Networking a Printer

  1. Install the printer on one computer on the network.
  2. Make sure the printer is shared on the network.
    1. Go to My Computer > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes
      or Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes.
    2. Right click on the printer you wish to network, and click the Sharing option.
    3. Select the option that says “Share this printer”, and give the printer a name.
  3. Find out the name of the computer the printer is connected to.
    1. Right click on My Computer and click the Properties option.
    2. Click on the Computer Name tab.
    3. Look for the Full computer name field. This is the name of your computer.
  4. Next, go onto the other computer you would like to connect to the printer over the network. There are 2 ways to connect to the printer over the network.
    1. Method 1

                                                               i.      Click on My Network Places and click on the View workgroup computers option on the left.

                                                             ii.      Find the computer in the list corresponding to the name of the computer the printer is connected to, and click on that computer.

                                                            iii.      Find the printer with the name of the printer you shared earlier.

                                                           iv.      Right click on this printer and select Connect from the drop down.

                                                             v.      Click Yes on the alert dialog that appears.

    1. Method 2

                                                               i.      Go to My Computer > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes
or Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes.

                                                             ii.      Click the Add a printer option on the left of the window.

                                                            iii.      For the first dialog, click Next >.

                                                           iv.      Select the option that says A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer.

                                                             v.      If you know the specific path to the computer, you can select the option that says Connect to this printer and enter the path in the text field. Otherwise, select Browse for a printer.

                                                           vi.      Look for the name of the computer you connected the printer to, followed by the name of the printer.

                                                          vii.      If you find it in the list, select it and click Next.

                                                        viii.      Click Yes in the alert dialog box that appears.

                                                           ix.      If you would like the printer to be the default, select Yes from the list.

                                                             x.      Click Finish to complete.

  1. To make sure the setup worked correctly and to set this printer as your default,
    1. Go to My Computer > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes
      or Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes.
    2. Look for the name of the printer you just installed. It should have a name followed by “on ….”.
    3. Right click on this printer and select Set as Default Printer if you would like this printer to be the default.
    4. Right click on this printer again and select Properties from the drop down.
    5. Click on the Print Test Page button in the bottom right of the window to print a test page.
    6. If it fails to print, try going through the steps again.