Windows 7 printer share to Vista laptops
I can't get my Vista laptops to "see" or use my shared printer that is attached to my 7 desktop. Technical details below: Desktop: eMachine running Windows 7 Home Premium Edition; 64 bit; setup in WORKGROUP Printer: Epson Stylus NX127 Connection from printer to desktop: USB Laptop1: HP G60 running Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (patches up to date); 32bit; setup in WORKGROUP Laptop2: Acer S735 runnings Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (patches up to date); 32 bit; setup in WORKGROUP I am very frustrated, so I am open to all suggestions (short of upgrading my laptops to Windows 7) Thanks! LChase6
January 6th, 2011 5:17pm

You've got two potential issues here. First, make sure the printer is shared correctly so that others can access it - check your share permissions. Second, you've got 32-bit systems trying to connect to a printer on a 64-bit system; the drivers aren't compatible. You've got a couple of ways to fix that - you can install the 32-bit drivers on the 64-bit system so that the 32-bit PCs can use them (I've always found this a bit awkward to do myself), or you can connect the share as a local printer using TCP/IP printing. This way, the Vista machines will use their own drivers instead of trying to use the one on the Windows 7 machine. Oh... you could also use LPR/LPD, but that requires opening up a port in your machine's firewalls.
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January 6th, 2011 5:47pm

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