networking for dummies

I tried to read previous posts to get my answer, but each senario was different.

I have an HP (main computer) with XP and xerox workcenter printer connected. Cable modem and belkin router.

Second computer is an Athlon with win2000.
On both computers I can see the other computer in network neighborhood. I can see my shared files from my HP on the Athlon.

If I go to print from Athlon the message is the printer is not connected. I do have the print drivers for win2000 installed on the athlon. I also installed the xerox software on the athlon.

What am I missing? Thank you.

 

Yes I did and I selected network printer. I think I may have read somewhere that you only install the print driver on the Athlon not the xeroworkcenter software.

Xerox Workcenter 480cx is connected to the HP computer name Phyllis.

Belkin router connects HP (xp) and Athlon (win2000pro) computer name Dan.

I can access all my shared files from Phyllis to Dan. If I go to Dan (Athlon) click on computers near me, I see the HP (Phyllis) and Athlon (Dan). I see the printer.

If I am sharing the printer from the HP (Phyllis) to the Athlon (Dan) shouldn't I see the printer only in //phyllis? In other words, I seem to have more printer incons that I think I should have. I have printer icons in computer Dan and printer icons in Phyllis.

Thank yo

 

In the printers section of control panel on Dan, there should be two printers listed. Check the properties to determine which one is Phyllis and set it as default.

 

Geez, Dave, your already helping me with my other problem under homepage.

In control panel on the athlon (Dan), printers, there is one printer listed as the default. On the right side of the menu it shows Xerox Workcenter 480cx on Phyllis. Status ready. If I open up properties and click test page, it tells me it failed to print. No other info.

Thank you.

 

Phyllis - I think your fix for the printer situation is going to be removing all traces of the printer from your 2K PC, making sure the XP PC is set to share the device with XP & 2K PCs (XP then loads both drivers and uses XP drivers for itself and 2K drivers for the other PC), and let the XP PC handle all the housekeeping.

The NT systems (NT4/2K/XP/2003) are all designed to work this way and seem to do better than if you do as you must with 9X systems and load printer and drivers on each PC.

And you will not want anything on the 2K PC except the printer. Some of the functions can only work from the PC that hosts the printer and trying to put them on another PC will either not work or will make the whole printing process on 2K not work.

I can't remember all the steps for forcing XP to do it all with a wired printer. We don't have any set up like that at work. If you can't figure it out, I'll be happy to take a look at home in the morning though. I have a similar setup there to yours. Not the same brand of printing device but similar.

Another suggestion based on the horror tale you've been in the middle of with security would be to consider getting an older 98 PC and setting it up for the gamer boys at your house then keeping them off the adult's machines. A little extra money to be sure but might be worth it. Then you could get them a working system, burn a complete image to CD, and if/when they broke their PC, just restore it from the image.

 

I'm trying. I bounce around alot. This board has been my school. And part of my way of paying for the education is by helping others if and when I can.

Check the printer properties on Dan to be sure it is pointed at Phyllis LPT:? (whatever port it is on Phyllis). Phyllis printer propeties, ports tab will show you if not sure. Check the transmission timeout from configue button on that tab. May need to be increased. On sharing tab, additional drivers, check they are installed for 2000.

Edit
Up and down alot while trying to post and you snuck in on me Newt.

 

Newt - I'm a little confused by your comments. Let me provide the following:

HP (phyllis) is connected to the Xerox workcenter, windows XP, belkin router, comcast internet. Xerox software & drivers loaded. Printer is shared.

Athlon (Dan) print driver for win200 loaded.

Athlon was previously printing from the xerox. I don't know what happened. However, since the hijack of the HP, the Athlon can't access the internet or print, but I can access the shared files that are on the HP from the Athlon and I see the HP (Phyllis) in computers near me from the Athlon.

Much to my chagrin, I do realize that I have been focusing on my HP problems and will have to do the same procedures to the Athlon. But, I can only work on one machine at a time.

Thank you.

 

Phyllis - Sorry to be confusing. Let me try again.

NT systems (which include your XP & 2K PCs) are designed so that only the PC with the printer (call it the 'printer host') attached needs drivers. All other PCs using the printer over the network can (and should) use the drivers that reside on the printer host.

You said, 'Athlon (Dan) print driver for win200 loaded' which is the way you are forced to operate if the client is a 98/ME PC but is not necessary (and not particularly good) with NT clients.

I'm suggesting that you delete the printer from the client PC, uninstall it (if possible) from the host PC, install it again to the host PC and when you set it to be shared, look for a dialog box asking about other OS versions that will use the printer. Pick 2000 and those drivers will also be made available.

Then reinstall it on the client PC. Hopefully the client will allow the host to do all the necessary work involved with printing.

noahdfear - you said, 'Check the printer properties on Dan to be sure it is pointed at Phyllis LPT:? (whatever port it is on Phyllis)'

This should not be necessary. On the client, just specifying that it's a network printer and then giving the host share info should do the job nicely. Something like \\phyllis\share-name and let the network take care of the housekeeping. If they need to print old 16bit DOS stuff it will be necessary to specify a port but in that case it would be (I hope - been a while and I'm fuzzy on this) an available LPT port on \\Dan.

