Hello.
I think that the advantages of a configured printer on a local network are obvious to everyone. Simple example:
If access to the printer is not configured, then you first need to upload files to the PC to which the printer is connected (using a flash drive, disk, over the network, etc.) and only then print them (in fact, to print 1 file, you need to make a dozen " unnecessary "actions);
If the network and the printer are configured, then on any PC in the network in any of the editors you can press one button "Print" and the file will be sent to the printer!
Conveniently? Conveniently! Here's how to set up a printer for a network in Windows 7, 8 and will be discussed in this article ...
STEP 1 - Setting up the computer to which the printer is connected (or how to "share" the printer for all PCs on the network).
To be able to use the printer with any PC on the network, you need to correctly configure the computer to which it is connected.
To do this, go to the Windows control panel, in the section: Control Panel \ Network and Internet \ Network and Sharing Center.
In the window that opens, you need to alternately open three tabs (Fig. 2, 3, 4). In each of them, you need to check the boxes next to the items: enable file and printer sharing, disable password protection.
Rice. 2. sharing options - expanded "private (current profile)" tab
Rice. 3.opened "guest or public" tab
Rice. 4. opened tab "all networks"
Here select your printer, right-click on it and select the “ Printer properties". In the properties go to the "Access" section and put a checkmark in front of the item " Sharing this printer"(See fig. 5).
If access to this printer is open, then any user of your local network can print on it. The printer will be unavailable only in certain cases: if the PC is turned off, in sleep mode, etc.
Rice. 5. Sharing the printer for general access over the network.
You also need to go to the "Security" tab, then select the "Everyone" user group and allow printing (see Fig. 6).
Rice. 6. Now printing on a printer is available to everyone!
STEP 2 - How to connect a printer over a network and print on it
Now you can proceed to setting up computers that are on the same local network as the PC to which the printer is connected.
The first step is to launch a regular explorer. At the very bottom left, all PCs connected to your local network should be displayed (relevant for Windows 7, 8).
In general, you click on the PC to which the printer is connected and if in step 1 (see above) the PC was configured correctly, you will see the shared printer. Actually - click on it with the right mouse button and select the connection function in the pop-up context menu. Usually, connection takes no more than 30-60 seconds. (there is an automatic connection and configuration of drivers).
Then select the connected printer, right-click on it and enable the option “ Use as default«.
Rice. 8.use the default network printer
Now in whatever editor you are (Word, notepad and others), when you press the "Print" button, a network printer will be automatically selected and you will only need to confirm printing. The setup is complete!
If when connecting printer an error appears over the network
For example, a common error when connecting a printer is the standard “Windows cannot connect to the printer…. "And some error code is issued (like 0x00000002) - see fig. 9.
It is impossible to consider all the variety of errors in one article - but I will give one simple advice that often helps me to get rid of such errors.
That's all. By the way, if the printer does not print, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with this article:
As always, thanks in advance for any addition to the article! Happy work!
User question
Good afternoon.
Do not tell me about one problem ... I have 3 computers at home: one PC, and 2 laptops. They are all connected to a Wi-Fi router. A printer is connected to the PC.
How can I configure my PCs, laptops and the network so that I can send documents from my laptops to print to the printer? I tried to set it up - still nothing ... Now I write the files to a USB flash drive, and then print them from a PC, it's inconvenient ...
Good day!
In fact, both at home and in small offices, usually one printer is enough for the eyes (of course, if you can print to it from any of the computers on the local network).
In general, setting up Windows itself to make a printer publicly available for a local network is not particularly difficult and any "average" user can handle it. In this article I will show with an example how this is done ...
Opening access to the printer for the local network
Before describing the settings, I consider important to report a few points:
- you must have included the PC, printer, and laptops (other PCs) to be configured;
- on a PC to which a printer is directly connected (to a USB port, for example), drivers must be installed (i.e., printing should work normally on the PC itself). Searching for and installing a printer driver -;
- A local network must be configured: computers have the same workgroups (you can see it if you go to properties of my computer ), and different computer names (in general, if your local network works, then this is so ...).
