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Windows XP simplifies adding printer sharing to your network with the Network Setup Wizard. You will run this wizard on all of the computers on your network. For computers that don’t run WinXP, you can create a Network Setup Wizard floppy disk. |
Assume you have a notebook computer that you like to use in different areas of your home. To access the Internet, the notebook connects wirelessly to a desktop computer in your office. The desktop has two printers attached to it. As you’re using your notebook to find information on the Web or write a report, wouldn’t it be nice to access those printers in the office?
With your home or office Windows network, whether it’s wired, wireless, or both, you can share printers—even if they are attached to a different computer. We’ll walk you through the necessary steps to enable this feature on your network. And because sharing network resources can expose your computers to security threats, we’ll also discuss important safeguards to help protect your network and computers. For the purpose of this subject, we are using WinXP. When we refer to steps that require you to access the Control Panel, make sure you’re working in Category view unless otherwise noted.
 Verify System Requirements
To share a printer over a network, your network must be configured and working. If you haven’t set up your network, open the Start menu, select Help And Support, and select Networking And The Web. In the left pane, check out the topics in Home And Small Office Networking for help about configuring a Windows Network.
For secure printer sharing, your host computer (the computer that has the printers attached to it, sometimes called the print server) should be running WinXP SP2 (Service Pack 2). You can check your version of Windows by right-clicking My Computer and clicking Properties. The General tab of the System Properties dialog box discloses the version of Windows installed on your computer. If your system is not running SP2 (Service Pack 2), go to update.microsoft.com to check for and install system updates.
Although the host computer should be using WinXP SP2, the other computers on your network can operate with Windows 98/Me/XP using the methods discussed here. If your network is configured differently, consult your system documentation or the Microsoft Support Web site (support.microsoft.com) for help with sharing printers.
Check Security
WinXP SP2 includes Windows Firewall, which protects your network from access by people and programs that you don’t want to penetrate your system. It does this by allowing only certain types of information to come through your computer network. It is automatically enabled in WinXP, but you can disable it and use a different firewall software application if you prefer. For this article, we assume your system uses Windows Firewall. | 
To share a specific printer, you will modify its properties to enable sharing. You can also assign it a Share Name that easily identifies it in the printer list. |
By default Windows Firewall blocks printer and file sharing. However, if you want to share printers and/or files, the WinXP Network Setup Wizard coordinates printer and file sharing with Windows Firewall settings. In addition, Microsoft recommends the following to keep your network secure: - When or if your computer connects directly to the Internet at home or when you’re on the road, disable file and printer sharing. For example, don’t enable file or printer sharing if your host computer connects directly to the Internet through a dial-up modem or cable modem. Instead, install a router as described next.
To share an Internet connection, install a router with NAT (Network Address Translation) between your network and the Internet. A router is a device that connects your local network to the Internet. NAT helps to “hide” your networked computers from the outside world. If you already have a router installed, check the documentation for NAT support and ensure it is enabled.
Make sure all of your computers are up-to-date and use the Automatic Updates feature to keep Windows current. To check Automatic Updates in WinXP SP2, click Start, select Control Panel, and click Security Center.
If one of your network computers is a notebook that attaches wirelessly to your network, turn off file and printer sharing if you travel. Most public hotspots and hotels use unsecured wireless connections. If file and printer sharing is enabled on an unsecured wireless connection, your system is vulnerable to attack. To turn off file and printer sharing, open the Start menu, click Control Panel, select Security Center, and click Windows Firewall. On the Exceptions tab, clear the File And Printer Sharing checkbox and click OK.
Run The Network Setup Wizard
After you verify system and security requirements, you are ready to begin. The first step is to enable printer sharing on your network. For security reasons, the Network Setup Wizard included in WinXP is the best way to enable printer sharing. | 
If you can’t find a shared network printer, test the computer’s connection with the corresponding computer. To do this, open the Start menu and click Run. Type \\computername in the Open field, where computername is the name of the computer you want to connect to (in this example, notebook). |
Enable the host. At the host computer (the one the printers are connected to), log in as the administrator or as an account that has administrator capabilities. Open the Control Panel and click Network And Internet Connections. Below Pick A Control Panel Icon, click Network Setup Wizard. On the Welcome screen that displays, click Next and then click Next again. The wizard displays the Select A Connection Method dialog box.
Assuming your host computer connects to the Internet through a residential gateway (for example, a router, access point, or base station), select the second option and click Next. The following prompt is for your computer’s description and name. Accept the default answers and click Next. Do the same for the Workgroup Name prompt.
On the File And Printer Sharing screen, select the Turn On File And Printer Sharing radio button and click Next. WinXP configures your network to share files and printers. When the process is complete, the You’re Almost Done dialog box displays. If one or more of your other network computers is not running WinXP SP2, you will need to select the Create A Network Setup Disk option and follow the on-screen prompts to create a floppy disk that you can run on your other computers. If the other computers on your network use WinXP SP2, select Just Finish The Wizard; I Don’t Need To Run The Wizard On Other Computers and click Next.