Note: as you have said you are learning from this stuff, I'll try to offer a little extra (like this) if you want. But if it bothers you, just say so and I'll quit.

 

As you explain:

client pc is the athon (dan) In network places in win 2000 this what I see:

My network neighborhood shows:
add network
entire network
computers near me
sealsbunker (something for Dan's battlefield)
Kazza on Phyllis (my old music files)
sealsbunker (something else for Dan's battlefield)
shareddocs on Phyllis

If I click on computers near me I see:
two computer icons one marked Dan and the other Phyllis

If I click on Dan I see the following folders:
Dan's hijackthis log files (I've been trying to start troubleshooting waiting for advice from my windows bbs HEROES on my HP hijack)
Printers
Scheduled Tasks

If I click on this printer folder I see:
add printers
fax (which I should delete)


If I click on the computer icon that says Phyllis I see:
Shared docs
Xeroxwor (name truncated) - if I right click it says computer name: Phyllis; Workgroup: MShome
printer file - if I open this I see icon for xeroxworkcentre480cx

Should this xerox printer be listed in both Dan and Phyllis? I have an instictive feeling that something is someplace it shouldn't be but I can't put my finger on it. I'm going around in circle with this.

Thank you.

 

Newt,

Correct, instruct, slap my knuckles with a ruler! I'll take all the info and setting straight I can get.

I suggested checking the path to printer simply because that's what I did to get my ME machine to print from my xp machine. As you said, I shouldn't have had to, and probably have something else set wrong somewhere, but it worked, therefore I thought I was doing it right. Now I know better. Thanks!

EDIT

Just fixed my setup!

 

I may be a bit dense with this printer thing. The xerox is on LPT1 connected to the HP (Phyllis) which runs xp.

Our belkin router allows us to share thisprinter. The printer is marked shared.

I'm sorry, let's start over. IF you use the words like client, host, gateway, intranet and porta-potty, that's when my head hurts.

HP - Phyllis main computer

athlon - dan

Thank you for your patience.

 

Uninstall printer and software from Dan, printer from Phyllis. Reinstall on Phyllis as shared. On properties>sharing click additional drivers. Make sure drivers are loaded for Dan's OS. Then reinstall printer only on dan as shared.

 

I don't know why this has to be so hard It's stupid!

I uninstalled from the HP (Phyllis) Xerox printer start-control-remove programs.

I uninstalled the xerox printer & components from the Athlon (Dan).

I REINSTALLED from the CD the Xerox printer on the HP, selected shared, downloaded the drivers from the xerox support website for the HP running XP as well as the print driver for the Athlon running 2000. The HP can print.

On the Athlon, I selected add printer, found the printer xerox on Phyllis selected it continue to the next part in "add printers" and then it asks me for the driver. A file with an extension of ini

I don't know why. I don't know where it is or where it is supposed to come from. The CD ? If is sees the printer Xerox, why can't it see the drivers for 2000?

Thanks

 

Try clicking cancel. The drivers are on Phyllis and you want it to use those drivers. If it doesn't work that way, remove and reinstall, pointing it to the downloaded files on Phyllis. They will need to be in a shared folder.

 

IF you use the words like client, host, gateway, intranet and porta-potty

Sorry Phyllis - I gotta learn to speak English again I think.

Host is just like when you throw a party. Your house, your party, you are the host.

Client - well to continue the party analogy, client = party guest.

Intranet - I wish they had never invented that particular term but the meaning is simple. Intranet = local network = the PCs you have at your house. That's as opposed to Internet which is the huge place where the www lives.

Gateway - if you want to do stuff on the internet, you gotta have some way to get there. Some device acting as the gate thru the fence that surrounds your local, home, intranet network. For you, the router does the gateway work and decided if you are asking to talk to your other PC (in which case it does nothing) or to an outside place like www.love-to-shop-here.com and in that case, it sends your stuff out onto the internet.

Porta-potty - No clue on this one. May have been a term used with older systems where a process would spawn child processes? Maybe one of the old guys on here will remember. Jim?



note: before anybody gets mad at me for making fun of old guys or folks with kids (and it has happened at least once), I am an old guy with lot of kids and the porta-potty thing was a joke. Jim is older than I am though.

 

ROFLMAO!!

 

It wants an inf file. Not an ini file that I stated previously. It tells me that the drivers on phyllis\xeroxworkcenter480cx are not installed. If I try to browse for it part of the selection stays looking for that file extension only.

I added the additional drivers on the host (Phyllis). However, the xerox does not show up in my shared folder on the HP. Why? The printer is selected as shared.

Maybe I need to walk away from this for a while. Thank you.

 

It won't show in your shared folder because it isn't a folder. Open My Network Places on Phyllis. Click 'view workgroup computers'. Double click Phyllis. You should see the printer and any shared folders.

 

okay, I see that on Workgroups. What on the Athlon am I supposed to see? Remember the Athlon runs win 2000.

Thank you.