Network Printer Problem

Hello

I am attempting to get my laptop to print via the home printer which is connected to another desktop computer on the network. My laptop is on Windows 7 Ultimate and the desktop is on Windows XP professional. I was having trouble even seeing it but have since solved that, however now when I try and connect to it, it simply says access denied.

As far as I can tell, all printer sharing options on both computers are enabled and I have the driver installed on my laptop. I can even plug my laptop into the printer and print that way.

So my question is this, is there anything that I could be missing which is causing it to say access denied?

Thanks You for any help you can give.

 

I would check to see if your workgroup name is the same on both laptop and desktop PC, XP usually uses MSHome (by default) unless you have called it something else.
Check what Home group you are using with the laptop. These need to be the same to access I believe.

 

They weren't on the same workgroup no, but now they are....and it still say access denied

 

There's a sort of 'laundry list' of items to check here...

You said that it's connected to another computer so I'm assuming it's a USB cable, right? If that's the case, double check the cable connection between the tower & printer - make sure it's secure. To use the printer in this setup, both the printer & tower need to be booted up.

Printer & file sharing must be set up on both computers. In Windows XP, start > control panel > right click the LAN connection or Wireless connection, whichever is providing access to the Web > properties > in the general tab, make sure 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" is there & checked.

Windows 7 usually has printer & file sharing on by default & discovers any network devices automatically, but if not let me know.

The printer must be shared by the tower PC.

Check the properties of the print driver on the tower PC (start > control panel > printers & faxes > make sure the printer says 'online' or 'ready' > right click the printer's icon > properties). Click the Ports tab. Make sure one of the available USB ports is selected, and possibly try a different USB port in this list if available. Click the Sharing tab & make sure it's being shared. Click the General tab & print a test page for fun .

I didn't cover everything, but hopefully this at least points you in the right direction.

To be honest, I've had much better luck connecting my printers directly to the router via an ethernet cable. There's a bit more to configure on the printer, but once it's set up you won't have to worry about the server (tower) being powered up to use it. Check your printer's manual to do this if you wish.

 

As far as I can tell, everything you described is in place. Printer deffinately connected and working, sharing settings are on, and computer is powered on and logged in, yet still access is denied.

May give that network printer idea a go, if the printer supports it, hopefully I will have more luck with that