networking

I am a neophyte about networking and would appreciate some help. We have 2 PCs hooked up to a Linksys router connecting to DSL. Both PCs have Win2k OS. One PC (#1) has a bubble jet printer hooked to LPT 1. I want to have the other computer (#2) be able to share the printer. The computers are in a senior center and available to walk ins anytime without the administrator present, so we have a "public" account which is for general use. When I set up the administrator account on computer 2 to connect to the printer, everything works fine. Ditto when I set it up on the "public" account, BUT after I log off, the connection is lost and has to be created all over again, each time? How can I get a permanent connection from computer 2 to computer 1 in a non-administrator account.
Thanks.

 

If you install the printer (as a network printer) on PC #2, it should stay there for ever and be available any time computer #1 is turned on.

Any other behavior indicates a problem of some sort.

Try removing the printer from both PCs. Then install it back on computer#1 using the latest drivers available. Share it. Next, install it on computer#2 as a network printer and when you get the message saying drivers are already there, ingnore it and use new ones.

Actually, if the printer is a fairly new one, computer#2 should use it without having any drivers loaded - running from the drivers on computer#1. NT systems are designed to behave this way.

Also check the mfgr's web site for information. Some printers are simply not designed for networking and won't do it well. If that's the case, your options are to 1) get a printer for computer#2 2) get a new printer for computer#1 that is designed to work as a network printer (probably better since it still leaves you with only one to maintain).

 

I guess I didn't state the problem clearly, which can happen when you don't know a lot about the problem you are trying to solve. Anyway, here's what happened. When I created the account on the client machine, there was no similarly named account on the host. Any changes made to profiles, etc. were just there for that session and did not reappear upon subsequent logins.
So the solution is that when you want a client account to share something on the host machine, you need an account with the same name on the host machine, whether or not that account is ever used to access the host.
Ordinarily, for convenience, the public access account is given the same name for all the computers on the network, so the issue probably seldom arises. This was sort of a fluke; since there were only 2 machies involved, I didn't put a lot of thought into the login name.

 

Can't tell for sure from your post but I assume you still have the problem and weren't able to cure it with the addition of a user account to the host PC.

So at this point you have 2 computers in the same work group, a user account on each with exactly the same logon, password, etc., and both user accounts in only 1 local group on the PC.

You have a shared printer on PC#1 and can connect to it for a session from PC#2 but after a reboot of PC#2 the printer is no longer there.

If any of the above is wrong, please say how it really is.

The printer thing should work and the connection should persist with your setup as I understand it so now just a matter of figuring out exactly what has gone strange.

 

The problem was solved by creating the same named account on the host computer. Thanks for your interest.