Windows XP printer sharing problems-2
Hello all,
I have a small office with 3 computers. There is an HP laser printer directly connected to the parallel port of computer A. Computer A is running Windows 2000 pro, and is sharing the printer over the network. Computer B (also Windows 2000 pro) can print without a problem.
Computer C is running Windows XP and is configured to use the printer connected to computer A.
There is a shortcut to the printer on the desktop, when trying to open the shorcut, the error message "Operation could not be completed. Access is denied" is shown. If I open "Printers and faxes" from control panel, I can open the printer to view the queued documents, but the bar at the top of the window tells me "Access is denied, unable to connect".
If I right click the printer and select "connect" I can connect to the printer, but only by entering the user name and password for computer A.
Each time the user restarts, I have to go through the same process again.
Is there a way around this??
Software/Hardware used:
Software/Hardware used:
ASKED:
January 23, 2006 11:36 AM
UPDATED:
January 26, 2006 1:51 PM
Answer Wiki:
Windows XP and 2000 do seem to have their sharing quirks.
Assuming that the workgroup names match for all three computers, ie "workgroup", On computer A, create a username of the person who is logged on at Computer C.
When the user on Computer C tries connecting to the printer, they are sending their logon credentials to Computer A. Right now, Computer A doesn't have a match for the person logged on at C. By creating this account on Computer A, when Computer C user connects to the printer Computer A will recognize the username and password andMake sure the passwords match as well or you will again be prompted for a password.
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The first reply *should* work and is exactly what I would try first. I say try because it seems nothing is ever that straightforward in IT..
In some cases that won’t work and I have had to resort to enabling the Guest account on the PC with the share to make it work..
Good luck!
It’s the enhanced security that first appeared in W2k and was more fully implemented in Wxp: You can’t access shared resources unless you have an account authorized to them. The whole idea stems from the fact that Microsoft wants you to run Active Directory and have central authorization control for everything. Fine for a regular business, inconvenient for everyone else.
Best solution: go buy a Netgear parallel network print server. Maybe $25 on sale. You assign it an IP address, plug it into your hub & the printer, and on each pc set up a “local” printer with a network address (I know, it seems like it should be a network printer…) of the IP you assigned.
This way everyone prints, no PC is required to be a server, and spooling takes place on each machine that prints (instead of thrashing the hd of the serving computer).
I happen to like Netgear, but I believe Linksys and Dlink have very good print servers as well.