "Files" you can go to "My computer" on computer "Rob" and... type "\\Cathy\Files" in the address bar, and it will automatically bring up the "Files" share on the "Cathy" computer. Woo! You just navigated to a shared folder.

You should use "$" after a share to hide it from the network. Advantage? Slightly higher security to unskilled hackers. Disadvantage? You need to remember share names, or write them down. (Example: "\\Cathy\Files$")

You can share a printer fairly easy in windows:
- Click "Start" then "Settings" then "Printers and Faxes"
- Right click on the printer you wish to share.
- Click "sharing"
- Change the radio box from "Do not share this printer" to "Share this printer"
- Give the printer a share name. For example "myprinter" to make it announced. "myprinter$" to make it hidden.
(Tip: Some 9x boxes with older drivers dont like printer shares longer than 8 characters)

Now, to add the shared printer to other computers!
- Click "Start" then "Settings" then "Printers and Faxes"
- Double-click "Add Printer"
(Tip: Sometimes there won't be an "Add Printer" icon. In that case, right click inside the "Printers and Faxes" folder and click "Add Printer" in the right-click menu.)
- The "Add Printer Wizard" will appear, click next.
- Highlight the "A netwrok printer, or a printer attached to another computer" radio box.
- You can "Browse" for a printer, or manually type in the printer by highlighting "Connect to this printer (or to browse for a printer, select this option and hit Next):"
(Tip: If you do it manually, the printer will be in the "\\<computer name>\<printer share name>" format.)
- Hit next once you find the printer.

This is as far as I can guide you without sharing a printer myself, but its almost the whole way... once it finds the printer though, its pretty smooth sailing, it'll try and download the driver from the computer that is sharing the printer. If that doesn't happen (if the driver is for 2000 and the pc is running 98, for example) then you will have the option to download the driver yourself, and manually selecting the driver to install. (Get the driver from the manufactures website).

I hope this is helpful, this was written all by me... who knows I might use it on my website or something.

[black_magiic]

Good guide but as I said earlier it just gives me an error when I click add printer

[Malakai1911]

Good guide but as I said earlier it just gives me an error when I click add printer

What's the specific error?

Perhaps print spooler service is stopped? If so, set it to automatic, and start it.

[black_magiic]

thanks for all the help malakai you solved my problem. it was the printer spooler thing.