Sharing a printer over a Vista/XP network
 

Hi All,
I am trying to share a printer over a Vista basic/XP network. The scenario is as follows:
Desktop running XP SP2 with a HP printer connected (hard wired) and set to share.
Lappy running Vista basic connected wirelessly on a network to the desktop through a netgear router.
When I look at the network map in vista (seems a good tool) I can see the desktop although it's annotated that it cannot be added to the group. I have downloaded the vista drivers for the printer and actually went as far as installing it onto the lappy. When I look in the network printers folder I can see the printer but when I select it and try to print a document it sits for 30 secs or so and then throws up an error message in the printer doalogue box which simply says 'printing error'
The firewalls are both set to allow the network and the various TCP/UDP ports as specified here, near the bottom of the page are also allowed.http://http://technet.microsoft.com/.../bb727037.aspx

I now have a document sitting in the printer queue which although I have cancelled it and it's annotated as 'deleting' in the printer dialogue box wont delete and its screwing up any other docs which I'm trying to print as I test any changes I've made. I have rebooted several times and even the left the bugga overnight in the hope that the offending document would disappear from the printer queue but to no avail. Any ideas how to get rid of this document and what may be causing the printer problem?
Thanks in advance

Edited to add that all I really want to do is be able to print from the laptop. The laptop is basically my plaything for surfing and music/video and I dont need or want the expense of another printer for only very occasional use. :ok:

It's sounding a bit like a firewall issue, I run an XP/Vista network here (although printer is connected opposite way to you) and that is what caused all the issue with me.

What firewall are you using?

Firewall on both is McAfee with the network and various TCP/UDPs allowed as per the previous link

Hmmm... Not so up on McAfee...

Will get the gerbils in my head running a bit faster and come back if I figure anything out.

Try this, for starters
 

Problem:
Your Windows Vista PC cannot connect and print to a “shared” printer, which is directly attached to a Windows XP PC, via your network.

Solution:

• [*]

i. Download the Windows Vista printer driver for your printer from the manufacturer’s website.
1. If your printer’s manufacturer has not created a Vista driver yet, retry step 2.
ii. Install the driver on your Windows Vista PC. During installation, you’ll be prompted to connect the printer to your PC. Choose the option to proceed with installation without connecting the printer.

• [*]

I downloaded the drivers and did a full install of the printer. I will uninstall and go through without installing the printer this time. Thanks hellsbrink !

Have you set your laptop to be part of the same workgroup as the XP PC. (ie: WORKGROUP - HOME or whatever) if not, do this first. Nexti s to use the add printer wizard, select network printer, find the network, and PC concerned. You should now be able to see the attached printer. select it, and necessary drivers should be installed . Hopefully the printer is now connected and working. If not, turn off firewalls and try again. If all is now good, there is obviously a firewall conflict. try allowing the network IPs access (ie 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.100). Dont you just love puters????

Avtrician,
I set up the network using the network wizard and I have since read that the default names are different in XP & Vista so that's something I'll have to check on when I get back to the laptop tonight.

That sounds like the cause then, if inot on the same workgroup you cant use the sevices. Had to manualy set the Daughters laptop, to use the printer on the home network. My XP laptop was easier, and even works on the company network.

explains a bit.

The "default" name is case-sensitive, pick somethig nice and easy to remember.

But something still isn't "twigging" regarding how you can see the printer if the workgroup names are different....

Ok a quick update. I only managed to get the laptop booted up and onto the network page before I was rudely interrupted by number 1 son telling me he needed his PC (the desktop) so I didn't get the chance to have a look at any settings on the desktop. One major difference on the laptop was the appearance of 2 new icons on the networking page. I now have the lappy, a PC entitled number1son, another PC entitled familynamenumber1son and the netgear router. During initial set up I could only see the PC entitled familynamenumber1son and the router. Something has changed without me changing it. I will have to do some more work tonight and report back with findings tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll do some more reading and try setting up a brand new network and see where that takes me .... thoughts?
I still have the blasted document allegedly deleting in the printer queue, any ideas how I can get rid of that? I have tried ctrl alt delete but its not showing in the task manager :\

I suggest that you search the MS site for "home network vista xp" or similar.

Lots of stuff there - though it can take a bit of scanning to sort the wheat from the chaff.

SD

Morning All,
I took Saab's advice and decided to do a bit of reading before I set about the task again. Here's a breakdown of what I did:
I downloaded a patch for XP which enables XP machines to be displayed correctly on the Vista network map http://http://technet2.microsoft.com....mspx?mfr=true
I uninstalled all the HP drivers and bloatware which I downloaded the other night.
The XP firewall although set to allow networking didnt have ports 137-139 open so I opened them.
I created a new network on the XP machine and started from scratch.
Used the USB drive to load the new network info onto the Vista machine.
Laptop now shows network with lappy and desktop showing.
Selected 'add a printer' and up it popped under the desktop name.
Added the printer and the drivers sorted themselves. Job Done !!

I have no idea which individual action made the difference or if all of them played a part but it's now up and running. Thanks for all your inputs.

PS I know it's longwinded but I thought it may be helpful to anyone else having the same problem.

Well done, using the usb drive created the proper network environment to allow the share. I just do it manualy, but its difficult to tell how to, but easier to do ones self.

Now remember how to do it again, in about a month when micro stuffed forgets everything.:D:D:D

Excellent post! I had the same problem. After the download all sorted. Vista found my home computer and from then on all was plain sailing.
Many thanks!
Old fart

I have the same problem but with a canon ip4300, I do what hellsbrink has said and I get the message 'not enough server storage is available to process this command' any ideas please when adding the new port

Have tried all sorts now, firewalls off etc, used a USB stick with the network setup on it, can see the printer in the network, can not get the vista laptop to add it keep getting 'windows can not connect to the printer, operation could not complete error 0x0000007b' andybody got any ideas?:{

Exact HP model number, please, and are you running Vista 64?

I can tell you from painful experience that not all printers can be shared.

Printers that cannot be shared are usually the fancy, all singing, all dancing, scan/fax/print/make tea types ... (although there are a rare few that do come with network capability that works just fine)

Check the small print that comes with the printer drivers and/or the documentation, if the manufacturer is reputable (e.g. HP) then somewhere in the murky depths of all the technical text, they will explicitly state that it cannot be shared using windows file/print sharing.

It's a canon Pixma iP4300, and it shares on the network with other xp machines, 1 laptop and a further desktop.