By the way, here is a relatively good (because mine) article on setting up a local network, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with anyone who has a problem with the "LAN". Link below.
Setting up a local network -
Note: all settings below are given and are relevant for Windows 7, 8, 10.
Now let's start setting up. The first thing to do is to set up the computer to which the printer is directly connected (that is, we "share" the printer: we give access and permission to use another PC on the local network).
1) First, open control panel / network and internet / network and sharing center ... Next, click on the link on the left - Change advanced sharing options .
2) Next, we will have three tabs: private, guest or public , and all networks... Now you need to open them one by one and put a checkmark in the right places. More on this below.
Note: in some cases there will be not 3 tabs, but 2. Then open those tabs that you have and do according to the screenshots below.
3) Expand the tab , and set the sliders to the following positions (according to the screenshot below):
- enable network discovery (enable automatic configuration on network devices);
- enable file and printer sharing;
- Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections.
4) Then open the next tab - "Guest or public" ... We expose:
- enable network discovery;
- enable file and printer sharing.
5) Last tab , here we expose:
- disable sharing;
- use 128-bit encryption to protect shared connections;
- disable password protected sharing.
Important!
A similar setting in these three tabs (private, guest, all networks) - must be done on all computers in the local network (and not only on the one to which the printer is connected)! Otherwise, later you will not be able to connect to the local printer.
Allowing access to the printer
First you need to go to: control panel / hardware and sound / devices and printers ... If you have installed drivers and everything is OK with the printer - here you should see it in the tab "Printers" .
Right click on the printer you want to make network (public) and go to it properties... In properties open the tab "Access" and put a couple of checkboxes:
- Sharing this printer;
- rendering of print jobs on client computers.
Save the settings.
Share the printer (clickable!)
To check if your printer has become local - open a regular explorer (you can open any folder). On the left side of the menu, you should see your computer name ... In my case - the computer name is "Desktop-UGHM5R" - we click on it and see that our shared printer.
Now you can start configuring other computers to enable them to print to the printer.
Note: please note that next to the name of your PC, the names of computers that are in the same local network with you will be displayed.
How to connect a network printer and start printing
Important! Before you start connecting the printer, you must configure three network tabs: private, guest, all networks (I wrote about this just above). If you do not give permission to use shared folders, printers, etc., you will not see the printer and connect it!
1) Turn on the computer from which we want to print (note: the PC is connected to a local network, in which there is a computer, with a connected printer).
Open the explorer and click on the tab "Net"(on the left in the menu). Next, you should see a list of computers that are on the same local network with you: open the one that has a publicly accessible printer (which we made a network one in the previous step).
3) 1-2 minutes (usually) will be required to install and configure the driver. At this time, it is better not to touch the PC or close this window (example in the screenshot below).
4) Further, if everything went well, the printer appears in the tab "Printers" and it can be used. Try to open any Word document, press the key combination Ctrl + P and send the document to print (do not forget to select a printer, by default, usually the printer is not the one you added).
Printer connected // task completed
Actually, that's the whole Windows setup for creating a public local printer. As you can see, in this regard, in Windows (7, 8, 10), everything is quite simply organized - you can figure it out on your own.
An even more convenient and versatile option would be to connect the printer directly to a Wi-Fi router. Thus, there will be no need to keep the PC to which the printer is connected. In principle, there is also nothing complicated there - usually, a special one goes to the router. Software that performs a similar setting in auto-mode.
In office buildings, there are often several workstations in one office, equipped with computers that allow performing multiple production tasks. However, the printer for printing is often installed only in a single copy. Therefore, you have to use portable flash drives in order to be able to print various documents. Now there are many practical ideas on how to connect a printer over a local network. Focusing on one of the proposed methods, it is possible to provide a comfortable and fast printout of documents to each user, whose computer equipment is connected to the printing machine via a local network.
In large offices, it makes no sense to use separate printers for each PC.
To ensure everyone can use the same peripheral, you need to make some changes to the print settings.
Configuring a printer over a network begins by modifying the host PC to which a single printing machine is connected to allow unimpeded network access to all other office workers.
Add a local device
When there is a serious task to connect the printer to the local network for printing, so that each user has free access to printing, you must first determine which PC the printer will be connected to.
