Cannot Print to XP Printer from Vista but I can share files

This is not correct. Many existing and older printers work fine - for
example, out of the box, my Vista computers at home can print on the HP
Deskjet 932C (at least 5 years old) connected to a Windows Server 2003
computer. Same at the office with many different HP Laserjet printers
(other vendors "older" printers work also). Windows XP or Windows Server
2003 printer drivers for printers that do not have in-box drivers will also
work in most cases.

These kinds of problems are usually very printer make and model dependent,
so without knowing what make and model of printer one is having a problem
with, it is not practical to suggest solutions.

There are definitly issues with the scanner and fax capabilities of some
multi-function "printers", but basic printing works in most cases.

However, if all else fails, the workaround at
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/NetPrinterNoPP.htm will almost always work -
the details in the steps are for XP, but the process is essentially the same
in Vista.

There are several threads in the
microsoft.public.windows.vista.networking-sharing and
microsoft.public.windows.vista.general newsgroups about problems with
sharing folders and printers and potential solutions.

--
Bruce Sanderson MVP
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/
It's perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.


"Lee Clayton" <LeeClayton@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FB1C5AD-9BC5-482F-AA8B-CCAD95ADAAA2@microsoft.com...
> Rob:
>
> No one has responded but it appears that unless you have a brand new
> printer
> that is Vista certified, you cannot network print to a printer on a XP
> Home
> or XP Pro network.
>
> THIS SUCKS! MS$ should be ashamed of putting out Vista and not allowing
> it
> to network print to a XP networked printer.
>
> --
> Lee
>
>
> "Rob" wrote:
>
>> I am at my wits end!!
>> I cannot print from my 4 day old Laptop loaded with Vista Home Premium to
>> the printer attached to my XP SP2 Machine. I could print from my
>> previous XP
>> SP2 laptop without problems. On both machines, all firewalls are off,
>> all
>> virus programs are off, all printers are shared, all files are shared,
>> both
>> computers are in the same workgroup, network discovery on, KB922120 is
>> installed on the XP machine, TCP/IPv4 WINS NetBios is enabled over
>> TCP/IP,
>> network is private etc.......
>> What is interesting is that I successfully mapped drives on both PC's and
>> can fully share files in both directions between both computers. So for
>> now
>> I am printing Vista files that I can see from my XP.
>> BUT, I can not browse (in explorer) the XP Computer network from the
>> Vista
>> machine (Permission error, contact administrator - Myself?)
>> I have also tried to enter \\computername\printername\ which gives me
>> (Error
>> 0x0000000D) It looks like I am not alone in the issues in printing from
>> Vista to XP but I haven't seen anyone who has had my problem while being
>> able
>> to actaully see files. Anyone out there know the fix before I return
>> this PC
>> to BestBuy and get the one with XP media Centre Edition for $100 less?

"Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:

> What make and model printer is it?



The printer is a Canon PIXMA MP830

Bruce
>

OK

I'm not knowledgeable about networking printing and its problems but
there is a lot posted here about them.

AMOI What happens if you plug the printr directly into the laptop --
can you print then?

Personally, especially on a laptop where so many special drivers and
utilities are used, I would not move to VISTA for as long as possible
so if you can get the equivalent machine with XP I'd go for it.

Check this out!!!
I plugged the printer in question (Brother MFC-3420) directly into the Vista
Machine and the device and drivers installed instantly and automatically. I
could immediately print to it directly. So it is not a Printer driver issue.
I then shared the printer (from the Vista machine) back to the XP machine
and immediately could see and it and print to it from the XP machine. I put
everything back the way it was originally and nothing improved. I also tried
Bruce Sanderson's workaround with the "adding a port" per the Shaw
website...nada. I guess it is a networking permission bug. I would hate to
have to do this everytime I need to print from the laptop. I am considering
buying several bluetooth USB's and creating a network between all of my
devices. Ebay for $5.99 each. Thoughts?

Rob



"Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:

> OK
>
> I'm not knowledgeable about networking printing and its problems but
> there is a lot posted here about them.
>
> AMOI What happens if you plug the printr directly into the laptop --
> can you print then?
>
> Personally, especially on a laptop where so many special drivers and
> utilities are used, I would not move to VISTA for as long as possible
> so if you can get the equivalent machine with XP I'd go for it.
>
>

In article <357C9856-8250-4130-97AF-8023755AC913@microsoft.com>, Rob
wrote:
> *I guess it is a networking permission bug.

