Printer setup

You will need a printer port which can handle SMB or NetBios printing as a stand-alone peer member.

Xerox and HP and several other manufacturer's make such a device.

I added a router with a paralell port and
connected that to the printer I had been using
on the pc. Then all users can select that
printer and off you go.

On the type of printer.

El cheapos such as HP, Epson, Canon, etc (low end price range) with USB ports can be networked fairly easy. Go to your favorite electronics store and purchase a print server.

Only costs maybe $50. Buy the brand names, they are easier to setup. They convert the USB port to a Ethernet port and gives the printer an IP address.

Hi Tim,

I have come a bad cropper with this, recently.
The problem is with GDI printers where the printer software (not drivers) actually lives in the computer and not in the printer. If you try to network using a print server then it doesn't work, because there is nothing in the printer to make sense of what is coming in.
Embarrasment maximus at a client's.

Generic printer servers may also give problems with some printers, even if they aren't GDI. The printer manufacturers have figured out how to ensure that only their (expensive) print servers work correctly with their printers.

install the printer locally on one PC, and shared it by installing as a network printer on other PC...but it has to be locally installed on one of your PC and it must be shared...