Wireless printing

Firstly be gentle, I'm a "What the Tech" virgin. Treat me like an idiot, don't worry I'm married, so I'm used to it lol. OK down to business, I have an older style main computer runing XP, using a "Telstra" 2wire ADSL modum/router thingy? Its conected to a Epson Stylus CX 3100 printer via USB cable. I'm using an Acer laptop also running XP, conected wireless via a D-Link DIR-300 router. Can I use printer wirelessly also? As Pauline would say "please explain". Any help will be much appreciated.

Hi Robbo, welcome to WTT.

Short answer is yes, you can.

To print from the Laptop you need to have the Desktop machine running. On the Desktop you need to share the printer and on the Laptop you need the add the printer as a network printer. See here for explicit directions: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/n…cutt_july2.mspx

Post back if you have any questions.

Hey Ztruker, thanks for the promp reply to my problem. I followed the insturctions on the site you linked me to, however still no luck. Everthing went well with all steps, and as far as I can tell it should work, but it does'nt. Should I take everthing back to factory/default settings, and try again? If so, How do I do this? I did say I was'nt terribly bright, but I can lift heavy things lol.

Lets see if we can figure out what went wrong.

On the desktop machine, open a Command Prompt by clicking on Start then Run, typing cmd and press the Enter key. At the command prompt, type net share and press Enter.

You should get a response something like the following:

Share name Resource Remark
————————————————————–
C$ C:\ Default share
HPDeskJet 932C Color
USB001 Spooled Color printer
HPLaserJet 6P Black
LPT1: Spooled B/W Laser printer

As you can see, I have two printers on this computer that I share with my other computers. What does your response look like?

See here for how to setup your command prompt window so it's easy to copy data from it.

http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_customiz…te_t100330.html

Now, on the laptop, also open a command prompt. This time type net view and press Enter. You should get a response similar to this:

Server Name Remark
—————————————-
\\DESKTOP
\\WEBSERVER Dell Webserver

As you can see, I have two computers online and each has a unique name.

Desktop is the one I'm using now.
Webserver is where I run my Apache web server that supports my family web site. It's also the machine that has the two printers attached to it since it runs 24x7x365.

Your two computers should also have unique names, one for the desktop and one for the laptop. From the laptop command prompt, enter

net view \\xxxxxxxx

where xxxxxxxx is the name of your desktop machine. You should get a response similar to what you got when you entered net share on the desktop computer. One my desktop it looks like this:

net view \\webserver
Shared resources at \\webserver

Dell Webserver

Share name Type Used as Comment
———————————————————-
Dell_C Disk C Drive on Dell We
HPDeskJet 932C Color Print Color printer
HPLaserJet 6P Black Print B/W Laser printer

That's enough for now, waiting for your response.

OK when I followed "net view" instructions on laptop I got a "system error 6118 has occured" message. The next line of text stated " the list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available"

Hmmm, perhaps your firewall is blocking it. What are you using for a software firewall?

Are you using a security suite like Symantec, McAfee or Comodo or just an anti-virus package like AVG Free, Avast or Avira. If the latter, check the Windows Firewall and make sure File and Printer Sharing is in the Exceptions list.

Open Control Panel
Open Windows Firewall
Click on the Exceptions tab
Add a check to File and Printer Sharing
Click OK

Try NET VIEW again

If you are using one of the Internet Security suites, we will have to check to make sure sharing is not blocked by it's firewall component.

Also, need to make sure File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks protocol is installed in the Properties for your Local Area Connection.

Open Control Panel
Open Network Connections
Right click on Network Connections and select Properties
Check for File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks

If it's not there, click on the Install button, then select Protocol and click on Add
Choose File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks then click OK.
Click OK as needed to close the Network windows.

Try NET VIEW again

Still no luck, I'm running Norton Symantec, although it has recently run out. I've done everything stated and still get a "system error 6118 has occured" message. The next line of text stated " the list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available"

Since Norton has expired, uninstall it and install one of the free AV programs.

AVG Free
Avira Antivir
Avast
Comodo Internet Security

While it's uninstalled , and before you install a new one, see if net view works. If not, once you have the new AV installed, check Services to see if the Computer Browser service is running.

Open Control Panel
Open Administrative Tools
Open Services

Scroll down to Computer Browser, make sure it's started. If not, double click on it, set the Startup type to Automatic and then Start it.

Try net view again.

OK, I've had a minor win, after uninstalling Norton I ran "net view" and got a reply. Server name Remark \\ACER-47CBE8A5ED XXXXXXXXXXX The command completed successfully. Unfortunately I'm away from home at the moment, so I cant see if this has made a difference. I'll be back home next week, so I'll get back to you then so you can again hold my hand lol. Thanks for all your help so far, it's much appreciated.

Please install one of the free Anti-virus programs I mentioned. You don't want to be connected to the internet without one.

I'd also strongly urge you to install a free firewall like Comodo or ZoneAlarm.

If you chose Comodo, you can use both it's Anti-virus and it's Firewall or you can install one or the other. While deciding, make sure you turn on the Windows Firewall that comes with XP.

Hey ztrucker, OK I'm back. I've gone back to post #4, and followed the instructions. I entered net view \\xxxxxxxxx (name of desktop) The message was; System error 53 has occured. The network path was not found

You said when you ran net view you got \\ACER-47CBE8A5ED XXXXXXXXXXX

Looks like you should be entering net view \\ACER-47CBE8A5ED

Is that what you did.

Also, is ACER-47CBE8A5ED the name of the desktop system or the laptop?

No I didn't, thats the laptop's name. I entered net view \\studycomputer (desktop name)

On the desktop, enter net share, what response do you get?

Also, have you set the WORKGROUP name the same on both computers? You see this from Control Panel, System, Computer Name tab.

If you look at the Properties for your Local Area Connection, are these enabled?

Client for Microsoft Networks
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks

One other thing I want you to check the NetBIOS settings on both computers. You do this as follows:

• Open Control Panel then Network Connections
• Right click on Local Area Connection and select Properties
• Select Internet Protocol [TCP/IP] and click the Properties button
• Click the Advanced button then click on the WINS tab

What is selected in the Netbios setting box?

If you use DHCP assigned IP addresses and not static IP addresses, then Default should be selected.
If you use static (assigned by you) IP addresses then Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP should be selected.