As I said Networking is where I say "Please help me ..... " <g>

Someone here ought to be able to help sort it out or escalate it up to
Redmond -- Jill seems to do that?

I think I saw a message saying they had solved it by making sure both
ends used the same password? And I believe MS changed the default
Workgroup name in VISTA -- anything wrong there? Can you do other
things over the network?

I'm curious about your problem and have some questions:

1. is the XP computer XP Home or XP Professional?
2. on the XP computer, do you have a user account that has a password
defined? If not, add one on the XP computer and add the same user account
with the same password on the Vista computer. Logon on the Vista computer
with this new account - does this make any difference to the printer issue
or to the "can not browse (in Explorer) the XP Computer network...)?
3. please try the "adding a port" workaround again from the Vista computer
preferably while logged on using the account created per my question 2 -
please describe exactly when you get the problem and what exactly the
symptom is. To add the Port, you may have to start the Add Printer process
by:

a. open the Printers window (e.g. Start, Printers)
b. click File, Run as Administrator, Add Printer

or

a. open the Printers window
b. click File, Run as Administrator, Server Properties
c. select the Ports tab
d. click Add Port...


--
Bruce Sanderson MVP Printing
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders

It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.



"Rob" <Rob@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:357C9856-8250-4130-97AF-8023755AC913@microsoft.com...
> Check this out!!!
> I plugged the printer in question (Brother MFC-3420) directly into the
> Vista
> Machine and the device and drivers installed instantly and automatically.
> I
> could immediately print to it directly. So it is not a Printer driver
> issue.
> I then shared the printer (from the Vista machine) back to the XP machine
> and immediately could see and it and print to it from the XP machine. I
> put
> everything back the way it was originally and nothing improved. I also
> tried
> Bruce Sanderson's workaround with the "adding a port" per the Shaw
> website...nada. I guess it is a networking permission bug. I would hate
> to
> have to do this everytime I need to print from the laptop. I am
> considering
> buying several bluetooth USB's and creating a network between all of my
> devices. Ebay for $5.99 each. Thoughts?
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> "Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:
>
>> OK
>>
>> I'm not knowledgeable about networking printing and its problems but
>> there is a lot posted here about them.
>>
>> AMOI What happens if you plug the printr directly into the laptop --
>> can you print then?
>>
>> Personally, especially on a laptop where so many special drivers and
>> utilities are used, I would not move to VISTA for as long as possible
>> so if you can get the equivalent machine with XP I'd go for it.
>>
>>

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for following through on this with me. I finally got her to go!!!
1. Printer Server is XP Home 5.1, SP2, the laptop is Vista Home Premium
2. There were no passwords on either machine so I added them (The user
accounts have both always been Rob) It made no difference, as I could still
not "browse" the XP network via Windows Explorer from Vista (I can browse
Vista from Vista in Windows Explorer fine... I guess I'll discuss this in
another forum) I can see the computer, but when I click on the Network Icon
the Vista machine appears immediately and a status bar across the top runs
for about 5 seconds, then the XP Machine appears. When I click on the XP
machine to expand it the error message "\\XP Machine is not accessible. You
might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
administrator of the server to find out if you have permissions"
3. I added the port on the Vista Machine (although I couldn't see the "Run
as administrator" option). I had previously added the port on the XP Machine
(at least that was what the Shaw workaround said), which made no difference.
From the Vista machine, I used "add a printer", "add a local printer" (not
network printer), "create new port", "local port", entered the
COMPUTERNAME\PRINTERNAME the same as in the port that I had added on the XP
machine and it worked!

Thanks a bunch
P.S. It should have worked from the add a network printer function.



