The dialogue shows (most likely) much more info. does it display/ask for a username? Does it display a sharename?
Best thing to do is.... make a screenshot and post it.
Hi Kaktussoft!
Before we go any further, I need to update you on a change in the problem. The "RPC unavailable" error cleared itself up without any help from me. So I'm again able to print from the PC directly to the printer which is plugged into the PC running Windows 7.
That leaves the problem of trying to figure out how to restore the connection between the networked laptop running Windows XP and the printer connected to the PC running Windows 7.
(I have to confess that yesterday while trying to solve this problem on my own I fiddled around with usernames and passwords, to see if I could come up with combination that might solve the problem. But I was clearly out of my depth. So I may have made the problem worse by messing around while not really having any idea what I was doing).
So, here's a recap of the problem as it stands now: 1. I used to be able to send files from my networked laptop (XP) to the printer connected to my PC (Win 7) without having to enter a user name or a password. I would just click "print", and then I would hear the whirring sound of the printer in the next room where the PC is installed.
2. Then, yesterday, for the first time, when I clicked "Print" on the laptop, I got an error message in the printer queue. Here's a screen shot of what that error looked like ( I just repeated the operation in order to get a screen shot):
3. I suspected that I got the printing error because of a problem with the network connection between the laptop and the PC, so I went to Windows Explorer on the laptop, and under networking I clicked on the PC. That's when this box popped up (BTW, the PC's name is "Bob," the name of the previous owner):
That's another thing that never used to happen. Prior to yesterday morning, from the laptop I was able to just click on the PC under Windows Explorer Networking, and I could see nearly all the files on the PC. (I could even open them and edit them on the laptop, but I was blocked from saving the edited files back to the PC. I would have to save them to the laptop, then go to the PC and manually copy them over from the laptop). So I had a partially functional but awkward network.
But now I've lost two functions of that network: 1. The ability to print from the laptop to the printer connected to the PC
2. The ability access files on the PC from the laptop
I have no recollection of having changed any settings prior to yesterday morning that would account for my being blocked from printing and accessing files from the laptop (But then I'm suffering from worsening memory problems due to aging and side effects of medications).
I should also mention that both computers are hand-me-downs that had Windows already installed by the previous owners. So I have no idea how either of them is configured.
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"