Vista help AGAIN

markb5900

markb5900

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Mark B
Still working on networking printers.

My laptop has Vista. The "host" computer is using XP.
I can see the printers, but when I attempt to add a network printer I get the error message that "access is denied".
The printer is shared on the host computer.
I can connect to it with just a couple of clicks using an XP laptop with no issues.
What setting am I missing in Vista?
Do I need to install the printer using the setup disk on the Vista machine first?


Thanks

Mark
 
Just do like I did, trash vista and load XP on the new laptop, it will save you a bunch of headaches.
 
The local computer guys are going overtime here, removing Vista from new computers and replacing with XP. :(
 
I've got the same problem with two vista laptops and one of two XP desktops. The Vista laptops can print through one XP desktop but not the other - same error message that you get. I tried some measures suggested on the board but no joy.
 
Make SURE neither laptop is engaged both on hardwire and on wireless. The Vista computer my wife has does that default, and it locks the router up really solid for the XP machines on the network.
 
Everyone should send MS a bill for the free testing and bug-finding on this new (and largely unecessary) OS.
 
Log in to your VISTA machine as Administrator. (Not a user with administrator privileges. The user named "Administrator".) Then install the printer driver. Log back in as yourself and test whether you can use the printer.

Let me know.
 
Shared printers here are hanging off the only Vista machine in the house. Everything else (with one exception) is running XP. They all can print to the printer on the Vista machine.

That said, there are still things about Vista that I don't like and if it weren't for the fact that I've got Office 2007 (another big BOOO for MS) on this machine and I doubt it will run on XP, I'd buy a copy of XP and reset the machine. But, I've been dealing with it for just over a year and it has been very stable. Now, if some other sw I've got would just run on it...
 
AuntPeggy said:
Log in to your VISTA machine as Administrator. (Not a user with administrator privileges. The user named "Administrator".) Then install the printer driver. Log back in as yourself and test whether you can use the printer.

Let me know.
Click to expand...

Just tried it. Didn't work for me. Still "denied access".
 
Tried your suggestion also AP and didn't work. As for Admin, I only have one user "account" on my machine so have to assume it IS the admin account.
If not, maybe that is the problem.

Thanks again for the help so far.

Mark B
 
I asked my IT specialist and as he ran off to help someone else, he told me to look at the policy settings (which I cannot quite find). If I can get a couple of minutes of his time, I'll ask him to show me.

As far as an admin account vs. Administrator account. Believe me, there is a difference. We have things that can only be done as local "Administrator" even though all our users, including "admin" have administrative rights.
 
Vista networking is a drag... And this thread has dragged on much longer than would seem necessary for a function that should be so simple.

Let's start with the basics again:

Do the computers have the same workgroup name? Vista, by default, uses WORKGROUP. XP, by default, uses MSHOME or MSOFFICE. Give all the computers the same workgroup name, if you haven't already.

In Network and Sharing, do you have Printer Sharing enabled, and Password Protected Sharing disabled? Doing so will save you a lot of grief and usually is appropriate on a home network.

If password-protected sharing is enabled, you have to establish user accounts for all network users and have the client computers remember the logins, which I think is a bit silly on a home network that's behind a firewall.

Do you have Network Discovery enabled?

Do you have "Everyone" selected to have access to shares on the Vista machine?

If you are using a third-party firewall, is it configured to allow access by the other computers? At a minimum, you need UDP 137, UDP 138, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 1900, and TCP 2869 open to the LAN members.

This really should be all you need to do. If everything is set up like this, then at least in theory, all the computers should be able to connect to the Vista-hosted printers.

One thing that may be tripping you up is that assignment of shared resources must be configured by someone who has access to those resources, which seems a bit bass-ackwards, but that's how it goes.

So when creating the resource, give the logged-in user access to it first, and then specify the rest of the parameters while logged in as that user. In other words, before you can give "everyone" access to a shared resource, you have to give yourself access to that shared resource.

Please let me know if this works.

Rich
 
As an aside, the quirkiness of Vista networking is another good reason to use network printers or print servers, rather than Windows printer sharing. Lower resource usage, usually trouble-free operation (relatively speaking), and you don't need to leave the host computer turned on.

Maybe a cheap print server would solve your problems. Then you could just assign the printer / print server a static IP, create a TCP/IP connection to the printer IP, and print away.

Rich
 
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