Network windows 7 and XP

raccoon19 · 19 Feb 2010

Hi everyone. hope life is good for you. My question today is...
"I would like to set up my desktop machine which is windows 7, and my laptop which is XP to work on a network style system".
The main thing I want to do is be able to use the printer from the laptop. The printer is connected to the desktop via a cable.
I already have a wireless router that both computers work from at the same time. I have not set up either computer to have an individual address, only what the router gives them when starting up. (hope that makes sense).
I am not a novice but do get a bit confused when there is a lot of things to do. So if anyone can maybe give me some directions I would be gratefull.

s0s0 · 19 Feb 2010

Go into your Network&sharingCenter under windows7 and the equivalent for XP and enable File and Printersharing and netbios over TCP/IP.

raccoon19 · 19 Feb 2010

WOW that was a fast reply, cheers sOsO. Will have a go this afternoon.

raccoon19 · 19 Feb 2010

Never mind, I cannot do it. thanks anyway

DocBrown · 19 Feb 2010

On the win7 machine make sure you have Discovery set to ON in the network options center. Also printer & files sharing checked as ON.

s0s0 · 20 Feb 2010

well if he sets the networksecurity policy to private iit should all be enabled.
So keep in mind the public securitypolicy also applies to you internet so you really don't want to tamper with that.
So mark the connection as private and you are good.
What I was talking about was changing the parameters directly for the ethernetcard.

aem · 20 Feb 2010

raccoon19 said:

Hi everyone. hope life is good for you. My question today is...
"I would like to set up my desktop machine which is windows 7, and my laptop which is XP to work on a network style system".
The main thing I want to do is be able to use the printer from the laptop. The printer is connected to the desktop via a cable.
I already have a wireless router that both computers work from at the same time. I have not set up either computer to have an individual address, only what the router gives them when starting up. (hope that makes sense).
I am not a novice but do get a bit confused when there is a lot of things to do. So if anyone can maybe give me some directions I would be gratefull.

I assume you have already installed the printer to the desktop and it's working fine.

Go Start > Control Panel > Device and Printers.
Right-click on the printer you want to share > Printer Properties > Sharing tab.
Click the Change Sharing Option buton.
Select Share this Printer option.
Type in the name and Click Apply then OK.

Then from the laptop, go into Device and Printers.
Click Add a printer
Click Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer (the second selection)
Click The printer that i want isn't listed option (just below the scanning bar)
Select the second option, type in the box the \\ipaddressofdesktop\sharenameoftheprinter.
Click Next.
..
..
If everything is correct, you will have the printer installed on your dekstop. Go in the Device and Printers page on the laptop and check.

chev65 · 20 Feb 2010

raccoon19 said:

Hi everyone. hope life is good for you. My question today is...
"I would like to set up my desktop machine which is windows 7, and my laptop which is XP to work on a network style system".
The main thing I want to do is be able to use the printer from the laptop. The printer is connected to the desktop via a cable.
I already have a wireless router that both computers work from at the same time. I have not set up either computer to have an individual address, only what the router gives them when starting up. (hope that makes sense).
I am not a novice but do get a bit confused when there is a lot of things to do. So if anyone can maybe give me some directions I would be gratefull.

This should help you set that up.

Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP - the How-To Geek