Sharing a USB port on Windows XP office network

Hi there, I have a plotter/cutter that is connected to a USB port on one system in the network. I currently share software. Is it possible to share the USB so that other systems can use the plotter/cutter?

 

Hi Trevorsd,

You don't share a USB Port but you do share a Printer. Go to Control Panel, Faxes and Printers and mark the printer for sharing on the system it is connected to. You must also load the printer driver for the printer on each system that is to use it. Your Plotter driver may not allow such a load. Check with the printer maker.

Good Luck, Jim

 

You can share the plotter, as it is a printer. Right click it and click share. You would need the driver installed on each computer that was going to print to it. Obviously the computer that the printer is connected to would need to be switched on at the time you print something, and printing may take slightly longer as its sent over the network.

 

You can share a USB device via software called "USB over Network" via http://www.usb-over-network.com/usb-over-network.html or
http://usbip.sourceforge.net/
But, as others pointed out you can share the device. This is the easiest solution, sharing is built into Windows.
If the connected PC is not going to be there all the time you can get a USB printer server, goes from USB to Ethernet.