Enable client computers. To enable printer sharing on clients (computers that are not hosts) running WinXP SP2, follow the previous instructions for enabling the host computer using the Network Setup Wizard. Otherwise, for Win98/Me clients, insert the Network Setup Disk you created on the host computer. Open My Computer, navigate to the drive that contains the Network Setup Disk, and double-click Netsetup.exe. Follow the wizard’s on-screen prompts, making sure to enable file and printer sharing.
Configure Printers
After enabling file and printer sharing on your network computers, you need to designate the printer(s) you want to share on the host. Finally, you’ll use the Add Printer Wizard to add the shared printer(s) to your client computers. | 
After you configure a network printer for sharing, use the Add Printer Wizard to install it on other computers. In this example, the system has a Microsoft Windows Network named MSHOME, with a computer named DESKTOP that has shared printers attached to it. |
Set up host printer(s). To share a printer on the host computer, open the Start menu, select Control Panel, click Printers And Other Hardware, and select Printers And Faxes. Right-click the printer you want to share, click Sharing, and select the Sharing tab in the Printer Properties dialog box. Next, click Share This Printer and type a name for the printer in the Share Name field. (We should note that the printer name plus the name of your host computer should not exceed 31 characters for compatibility with client computers running Win98/Me.)
If your client computers use WinXP, click OK to save the Printer Properties settings. Otherwise, click the Additional Drivers button to determine whether the drivers for the version of Windows your client computers use are installed. If not, locate your WinXP Support CD. Insert the CD in the drive, select the drivers you want to install, and click OK. When the installation process is complete, click Close.
Set up client computer(s). The final step is to add the shared printer to your client computer(s). At the client computer, go to the Control Panel, select Printers And Other Hardware, and click Add A Printer. In the Add Printer Wizard, click Next and select the A Network Printer, Or A Printer Attached To Another Computer radio button. Click Next and select Browse For A Printer. Click Next, and in the Browse For Printer dialog box, navigate the Shared Printers list to locate the host computer and the shared printer. You may need to double-click to expand the computer name and display its printers. Select the shared printer and click Next. Disregard the warning that displays and click Yes and Finish. The shared printer should now be available on this computer.
If you receive an error message “Operation could not be completed. The print spooler service is not running,” you may need to enable print spooling. To do this, return to the Control Panel and click Performance And Maintenance. Select Administrative Tools and double-click Services. Select the Printer Spooler service in the list that displays and click Start. Follow the previous instructions to run the Add Printer Wizard again. | 
If you don’t remember your computer’s name, you can right-click My Computer, click Properties, and view the Name tab. The Network Setup Wizard also displays this information. |
After you add the printer, test it by opening a document, selecting Print, and selecting the shared printer from the list of available printers. If the document doesn’t print or if you experience other problems such as not finding the printer on the host computer, try the troubleshooting tips that follow.
Basic Troubleshooting Tips
If sharing the printer over your network is not working, first verify that your system meets the requirements defined at the beginning of this article. If that doesn’t solve the issue, check the following items.
Windows Firewall. On the host computer, check the settings in Windows Firewall. To do this, open the Start menu, click Control Panel, select Security Center, and click Windows Firewall. On the Exceptions tab, make sure the File And Printer Sharing checkbox is selected. Guest account. Verify that the guest user account is set up for network access on your host computer. WinXP uses this account in the background for network access. To check this, open the Start menu, click Run, type cmd in the Open field, and click OK. At the command prompt, type net user guest and press ENTER. In the information that displays, look for a line that reads “Account active Yes.” If the account is not active, type net user guest/active:yes and press ENTER. “The command completed successfully” should display. Close the command prompt window. | 
If you use a wireless notebook computer on your network, turn off file and printer sharing when you travel or connect to a public hotspot. To do this, open the Start menu, select Control Panel, click Security Center, and choose Windows Firewall. On the Exceptions tab, clear the File And Printer Sharing checkbox and click OK. |
Network protocols. Make sure you have the correct network protocols installed on each of your computers. To do this, click Start, select Control Panel, click Network And Internet Connections, and choose Network Connections. Right-click the network connection for your local network and click Properties. On the Networking tab in the This Connection Uses The Following Features box, the following items should be included in the list of checked items: Client For Microsoft Networks, File And Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks, and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). If a component is not available, click Install and follow the on-screen prompts to add it.
Local network connectivity. Determine whether your networked computers can connect to one another. Click Start, select Run, and type \\computername (replacing computername with the name of the computer you’re trying to connect to) into the Open field. For example, if you named your host computer HOSTPC, go to a client PC and type \\HOSTPC in the Open field in the Run dialog box. (If you don’t know the name of the computer you’re trying to connect to, go to that computer, right-click My Computer, click Properties, and select the Computer Name tab.) Click OK after you enter the appropriate name.
If the computers can connect, a list of network resources on the other computer displays. If the computers cannot connect, an error message displays. In this case, you need to troubleshoot the network’s connectivity. You can start by searching Microsoft’s Help And Support site (support.microsoft.com).
Share Safely
One of the best things about setting up a Windows network is the ability to share resources, including Internet connections and printers. If you have a Windows network or are planning to set one up, follow the recommended security precautions to safeguard your system—then enjoy all the conveniences of a networked system. 
by Carmen Carmack
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