Share Your
Printer Over a Home Network Using Windows XP
Plug and Print
Just like big business, you have to do a wee bit
of planning. But you get off easy with a single decision: Where are you going to install your printer?
I'd suggest a central location that has a computer.
I installed mine in my home office, since that's where I keep most of my computers. You might want to install it on a kitchen
computer. Whatever you do, don't put it in your kids' rooms. You might never get to it. And don't put it anywhere that you
expect privacy; otherwise, someone might startle you at the wrong time with a 20 page list of colorful jokes.
In the continuing saga of my home network, I bought
an inexpensive printer to test with Windows XP. Once I decide where to put my new printer, installation was a snap. I plugged
my new printer, a popular inkjet printer from that small garage startup, in to a computer running Windows XP, and the operating
system automatically recognized it. Windows XP briefly displayed a balloon in the taskbar that said, "Found New Hardware,"
followed by the name of the printer. A full minute didn't pass between the time I plugged the printer in to the computer and
the time I was printing. I didn't have to do jack in order to install the printer, and you'll have the same experience—it
just works.
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After I installed my new printer on the computer,
I wanted to use it from other computers. I even wanted to print from my laptop computer, sitting on the patio, connecting
to the network with a wireless NIC. Before I could do that, I had to share the printer. Windows XP doesn't automatically share
printers, which is a good thing when you don't want to share your toys.
To share the printer, I opened the Printers
and Faxes folder on the computer that was connected to my printer.
To open the Printers and Faxes folder
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• |
Click Start and then click Control Panel.
|
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• |
Click Printers and Other Hardware, and
then click Printers and Faxes. |
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• |
In the Printers and Faxes folder, I clicked
the printer's icon and, in the tasks pane, I clicked Share This Printer. |
|
• |
I opened the printer's Properties dialog box,
and clicked on the Sharing tab. |
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• |
I clicked Share Name, and then clicked
OK. |
That's it—the printer was immediately available
for other computers to use.
Now that I had a network printer, I was ready
to connect to it and print from other computers on the network.
To connect to the printer
|
• |
I opened Control Panel, and clicked Printers
and Other Hardware. |
|
• |
I clicked Add a Printer. |
|
• |
Instead of adding a local printer, though, I clicked
Printer Connection and then browsed the network for the printer. |
The whole process took less than a minute before
I was printing to the network printer as though it was connected to the computer.
