Sharing 2 computers with 1 printer

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witsend2004 - 29 Jul 2006 04:12 GMT

Would like to know the correct procedure on connecting 2 computers to 1
printer. I would like to be able to not have both computers on to use the
printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

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Cari (MS-MVP) - 29 Jul 2006 17:18 GMT

The easiest way is to setup a small peer to peer workgroup.

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/qa/qa20030619.shtml

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Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows

> Would like to know the correct procedure on connecting 2 computers to 1
> printer. I would like to be able to not have both computers on to use the
> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

TonySper - 29 Jul 2006 22:42 GMT

He does not want to have both computers on to print to the printer. If
he uses a per to per he would need to connect the printer to one
computer and if he wanted to print to the printer from the other
computer he would need both computers on. There is an automatic switch
that you can connect the port from each computer to and then the auto
switch connects to the printer/ Much like having a switch that you
have to switch back and forth only this one is automatic and whichever
computer prints the auto switch will send the data to the printer. I
had used one about ten years ago but can't remember who made it. I am
sure a search on Google would find it.

Of course if you had a port on a per to per network that you plugged
the printer into that would also work. Maybe that's what you had in
mind and I made a bo bo knocking your suggestion, sorry.
TonySper

The easiest way is to setup a small peer to peer workgroup.

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/qa/qa20030619.shtml

Signature

Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows

> Would like to know the correct procedure on connecting 2 computers
> to 1
> printer. I would like to be able to not have both computers on to
> use the
> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

Cari (MS-MVP) - 29 Jul 2006 23:32 GMT

If one PC connects to the printer via USB and the other connects via LPT it
also works... however the owner has to be careful NOT to send jobs to the
printer from both PCs at once.... it's also fairly difficult if the PCs are
at opposite ends of the house.

A wireless network is not nearly as difficult as some people envision it to
be and certainly is a lot handier than having miles of cable snaking through
various rooms!

Signature

Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows

> He does not want to have both computers on to print to the printer. If
> he uses a per to per he would need to connect the printer to one
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>> use the
>> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

TonySper - 30 Jul 2006 00:23 GMT

Cari,
You are correct on both counts. The real problem is trying to find a
cheap printer that has both the USB and Parallel ports. The
manufactures all seem to want to only use the USB ports. Seems like
the old 25 pin ports are on the way out, in fact the last Dell I got
for my grandson does not have any ports except the USB ports and no 3
1/2" floppy.
TonySper

If one PC connects to the printer via USB and the other connects via
LPT it
also works... however the owner has to be careful NOT to send jobs to
the
printer from both PCs at once.... it's also fairly difficult if the
PCs are
at opposite ends of the house.

A wireless network is not nearly as difficult as some people envision
it to
be and certainly is a lot handier than having miles of cable snaking
through
various rooms!

Signature

Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows

> He does not want to have both computers on to print to the printer.
> If
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>> use the
>> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

witsend2004 - 30 Jul 2006 05:53 GMT

First of all, thanks for the input. The printer I have has only 1 connection
and that is USB. Sharing of files between the computers is not needed, and I
would not need to print from both computers at the same time.

> Cari,
> You are correct on both counts. The real problem is trying to find a
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> >> use the
> >> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

witsend2004 - 30 Jul 2006 05:55 GMT

I forgot to mention that both computers and the printer is in the same room

> Cari,
> You are correct on both counts. The real problem is trying to find a
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> >> use the
> >> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message

Donald McDaniel - 30 Jul 2006 18:06 GMT

>I forgot to mention that both computers and the printer is in the same room

It doesn't matter where they are, as long as the Network is up and
running.

I personally suggest a wireless network, with the printer connected
via USB cable to the wireless router (as long as the router has an USB
port on it). Then, either computer can access the printer at any time,
as long as the wireless network is up, the printer is shared, and
either computer (or both of them) has access to the network, and has
printer sharing turned on. This way, you will need only one cable
(USB) to be able to share the printer (by the way, you can both share
the same Internet Connection this way, too).

This is the way my brother and I are able to share our printers (if we
so desire), as he uses OS X on his Intel iMac, and I use Windows XP on
mine.

And it really doesn't matter if we both try to send print jobs to the
printer at the same time, since each job will be placed in the Printer
Que anyway, and executed one at a time. The chances of them both
arriving at EXACTLY the same time are pretty low, considering
relativity and the speed of light. One of the senders is going to hit
<Return> before the other, after all. And the printer que has code
which arbitrates between jobs anyway.

By the way, get rid of those parallel printer dinosaurs, and come on
into the 21st Century.

>> Cari,
>> You are correct on both counts. The real problem is trying to find a
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
>> >> use the
>> >> printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

==

Donald L McDaniel
Please Reply to the Original Thread.
========================================================

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Tom Ferguson - 31 Jul 2006 07:00 GMT

http://www.usbgear.com/USB20_4port_SHARING_Hub/index.html

Something like this should work OK. It is Better to network the two
computers with a router/switch that has one or more USB printer ports.
Both wired and wireless topologies are possible. (D-Link and others have
suitable products). Aside from the other benefits of a network, the use
of switches on ports is not supported by Microsoft.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

: Would like to know the correct procedure on connecting 2 computers to 1
: printer. I would like to be able to not have both computers on to use the
: printer. Any help would be much appreciated.

Reply to this Message