It is important to consider that such a computer must have adequate technical resources to ensure efficient operation and prevent freezes. Next, you should connect the device to a computer equipment via a USB cable. The computer will automatically detect the newly discovered device and offer to install the appropriate drivers. After you have finished installing the drivers and printing a test page, you can follow along on how to set up your printer over a network.
It is very important to allow general access to the specified printing machine over the created network. Initially, they go to the Control Panel, after which they switch to the "Printers and Faxes" tab. All detected devices on the local network will be displayed there. You should specify exactly the one to which you plan to provide general access.
Right-click on the required icon and go to the "Properties" tab. In the dialog box that opens, select "Access". It is there that the function is located that provides access to the peripheral device to all other computers, and it is also at this stage that the network name is assigned.
On the "Security" tab, permission is set for all local users. This completes the configuration of the printer over the local network from the host computer, however, it is extremely important to configure all other computers in the local space without errors.
Configuring other local computers
The number of computers that can be involved in a local network is not limited. It all depends on production tasks or private interests. Each PC can use print resources if it is configured correctly beforehand.
Setting up network printing
It is important to remember that the main computer and the printing apparatus itself must be turned on, otherwise the printout will be impossible. It is this parameter that is also paid close attention when choosing a computer to which peripheral equipment is connected.
In order to connect a network machine for printing, you need to enter the Control Panel, go to "Devices and Printers", then on the horizontal taskbar, find the "Add" tab. By clicking on it, the PC will independently start searching for an available printing device, after a while a list of all found peripheral equipment will appear.
In most cases, one available printer will be found, although more than one device may be found. The user is obliged to select only the device from which it is supposed to print documents in the future.
Fortunately, modern operating systems are designed in such a way that they are able to independently find the required drivers, so no special user participation is required here, except for confirming the desired choice of peripheral equipment. The operating system will detect the drivers by itself, will carry out the installation itself, so you just need to wait for the successful completion of the process.
Can you imagine a full-fledged work on a computer without connecting to a printer? Perhaps, being a gamer, the answer to this question can be given in the affirmative. Say what you like, but the lack of the ability to print documents does not affect the quality of games. Nevertheless, for those who like to work in Word, Excel and other text programs, having a working printing device at hand is not just important, but vital. Fortunately, such a pleasure is inexpensive today. However, it's not enough just to buy the right model, you still need to know how to install it correctly on your Windows 7 PC.
Overview of connection methods
Depending on the location of the printer and the user's actual access to it, there are 2 options for installing this device on a computer with Windows 7, namely:
- connect it directly to the PC (local method);
- install via network (network method).
Is it worth explaining when and what method should be used to connect? Is that so? Well then, let's explain it, it's not difficult. In principle, already from the name of such methods, it becomes clear that the local method involves using the device for printing on only one computer, while the network method makes it possible to print documents on one device to users of several PCs.
Have you sorted it out? Fine! Then it only remains to figure out how to proceed with the local and network installation method on Windows 7.
Option # 1: Local connection
How do I install a printer using the local method on Windows 7? Very simple! It is enough to connect it via the USB bus to the computer. Note that if they are set correctly, have not changed since the installation of the operating system, the connected equipment is recognized and installed on the PC automatically.
However, this trick is not always successful. What if, for example, an HP LaserJet 1010 printer is not installed on my computer? In this case, we act like this.
Step # 1: Connect to PC.
First, we connect the printer with a USB cable to the computer and turn it on to the network. Next, open the "Start" menu and select the "Devices and Printers" tab:
In the window that appears, find and click the "Printer Installation" tab:
Then we decide on the connection option. Want to install it locally? Have you changed your mind? Then we click the item "Add a local printer":
Next, select the printer port. In principle, it is better to leave everything as it is, unchanged, since the LPT1 port fully meets the installation requirements. This completes the connection. It only remains to make settings for its work. To do this, click on the "Next" button and go to the next step.
Step number 2: We make the settings for the printer.
What is the first thing to do? First, install the driver. This can be done in three ways:
- using the installation disc;
- using the hardware installation wizard;
- via Windows Update:
Suppose that at the time of installing the HP LaserJet 1010 we did not have a disk with a driver for it, it cannot be installed, or we are using a computer without a drive. What do we do in this case? It would seem that everything is simple: you can install it from Windows Update. But it was not there.
There is no official driver for the HP LaserJet 1010 in Windows 7. In this case, there are 2 options:
- install it by downloading it from the Internet;
- select the driver for the HP LaserJet 3055 PCL5 in the installation wizard.
We will choose the latter option because, despite the difference in name, it is fully compatible with the HP LaserJet 1010:
Now all that remains is to decide on the parameters of access to the printer from other PCs. In this case, we either restrict it (item "No sharing ..."), or we allow you to print on it ("Allow sharing ..."):
This completes the device configuration. It remains to check its work.
Step # 3: Checking the seal.
So, if all the steps for connecting and configuring were performed correctly, after selecting the parameters for accessing the printer, a window will appear with a message about its successful installation. Whether this is really so, we still need to check. How to do it? Click the "Print test page" button:
Everything is working? Prints flawlessly? Then you can safely praise yourself! We did our best!
Option # 2: Network connection
Sorted out with local connection? Then installing a network printer in Windows 7 will not be difficult at all.
Step # 1: Connect and configure a network printer.
What are we doing? Through "Start" go to "Devices and Printers", click "Add Printer" and select "Add network ..." in the window that appears:
As a result, Windows 7 will automatically search for all printers connected to the network. What do we need? First, find out the name of the network printing device to which we are going to connect. Learned? Then select the appropriate option and click "Next":
As a result, the computer will connect to the device and automatically install the drivers for it. What if it is not installed? Pay attention to system messages. Sometimes this process requires manual configuration. In particular, the "Install driver" button may appear in the window for setting up a network printer. By clicking on it, the problem will be eliminated by itself and the corresponding message will be displayed on the screen about the successful installation of the network printer:
Step # 2: Checking work
How can I check if my network printer is working? Print any document. It seems that everyone should cope with this, right? But what if the document was sent to print and did not print? This, we note, happens quite often. How to solve the problem? First, check the following settings:
- determine if the equipment is connected to the host computer;
- determine if there are any restrictions for such a network printer;
- check if it is connected to the network;
Hello dear readers! This article, or even instructions, will describe in detail the most reliable way to set up and connect a printer over a network. Also, we will touch on all the system settings that are necessary to connect the printer and figure out why when you try to log into a computer over the network, a message about the denial of access to the server may appear. (to the PC on which the printer is locally configured).
To put it simply, the following will describe the connection of two or more computers to one printer, so that they both have constant access to printing. Of course, this option is most often practiced in various offices and enterprises. But it also happens that users at home, using even an ordinary router, make their own small network and connect several machines to one computer.
The instruction itself will be divided into several parts. First, we will deal with all the basic system settings, that is, what should be turned on or off, so that another computer could connect via the network to the PC on which the printer is installed.
You do not have permission to log into this computer
If you try to connect to a machine with a configured printer, you may receive this or a similar message, which means, most likely, you need to adjust some security settings.
I recommend making changes in the system parameters, which will be discussed below, on all computers to which the printer is installed, and on all those with which you will connect to it. So you will definitely save yourself from facing mistakes related to lack of rights or something like that.
So what do we need to connect the printer over the network?
Step 1
The first thing to do is to enable the local “Guest” account, which will be used to log on to the PC from the network.
- By clicking on "My Computer", right-click, select the item "Management".
- Next, go to " Local users"-" Users ".
- In the list of available accounts that appears, find the "Guest" and double-click to open it.
- Now, in the account properties, uncheck the item " Disable account", And" Apply "the changes.
If later, each time you turn on the computer, you will be prompted to select an account with which you will be logged into Windows, it does not matter, this can be disabled by disabling the guest's local logon. Although after turning on the guest in this way, this situation should not bother the user.
Step 2
The second point will be to disable the prohibition of logging on to the computer over the network by a previously unblocked guest.
Actually, in this way, we will exclude the guest from the list of users who will be denied access to this computer. