My parents have a desktop downstairs with a printer hooked to it. I keep my lap top in my room. Is there anyway I can print my homework off of my lap top without first emailing it as an attachment and opening it downstairs?
2007-09-20 06:47:48 · 14 answers · asked by brea12489 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Printers
I am going to assume that you have a wireless router and that both computers are linked via your home network. (IE both computers can access the internet)
There are two ways to do what you want:
Cheep and inconvenient:
The easiest way to do this is to share the printer on the desktop. You need to enable printer and file sharing on the computer, and then enable sharing for the printer. Then on the laptop install a network printer and find the desktop on the local network and the printer attached to it.
This will let you print for no cost, but it does mean that the desktop needs to be on to print.
$$ but convenient.
The other way to do this is to get a wired or wireless print server for the printer. If the pinter is close to the router then a wired print server is cheaper, if you do not have a spare Ethernet port that you can connect the printer to then get a wireless print server.
Hook the print server up to the printer, run the software that came with it and follow the instructions for installing it on your laptop and on the desktop.
More work and expense, but at the end you do not need the desktop system to be turned on to print.
2007-09-20 07:06:23 · answer #1 · answered by Simon T 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So, you just got that new printer and have no clue of how to get it to work. Here's how to get busy printing your documents and pictures: Steps: Remove the printer out of the box and connect the power cable to a power adapter. Connect the square end of the USB cable to the printer and the rectangular end to your laptop. Turn the printer ON. Your laptop should find the newly attached hardware, and recognize it as printer. Install the drivers and necessary software. Enclosed with the printer package should be a driver CD-ROM for the printer. It might also contain some print enhancement software supplied by the manufacturer of the printer. Follow the instructions for software installation. Open any document or picture and click on Print in File menu or click on a printer icon in the toolbar.
2016-05-19 03:07:32 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes..
and dont call your local retailers!!
On your parents PC, you need to share the printer. Go into control panel, printers, right click on the printer and select sharing and security. You can share the printer from there.
On the desktop PC, check the name of the workgroup by going into control panel then system and click on the computer name tab. Note the name of the network.
On your laptop go to the computer name tab and make sure the workgroup is the same as it is on the desktop.
Reboot if necessary
On the laptop go into control panel, printers, add a printer. Select network printer and then click the browse button. the printer should appear if setup properly. Just add it.
Keep in mind that the desktop PC must be turned on for you to print from the laptop.
2007-09-20 06:55:33 · answer #3 · answered by thunder2sys 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the printer.
If the printer supports any of the following
1. Network access (Ethernet cable)
2. wireless networking
then you could do it.
Bluetooth could be used as well, but that wouldn't work from that much distance.
If the printer supports network access , connect the printer to the gateway instead of your parents computer, and then have your laptop find it.
If it supports wireless networking, you have to go to printer configuration and have it enabled.
2007-09-20 06:57:32 · answer #4 · answered by Ali H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sure you can. I am not sure what kind of Windows your parents have on their desktop but try this:
1. On the desktop, go to the control panel, and go to Printers.
2. right click on the printer hooked up to the desktop, click 'Sharing'. Click 'Share this printer' and note the sharename.
3. go back to your laptop, add a printer (on the network), point to the desktop, and use the sharename. to point to the desktop, you need to find the ip address of the desktop.
2007-09-20 06:59:41 · answer #5 · answered by rc 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YEs you can .. what you need is a printer server that works wirelessly its like a wireless router except it works for ur printer.... go ask a sales person who works in a local computer store hje will give u all teh details ... :) some wireless router models provide you with ana internal printer server :D .... hope i helped.
2007-09-20 07:08:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you need to go to the downstairs computer and share the printer. Just right click on the printer, and choose sharing to configure it. Both computers should be in the same workgroup, and things will be a lot simpler if they both have the same OS.
2007-09-20 06:53:17 · answer #7 · answered by karkov48 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
you need to go out and buy a few things but it should work after that...you neeed to buy a wireless router, and configure your printer to be on your network..if you have broadband this should be no problem.. next you need to but a wireless print server so you can connect the printer asnd have wirelessly available.. then you need to make sure you can get wireless connectivity from the router to be able to print, if you cant you need to buy a wireless adapter of some sort to be able to get it.
you also need to configure the printer to be 'shared' so you can use it..
search google for it..or Microsoft.
2007-09-20 07:06:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, there is.
However, wireless networking is about as secure as house with no doors in the doorways.
If you choose to open your network to anyone wardriving in your area, buy a wireless router and connect it to the desktop.
2007-09-20 06:57:57 · answer #9 · answered by jcurrieii 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course. Just set up a home network. to do this, you need a wireless router. From there, follow the instructions on the router to assign network codes that will allow your home devices to be interoperable.
2007-09-20 06:53:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