Vista to XP printing problems

I have an XP Pro network with two Dell XP workstations where one is the
server and am trying to load my printer onto my Vista machine. It can see
the printer on the server, but gives me the following message when I try to
connect to it:

"WINDOWS CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN"

I have the Vista driver from Canon but can't even get far enough to point
windows to it.

Can the Vista PC access the files and folders on the XP PCs correctly?
Networking is a little different in Vista and you may not have set it up
correctly. XP cannot really be a 'server' since it is not a server
operating system.

Does the printer in question have Vista drivers.... did you check the
printer manufacturer's website?
--
Cari (MS-MVP)
Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
http://www.coribright.com/windows

"gearhead" <gearhead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F138B5DC-D0BC-4D1D-BEB9-2A76CE700659@microsoft.com...
>I have an XP Pro network with two Dell XP workstations where one is the
> server and am trying to load my printer onto my Vista machine. It can see
> the printer on the server, but gives me the following message when I try
> to
> connect to it:
>
> "WINDOWS CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN"
>
> I have the Vista driver from Canon but can't even get far enough to point
> windows to it.
>
>

Yes. All the XP computers on my network are fully recognized by the Vista
machine. I can exchange, alter, and delete files on the network server (an
XP computer) from the Vista machine.

The printer, a Canon Image Class D860 has drivers for Vista and I have
downloaded these.

The Vista machine can see all the printers on the server and prompts me to
install the driver, but when I try to install the drivers I get "WINDOWS
CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN".



"Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:

> Can the Vista PC access the files and folders on the XP PCs correctly?
> Networking is a little different in Vista and you may not have set it up
> correctly. XP cannot really be a 'server' since it is not a server
> operating system.
>
> Does the printer in question have Vista drivers.... did you check the
> printer manufacturer's website?
> --
> Cari (MS-MVP)
> Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
> http://www.coribright.com/windows
>
> "gearhead" <gearhead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F138B5DC-D0BC-4D1D-BEB9-2A76CE700659@microsoft.com...
> >I have an XP Pro network with two Dell XP workstations where one is the
> > server and am trying to load my printer onto my Vista machine. It can see
> > the printer on the server, but gives me the following message when I try
> > to
> > connect to it:
> >
> > "WINDOWS CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN"
> >
> > I have the Vista driver from Canon but can't even get far enough to point
> > windows to it.
> >
> >
>
>

To clarify, I guess the problem is that the Vista machine won't load the
printer through the XP machine which serves as my print-server and network
storage.

My printer is connected to this machine and all the other XP computers have
no problems printing through it.



"Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:

> Can the Vista PC access the files and folders on the XP PCs correctly?
> Networking is a little different in Vista and you may not have set it up
> correctly. XP cannot really be a 'server' since it is not a server
> operating system.
>
> Does the printer in question have Vista drivers.... did you check the
> printer manufacturer's website?
> --
> Cari (MS-MVP)
> Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
> http://www.coribright.com/windows
>
> "gearhead" <gearhead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F138B5DC-D0BC-4D1D-BEB9-2A76CE700659@microsoft.com...
> >I have an XP Pro network with two Dell XP workstations where one is the
> > server and am trying to load my printer onto my Vista machine. It can see
> > the printer on the server, but gives me the following message when I try
> > to
> > connect to it:
> >
> > "WINDOWS CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN"
> >
> > I have the Vista driver from Canon but can't even get far enough to point
> > windows to it.
> >
> >
>
>

Instead of browsing to it, try

\\DellPC\Printer

where DellPC is the 'name' of the PC and Printer is the 'name' of the
printer.
--
Cari (MS-MVP)
Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
http://www.coribright.com/windows

"gearhead" <gearhead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:050A9FD9-9D89-4A30-A29D-A34AC6E67CD3@microsoft.com...
> Yes. All the XP computers on my network are fully recognized by the Vista
> machine. I can exchange, alter, and delete files on the network server
> (an
> XP computer) from the Vista machine.
>
> The printer, a Canon Image Class D860 has drivers for Vista and I have
> downloaded these.
>
> The Vista machine can see all the printers on the server and prompts me to
> install the driver, but when I try to install the drivers I get "WINDOWS
> CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS UNKNOWN".
>
>
>
> "Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:
>
>> Can the Vista PC access the files and folders on the XP PCs correctly?
>> Networking is a little different in Vista and you may not have set it up
>> correctly. XP cannot really be a 'server' since it is not a server
>> operating system.
>>
>> Does the printer in question have Vista drivers.... did you check the
>> printer manufacturer's website?
>> --
>> Cari (MS-MVP)
>> Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
>> http://www.coribright.com/windows
>>
>> "gearhead" <gearhead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F138B5DC-D0BC-4D1D-BEB9-2A76CE700659@microsoft.com...
>> >I have an XP Pro network with two Dell XP workstations where one is the
>> > server and am trying to load my printer onto my Vista machine. It can
>> > see
>> > the printer on the server, but gives me the following message when I
>> > try
>> > to
>> > connect to it:
>> >
>> > "WINDOWS CANNOT CONNECT TO THE PRINTER. THE SPECIFIED PRINTER IS
>> > UNKNOWN"
>> >
>> > I have the Vista driver from Canon but can't even get far enough to
>> > point
>> > windows to it.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>