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Networking printer with two computers

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by jrkopf

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I know this has to work because I had it working at one point--but I had to reinstall Windows XP on my desktop (HP Pavillion) with printer HP PSC 750 series. 2nd computer is a Toshiba laptop (wireless) running Vista, So since formatting and reinstalling XP , I can't print from the laptop. I'm sure it's probably some settings that I have not entered exactly but hope you can help-----please and thanks a bunch. Rita

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by thumbsup2

When you reinstalled WinXP, did the name of the computer change? If so, the port settings on the Vista machine won't see the XP machine. Did you share the printer with a different share name? If so, the port settings on the Vista machine won't see the printer on the XP machine.

Right click My Computer and choose properties (or go to control panel and get to System). In the "Computer Name" tab, write down the name of the computer and the workgroup that it's in and exit back to the desktop.

Next, go to printers properties and write down the shared name of the printer. You did share it didn't you?

Now, go to the Vista machine and first make sure it's in the same workgroup as the XP machine. Then get to the printer properties. In the PORT tab, you should see which port it is connected to, which should say "\\XPcomputernamehere\printersharenamehere" without the quotes. If the computer name and the share name don't match what you wrote down from the XP machine, either change the XP machine settings or change the path of the PORT on the Vista machine.

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