Thanks for that,
SD- I'm particularly taken with the gubbins which turns an external HD into a network drive, I will investigate that solution further!
Problem is the desktop is off when it's not in use, Mrs. M. having some definite views on saving power (not totally unfounded, IMHO, as we both work and are out of the house for most of the day...)- Also, I once spent a weekend of high blood-pressure ans prodigious swearing trying to get the two 'puters to network wirelessly, and failed miserably. I guess one XP OS and one Vista OS (also one in French, t'other in English) don't help matters.
Still, remote printing is only nice to have and by no means essential, but the network HD may be in the realm of the possible (my router has no printer or USB port capability). I will let you know how I get on.
Maxbert
PS
shunter, thanks for the offer, but my printer is also a single-task HP, also nearly 10 years old, come to think of it... So I will give this one a miss