"Bruce Sanderson" wrote:

> I'm curious about your problem and have some questions:
>
> 1. is the XP computer XP Home or XP Professional?
> 2. on the XP computer, do you have a user account that has a password
> defined? If not, add one on the XP computer and add the same user account
> with the same password on the Vista computer. Logon on the Vista computer
> with this new account - does this make any difference to the printer issue
> or to the "can not browse (in Explorer) the XP Computer network...)?
> 3. please try the "adding a port" workaround again from the Vista computer
> preferably while logged on using the account created per my question 2 -
> please describe exactly when you get the problem and what exactly the
> symptom is. To add the Port, you may have to start the Add Printer process
> by:
>
> a. open the Printers window (e.g. Start, Printers)
> b. click File, Run as Administrator, Add Printer
>
> or
>
> a. open the Printers window
> b. click File, Run as Administrator, Server Properties
> c. select the Ports tab
> d. click Add Port...
>
>
> --
> Bruce Sanderson MVP Printing
> http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders
>
> It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.
>
>
>
> "Rob" <Rob@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:357C9856-8250-4130-97AF-8023755AC913@microsoft.com...
> > Check this out!!!
> > I plugged the printer in question (Brother MFC-3420) directly into the
> > Vista
> > Machine and the device and drivers installed instantly and automatically.
> > I
> > could immediately print to it directly. So it is not a Printer driver
> > issue.
> > I then shared the printer (from the Vista machine) back to the XP machine
> > and immediately could see and it and print to it from the XP machine. I
> > put
> > everything back the way it was originally and nothing improved. I also
> > tried
> > Bruce Sanderson's workaround with the "adding a port" per the Shaw
> > website...nada. I guess it is a networking permission bug. I would hate
> > to
> > have to do this everytime I need to print from the laptop. I am
> > considering
> > buying several bluetooth USB's and creating a network between all of my
> > devices. Ebay for $5.99 each. Thoughts?
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> >
> > "Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:
> >
> >> OK
> >>
> >> I'm not knowledgeable about networking printing and its problems but
> >> there is a lot posted here about them.
> >>
> >> AMOI What happens if you plug the printr directly into the laptop --
> >> can you print then?
> >>
> >> Personally, especially on a laptop where so many special drivers and
> >> utilities are used, I would not move to VISTA for as long as possible
> >> so if you can get the equivalent machine with XP I'd go for it.
> >>
> >>
>

I have the same problem. XP main computer with modern HP printer. Vista
laptop, but although internet can be accessed, I am unable to access the
network. Therefore no file sharing and no printing. Any additional help
please?

"Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:

> In article <357C9856-8250-4130-97AF-8023755AC913@microsoft.com>, Rob
> wrote:
> > I guess it is a networking permission bug.
>
> As I said Networking is where I say "Please help me ..... " <g>
>
> Someone here ought to be able to help sort it out or escalate it up to
> Redmond -- Jill seems to do that?
>
> I think I saw a message saying they had solved it by making sure both
> ends used the same password? And I believe MS changed the default
> Workgroup name in VISTA -- anything wrong there? Can you do other
> things over the network?
>
>

Read bruce's threads. There is a lot that needs to be done. You add the
printer to your VISTA machine as a LOCAL printer, not as a network printer.
you must first create the port manually on your XP machine and then enter it
manually on your VISTA. You can not browse for it through networking. Make
sure your VISTA network is private, not public, without any passwords
required for the network, download all patches for XP from MS Website. make
sure file and printer sharing is on for both machines. turn off firewalls
(at least temporarily), you can also map a network drive from windows
explorer on both machines.
I think that is it. I am finally fully functional after a week of screwing
around....

"Jonathan" wrote:

> I have the same problem. XP main computer with modern HP printer. Vista
> laptop, but although internet can be accessed, I am unable to access the
> network. Therefore no file sharing and no printing. Any additional help
> please?
>
> "Hugh Wyn Griffith" wrote:
>
> > In article <357C9856-8250-4130-97AF-8023755AC913@microsoft.com>, Rob
> > wrote:
> > > I guess it is a networking permission bug.
> >
> > As I said Networking is where I say "Please help me ..... " <g>
> >
> > Someone here ought to be able to help sort it out or escalate it up to
> > Redmond -- Jill seems to do that?
> >
> > I think I saw a message saying they had solved it by making sure both
> > ends used the same password? And I believe MS changed the default
> > Workgroup name in VISTA -- anything wrong there? Can you do other
> > things over the network?
> >
> >

The local printer solution on Vista to print on a Windows 2000 server
worked for me too with the exception that graphics now print in low res
dithered format. All text printing is fine. All my other XP computers
print fine through the Windows 2000 server. I tried using a Windows XP
machine as a print server and had the same graphics print problem.

I’m using a HP 960C printer and if I connect it directly to the Vista
computer the graphics are perfect.

I talked to Microsoft Vista support and they do not have a solution
other that using a Vista machine as the print server.
Any ideas?


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