Another printing question

[bryantjb3]

I also have a main PC running XP hooked to the internet wired to a wireless router. My laptop runs XP pro and is running on the wireless card. I have tried to get the laptop to find my printer which is hooked to the main PC, and I tried everything that was in the other post. I still cannot get the laptop to see the printer. What am I missing?

 

[vipzach]

Re: Another printing question

Are the computers in the same workgroup? Can they see each other and share files?

 

[bryantjb3]

Re: Another printing question

Same workgroup? I don't know. I can get myself around a PC fairly well but I don't know anything about networking. I thought running through the same router and running the network setup wizard was all I needed to do.

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Another printing question

To check if both of your machines are on the same network group:
Click Start, settings, Control Panel,System, Computer Name

On this tab you will see the name of your computer and the name of your workgroup. Click on the 'change' button to change the network group name.

 

[bryantjb3]

Re: Another printing question

They are in the same workgroup, but they cannot see each other. Do I need some other hardware besides my router?

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Another printing question

Nope...one router should do it.
Can you reach the Web with the laptop??
Does the desktop computer run XP Pro or Home version?

On Laptop computer"

Click Start
Click Run
Enter "CMD" (no quotes)
Click OK
At prompt, type ipconfig /all
Hit Enter key
Write down IP address of your computer's network connection
(example: 192.168.1.101)

Do the above steps on desktop computer, write down IP address for the desktop computer.

On laptop:
Click Start
Click Run
Enter "CMD" (no quotes)
Click OK
At prompt, type ping (ip address of desktop computer)
example: ping 192.168.1.100
Do you get a timeout blurb?? or a good ping response?

Try pinging the router:
At prompt, type ping (IP of router)
Example: ping 192.168.1.1
Do you get a timeout blurb?? or a good ping response?

On Desktop computer:

On desktop computer:
Click Start
Click Run
Enter "CMD" (no quotes)
Click OK
At prompt, type ping (ip address of laptop computer)
example: ping 192.168.1.100
Do you get a timeout blurb?? or a good ping response?

Try pinging the router:
At prompt, type ping (IP of router)
Example: ping 192.168.1.1
Do you get a timeout blurb?? or a good ping response?

All this confirms that each computer is connected to the router, has a valid IP address from the router, and can 'see' the other computer and router.

The above examples assumes that the routers IP address is 192.168.1.1 and has DHCP enabled and issues IP addresses starting at 192.168.1.100. Your router , depending on make/ model may have a different base IP address (i.e. 192.168.0.1 etc)

 

[bryantjb3]

Re: Another printing question

I checked the IP address on each computer. The laptop is the same as the desktop, except for the last digit. It is one higher. The laptop will ping the router IP but it will not ping the desktop,(timeout). The desktop will ping the router and the laptop fine. Just for clarification the laptop does see the internet.
The desktop is XP Home and the laptop is XP Pro.

 

[bryantjb3]

Re: Another printing question

Just thought about Norton firewall. Disabled it on desktop and now laptop will ping desktop. Time to go to work, will try network setup wizard again later.

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Another printing question

Yup, I should have mentioned to disable any 3rd party firewalls before you began. You can pull the WAN Cat5 cable from the router too, until you get things configured, as a safety precaution too. You won't need the WAN connection to configure your LAN
connections.

Pay attention to the wireless connection too. Be sure you turn on wireless encryption on the router AND the laptop. Impliment WPA (or at least WEP ) ,use a non dictionary passphrase at least 63 characters. A good site for randon WPA/WEP codes is GRC.com (https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm)
Write these codes down, keep in a safe place.

Change the router SSID and router password.

 

[PuddleJumper]

Re: Another printing question

I had similar prob with Norton. You can conigure Norton on the desktop to accept specific IP's or ranges of machines on your network. Cleared it up for me.

 

[bryantjb3]

Re: Another printing question

SUCCESS!! I have finally gotten both PC's to recognize each other. It still took a long time. At first I got the laptop to see the shared folder and an old printer that is not hooked up anymore, but the desktop could not see the laptop. I think I clicked on view workgroup computers and that is when it finally found the right printer. It then loaded the driver from my desktop and now it is working. This mess has made me feel like an idiot, but maybe I have learned a little. THANKS FOR THE HELP Xcusme, you do know your stuff. PuddleJumper, I did find where to configure Norton to let the laptop through. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Another printing question

Don't forget to CYA...and configure your router.....

Disable UNP and Block WAN side pings....(icmp) if the options exist.....
There's a lot more you can do to increase your security, but your off to a good start.

Glad you got things sorted out.

 

[dude_newbie]

Re: Another printing question

First, is the printer connected to your main PC via a printer cable?? If so, you wil then have to share the printer.. You can do that by clicking start > settings > printers and fax. Here you should see your printer, right click on the icon and click on share. Once you share it, your laptop should see a shared computer\printer..

So say your computer name for your main PC is called foo. And your printer is called HP 180 Deskjet. Your laptop should see a name called:
HP 180 Deskjet on Foo

 

[dude_newbie]

Re: Another printing question

OH, I forgot the most important thing.. Once you can see the printer shared via your laptop through network places, u then have to add the printer via the printer manager. Make sure when you add it you had a network printer..