How To: Share a Printer in Windows Vista
July 17th, 2007 by SysAdmin
Most people today have a printer attached to their computer and sometimes have more than one PC in the household.
If there are multiple computers in the home the odds are they’re probably networked.
So in this tutorial I will show you how to share a printer that is attached to your computer and make it available over the network.
How to share a printer
- Click Start (Windows Orb)
- Click Control Panel
- Click Network and Internet
- Click Network and Sharing Center
- Under the Sharing and Discovery category click the drop down arrow next to Password protected sharing
- Click the Turn off password protected sharing radio button and then click Apply
- If prompted by the UAC, click Continue
- This time under the Sharing and Discovery category click the drop down arrow next to Printer sharing
- Click the Turn on printer sharing radio button and then click Apply
- If prompted by the UAC click Continue
How to print using a shared computer
- Click Start (Windows Orb)
- In the search bar type \\ followed by the name of the computer with the shared printer. e.g. \\mycomputer and then press the Enter key
- If Windows Vista locates the computer a folder will open. Double left click the Printers icon
- The shared printer will usually have a name similar to the installed print device. Double left click the shared printer icon.
- Windows will now automatically install the printer drivers
- The printer will appear in your printers folder. You will need to select the printer when wanting to print to that device.
*Note: If you’re unable to find the printer on the network. Talk to the person that owns the printer to confirm that it’s turned on and functioning correctly.
