Printing through a network?

Question

I have attempted to set up a printer for my small home network, and I've run into some trouble. It's a wired network, and both computers are connected to the internet through the router, and are successfully 'networked'.

First I installed the printer onto the BASEMENT computer using the software from the manufacturer. I made sure it worked without errors, and then allowed it to be shared.

I then searched for the printer on the network with MYROOM computer in the Printer and Fax section of the Control Panel. I found the printer, named 'hpoffice' on the network, and went through the steps choosing the appropriate options.

However, MYROOM computer has an error icon in my system tray that says 'hp officejet printer: Error'. When I double click on it to see the Status box, it says 'Printer Disconnected!', even though the printer is on (and working for the BASEMENT pc), and I have rebooted each computer several times incase it was necessary.
I'm out of ideas, thank you for any help given.

Answer 1

Make sure the file and printer sharing is on for both printers, make sure that the Windows (or any other) firewall on the basement computer has an exception for file and print sharing. (If all else fails, turn off the firewall entirely and try one last time in case it's an odd configuration problem with the firewall.) Make sure you have the approrpiate drivers installed on the PC in your room. (If one computer is a 32 bit system and the other 64 bit, for instance, they will need different drivers; you should be able to download them from HP directly.) Double check the share permissions for the printer on the basement PC as well.

Bottom line, if you can see the printer from the other computer, it's not the network per se; you've made good steps there. Believe it or not, you're just about where you want to be... best of luck!

Answer 2

Hmm, I have a wireless network here at home and my printer works fine, no problems setting it up. I did the same steps as you did.

You might try installing the drivers for the printer on your MYROOM computer.....

Answer 3

You can try to add it manually by using \\BASEMENT\hpoffice.

Also, you have to give the proper permissions for people to print to the printer (Sharing -Security tab)..

Does it make a difference if someone is logged onto the BASEMENT computer or not??

Check your firewall settings also.

Answer 4

i had a similar problem. I had to use the IPX protocol instead of the TCP/IP protocol. This fixed my problem. Also, make sure file and print sharing is enabled for both computers.