Windows 7: can see printer from xp but not 7

I have Windows 7 installed on 2 PCs. One just has 7 the other dual boots 7 and XP Pro. No matter which PC I hook the printer up to, the other Windows 7 PC cannot connect to it on the network. XP Pro can connect and print remotely.

I'm losin' it. I tried homegroup no homegroup media sharing on, off.. I can see the Icon in Network explorer window. cannot connect from 7.



I have it as Public network, file and print sharing on, allow modify files on, allow everyone to manage the printer yadda yadda.

It just won't work if the client is 7.

The error codes don't get any google hits.
I can access and modify files in both directions but it won't let me install the network printer in 7.

All PCs are in workgroup named WORKGROUP

password is off
homegroup control is off
It's like 7 just won't agree on permissions.

Public network is your problem. You must switch it to home or work network instead.

Definition in case you have it mixed up :

Public Network : Security at full, no shares, no homegroups cause you go public and must be protected.

Work Network: Security medium , no homegroup but shares between PCs allowed.

Home Network: Everything accessible, we are safe at home.

It won't let me enter the password on the homegroup on the machine that didn't create the group. I click join, it says enter password, it doesn't like it no matter how many times I change the password on the host, power both machines down etc etc..

edit: it's got to be a bug because it lets me print remotely if the client is XP. I think it finds the stuff during install with no security and saves the information because when I first put 7 on, the other machine had a different workgroup name and it still worked!! Now you can set anything you want and if the host is Windows 7 then the client has to be XP.

Well last night I did an image backup of the system that had the printer. Everything was working. I gave up and laid the partition back on. Printer works locally, but trying to access from the other Windows 7 machine gives the same error #721. My theory is when I installed Windows 7 on the PC without the printer, it looked at the network and set up my printer cuz the stupid thing worked even though the machine was on a different workgroup!!! I give up. I'll just copy the files over the network then print.

Don't know why it works but I shared it on the XP PC and then put the Windows 7 client back to a private network and have connectivity with printing all the way around. I'll see if it carries across a power down of the PCs. Man printer sharing was finally easy with XP(relatively) and then they always have to through cold water in the ointment!!

Oh well, that's one instance where the USB hot plugging is a pita. Can't just install a driver for the same model printer on each OS. As soon as I power down all bets are off over the network. I put Vista back on and sliced off 100 GB to play with Windows 7. At least that way I should be be able to print from everywhere as long as I boot some other OS first. The Taskbar with Aero is too much fun so I had to put it back on.

Is it because of a lack of drivers for Windows 7?

The driver will come up but it usually shows a folder icon instead of printer. You can print on the local PC but it won't serve it properly across the network. When I powered down and booted XP on the PC with the printer, it took me about 2 minutes to change network settings and get the connection on the client. It messes you up because you can see and copy and delete files over the network so it's like, "what's goin' on here?" type of deal.

Right now I have the client running Windows 7 and the PC with the printer is dual boot Vista/XP. I have the computer name, workgroup name, and printer share name all the same on both OS on the printer server. So it should connect without me intervening no matter which OS I boot on the server since I always boot it first(I have a KVMA switch so stuff goes better if you power up the side that really sees the monitor and keyboard first.)

I think I have everything going now that I have Vista/XP on the server. What complicated stuff was I plugged into a flaky USB when I changed connections. I was getting intermittent boot failures. I didn't realize the USB was hanging my boot like every other boot.

I had this similar problem with my original printer. I went to walmart and bought a $30 photo printer and it installed right away. Some printers will need to be changed in order to work with 7. They dont take the same drivers as previous o.s. did. I once heard someone say if it works with vista it will work with 7. That wasn't the case for mine. For me i had to buy a whole new printer and now it all works great. Hope this helps someone.

This particular printer, for some unknown reason, doesn't merit a driver download from Espon. If you want the driver you have to get it by hot plugging. Sorry but I'm not throwing away a perfectly good printer so I can use Windows 7 beta. You can use the beta on the client side. The server simply has to serve the printer driver over the network properly.

I suspect Epson or somebody will fix this issue since there's millions of these things out there. I don't think most people go along with the "buy a new TV so your vcr will work" solution.