There are two main ways to do printer available for computers home network :

• connect it directly to one computer and provide access to it to other computers on the network;
• connect the printer as a stand-alone network device.

This section describes the steps for both cases in Windows. However, you should always first review the model's documentation for specific installation and setup instructions.

Setting up access to a shared printer

Traditionally, the most common way to access a printer on a home network is to connect it to one of the computers and define Windows actions for sharing. This is called a shared printer.

Advantage sharing printer is that it is suitable for any USB printer. What are the disadvantages? The host computer must always be on, otherwise other computers on the network will not have access to the shared printer.

IN previous versions On Windows, setting up access to a shared printer seems a bit complicated. But the new home network feature in Windows 7, called HomeGroup, makes the process much easier.

When the network is configured as a homegroup, printers and certain files access is automatically granted.

If you have already set up a homegroup and want to access the shared printer from another computer in your homegroup, follow these steps:

Connecting to a HomeGroup Printer Manually

1. On the computer to which the printer is connected, click the Start button, select Control Panel, enter home group in the search field and select Home group.
2. Make sure the Printers checkbox is checked. (If not, install it and click Save changes)
3. Go to the computer from which you want to print.
4. Open the HomeGroup folder.
5. Click the button Install printer.
6. If the printer driver is not yet installed, select Install driver.

Note: After installing the printer, it is accessed through the dialog box Seal in any program, as if the printer was directly connected to the computer. To use the printer, the computer it is connected to must be turned on.

Setting up a network printer

Network printers are devices that connect directly to a network as a standalone device. They were mainly used in large organizations. This is no longer the case.

Printer manufacturers often offer inexpensive inkjet and laser printers, serve as network printers on a home network. Network printers have one big advantage over shared printers: they are always available.

There are two main types of network printers: wired And wireless.

• Wired printers have an Ethernet port that connects to your router or hub via an Ethernet cable.
• Wireless printers typically connect to your home network using Wi-Fi technologies or Bluetooth.

Some printers offer both features. The instructions included with the model provide information on how to install them.

Installing a network, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth printer

1. Open the Devices and Printers window.
2. Click the button Installing the Printer.
3. In the Add Printer Wizard, select Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer.
4. From the list of available printers, select the one you need and click Next.

   If necessary, install the printer driver on your computer by clicking Install driver. When prompted, enter your administrator password or confirm.

5. Follow the wizard's additional instructions and click Finish.

Adviсe:

• Make sure you have permission to use these printers before connecting them to your computer.
• To make sure the printer is working correctly, print a test page.

You probably had to run with a flash drive from one computer to another in order to print a document. This is very inconvenient because it takes a lot of time and forces you to break away from your current work. A network printer can be a solution to this problem. In this article we will talk about how to connect a printer via local network.

In this article we will describe only the local network. In order for you to use these instructions, you must already have a local network built and the printer must be connected to one of the computers.

Step No. 1. Share the printer.

In order to use it over the network, it needs to be shared. To do this, open the Start menu and go to the "Devices and Printers" section.

If you are using , then you need to open the Start screen with tiles and search for “Devices and Printers.”

After this, the operating system will prompt you to open this window. In the "Devices and Printers" window you will see printers, as well as other devices connected to your computer.

Here you need to right-click on the printer that you want to make accessible over the network and select the “Printer Properties” menu item.

After this, the “Printer Properties” window will open in front of you; here you need to go to the “Access” tab. On the "Sharing" tab, you must enable the "Share this printer" feature.

After enabling sharing, close this window by clicking the “OK” button. That's it, your printer is now accessible over the local network.

Step No. 2. Connect the printer via a local network to another computer.

Now we need to connect this printer to another computer via a local network. To do this, open the “Devices and Printers” window on the second computer and click on the “Add a printer” button.

After this, the “Add a printer” window will open in front of you, in it you need to click on the “Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer” button.

After searching for printers, the operating system will prompt you to connect the printer to which you previously shared access.

All you need to do is highlight the found printer and click on the “Next” button. This will complete the process via the local network.

But, if the operating system does not find the printer you need, then click on the “The printer you need is not in the search” button. After clicking this button, the system will prompt you to enter the printer address manually.

The printer address must be entered in the following format: “\\computer-IP-address\printer-name”. For example: \\192.168.1.2\hp.

After searching for the printer, the operating system will report that the printer was successfully connected over the network.

After this message, the connected network printer will appear in the system and will be available for use.

How to connect a printer to a computer

There are only two ways to connect the printer to a computer:

1. Local.
   This method involves connecting the printer to a computer via Wi-Fi or USB. In this case, the connection occurs using the driver included with the purchased printer. The driver can also be downloaded from the Internet. As a rule, connecting in this way eliminates any problems with the connected printer, unlike the second method.
2. Network.
   With this method, the printer can be connected to a computer locally and, thanks to the shared access provided, it is also possible to connect this printer to other computers on the local network or to a print server. It is very easy to make a network printer: just connect it to a computer or print server using Wi-Fi, USB or Lan and open access to all users of this network.

Situations often arise when there are fewer printers in an office or home than there are computers on a given network, and when printing documents, additional printer settings are required so that it can print over the network.

An example of the most common situation. There is a printer to which one computer is connected, and printing is required from another over the network. In such cases, there are several options for connecting the printer to a second computer. The simplest ones are the following:

Connect a network printer using a computer

Sometimes, in order for two computers to work with a printer over a network at the same time, additional settings are required (if the “No access” error occurs during setup of a network printer).

Method No. 1

Initially, you should find out the name of the computer (to which the printer is connected). To do this, you need to right-click on the “My Computer” icon. In this menu, select the “Properties” checkbox and in it – a tab called “Computer name”. In Windows7 software, this tab will be the last one in the list of “Properties” marks. IN this menu You can also get there another way - by going to the control panel menu, find the “System” icon (“System Properties”).

Having found out the name of the computer we need, we can move on to another computer. In it, click on the “START” button, or you can simply open one of the folders. Next, in the address line (folder address) that appears at the top, you must enter \\computer name. Example: if the computer name is “printserver”, then you need to enter “\\printserver” in the line. After these manipulations, press ENTER. Thus, we get to the remote computer and can see all the network resources available to it. These include a printer that can be installed by simply clicking on it.

If the printer does not appear in the list of available network resources, then you need to open access to it. To do this, go to the computer to which the printer is connected. In it we go to “START”, then selecting the “Printers” tab and in this window that appears we should right-click on the printer that we need. In this menu window, select “Properties”, then find the “Access” tab. In this tab, you need to check the box next to “Share”. Thus, this printer will appear in the list of network resources.

Method number 2

You need to go to the control panel and select the “devices and printers” folder from the proposed menu. Then click “Add a printer” (or in other versions “Add a printer”). In the New Device Installation Wizard window that appears, you need to click the “Next” button, then selecting “Connect to a printer” or “Browse printers on the network”, confirming your choice by clicking the “Next” button. A new window that appears will offer a list of devices on the network, where you will need to find the printer you need and confirm its selection by clicking the “Next” button. The process will be completed operating system without your further participation.

Note

There are cases (if computers on a network with different Windows versions), when during installation you may need a driver for the printer. Such a driver can be taken from the disk that came with the printer, or downloaded from the Internet - from the website of the manufacturer of this printer.

If the printer is connected directly to the network using its own network interface or via a print server, it is easier to connect such a device using the installation wizard, which, as a rule, comes with the printer (MFP) in the form of a CD.

If it is not possible to use such a disk, then you should use another method. To do this, go to the “Add Printer Wizard” following the instructions in Method 2. Here you should select the “ Local printer" and then - "Create a new port." In this menu, select “Standard TCP/IP port”. The “Add Printer Wizard” will appear on the screen. In the “Printer name/IP address” field, you must enter the IP address of the printer, which is specified in the instructions and settings of the printer itself. Having completed all the steps correctly, the process can be completed with a few clicks of the “Next” button in the windows that appear.

Some printing devices require additional settings, which includes TCP/IP port settings.

There are cases when you need to print a document through a printer connected to a computer on a local network, but a number of problems arise when setting up access to it. Consider an example of a standard work network with an accountant’s computer connected via a router and a LaserJet 1200 printer connected to it, as well as with a workstation connected to the same router. Both computers are controlled by the operating system Windows system 7.

Opening public access

The first difficulty that the user faces is the lack of access to a remote computer on the local network, in in this case, to the accountant’s computer, to which the printer is connected via USB cable. This is because by default in Windows settings 7, Network discovery disabled. This is necessary for safety.

To enable it, you need to do the following: sit down at the machine to which the printer is connected via USB (for convenience, let it be called “buh” in the example, and the work machine from which you need to connect to the printer remotely – “user1”).

Click the round button on the left at the bottom of the desktop, a menu will open in which you should select “Control Panel”. Next, find the shortcut in the list that says “Network and Sharing Center.” In the window that opens, on the left side, you should have the item “Change additional options public access", click.

Make the following changes:

“Enable network discovery”, check this box so that your computer is visible to other users on the local network.

“Enable file and printer sharing”, this is the main parameter for which you actually came here, enable it.

“Enable sharing so that network users can read and write files in shared folders.” This function may be useful for exchanging files over the network; if you open access to a folder on the “buh” computer, you can add files to it and operate with them from the “user1” computer.

"Disable sharing with password protection" You check this box if there are no foreign computers on your local network and there is no threat of information leakage, otherwise, do not touch this item, but every time you turn on the computer you will have to go through authorization on the remote machine.

If computers are in different workgroups, this can make it more difficult for them to access each other. Both machines must be in the same workgroup, for example "WORKGROUP" as shown in the image below. To do this, click on the “Change” button and write the group name.

Next, click on the round button at the bottom left of the desktop. In the menu that opens, select “Control Panel”. A window will open in which you need to find the Devices and Printers item, this is what you need. A window with devices will open. Right-click your LaserJet 1200 printer and select Printer Properties. Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Share this printer" checkbox." Click "Apply" and "OK". Now you are ready to connect.

Connecting a network printer to another computer on the local network

If you know how to use command line(otherwise skip this and the next paragraph): sit down at user1’s computer, try ping command to the accountant's car. Open the same menu, click on the circle button at the bottom left, select “Run” (or press Win + R). A window will open with a text input line. Write the command in it: cmd. In the window that opens, enter the command "ping buh" (without quotes).

If responses are received and there are 0 losses, then you can start connecting, otherwise if there are no responses, then there are three options: either the firewall is blocking incoming connections, or the antivirus, or there is a problem with the cable, or network adapters. In the first case, just try restarting your computer, buh, in the second, you need to configure your antivirus firewall to allow incoming connections. The firewall should automatically allow access to incoming connections; if this does not happen, then you need to manually configure the firewall to allow users incoming connections. In case of problems with adapters, you should reinstall the drivers network cards, and if this does not help, then replace the cards. The cable should be tested and replaced if faulty.

So, the answers from the computer buh have been received.

Click the round button in the corner of the desktop and select “Run” (Win + R).

Type the command \\buh (without quotes) and click OK.

The accounting computer will open to you, where you will see the publicly available LaserJet 1200 printer. Right-click on it and select “Connect”.

Now everything is ready. To check, print a test page. To do this, click the same round button in the corner of the desktop and select “Control Panel”, look for “Devices and Printers” in the list that opens. Go into it, and there will be your network printer with the name “LaserJet 1200 on buh”. Right-click on it and click “Printer Properties”. In the window that opens, select “Test Print”. A task to print a test sheet should appear on the network printer. Look at the result.

Nowadays, you can often observe a situation where some of the computers in the office are still running Windows XP (because their hardware is not powerful enough to install newer operating systems), and some are more recent computers running Windows 7 or Windows 8 Just imagine: we have 2 computers - one on Windows XP and one on Windows 7. A printer is connected to each computer via USB. And we need it to be possible to print from every computer to any printer. If both computers were running an identical OS, then connecting the printer would be more than simple. But when the OSs are different, it's easy “connect” printer It won't always be possible.

In this article I will teach you how to properly connect a printer over a network when local computer And remote computer with the required printer work under different OS.

So, we have 2 computers: one with Windows XP (comp1), the second with Windows 7 (comp2).
One printer is connected to each computer via USB and drivers for local printing. Those. so far every computer Maybe print to your printer, but can't print to someone else's printer over the network.

Step 1. Setting up computer No. 1. As always, the first step is to share the printer for the network, i.e. Sharing the printer.

For Windows XP: click Start -> Control Panel -> Printers and faxes-> right-click on the desired printer -> select Sharing -> ... and set a network name for our printer.

(For Windows 7(8), in this case you need to perform the following steps: click Start -> Control Panel -> Devices and Printers-> right-click on the desired printer -> select Printer properties-> Access tab -> set a network name for our printer.)

Also, for Windows 7 and 8, you need to check whether sharing is enabled on the computer.

Step 2. Let's go to computer No. 2. We go from it to computer No. 1 over the network and check whether the printer open to the network is visible. To do this, type \\comp1 in Explorer and press Enter.

We see that the desired printer on computer No. 1 is open to the network. But since our computers are running different OSes, we won't click Connect because we'll likely end up with the print service (spooler.exe) crashing:

We'll just leave this window open so we can see the printer's network name.

Step 3. Download the driver for computer OS No. 2 from the official website of the printer manufacturer. In our case, this is a Windows 7 driver for the HP LaserJet 1020 printer.

Right-click on the downloaded file and select Extract to folder hp-lj-1020-xp.

The trick is that instead of an exe file, we now have a folder with unpacked drivers, which we can point to to the installation wizard so that it can take drivers from there for the OS we need.

Step 4. Manually add a network printer to computer No. 2. To do this in the window Printers and faxes for (Windows XP) or Devices and Printers(for Windows 7 (8)) click:
Installing the Printer -> Local printer(in XP, immediately uncheck Automatic detection PnP printer) -> set the selector to position Create a new port-> in the drop-down menu select Local Port -> in the window Enter the port name manually enter the full address of the printer we need from computer No. 1:

\\comp1\HP1020 (letter by letter, including spaces, if any!)

and press OK

The system creates a new local port.

-> click OK -> select the driver we need from the list -> Next -> select a name for the network printer, under which it will be displayed on computer No. 2 (for example HP1020 ) -> Next -> select No printer sharing (for Windows 7.8). -> Next -> if necessary, check or uncheck...Default -> Done.

Printer added!

In the same way, you can add a printer from computer No. 2 to computer No. 1. In this case, we need to download the driver for the HP LaserJet 1005 MFP under Windows XP and add the printer to computer No. 1 via Local Port.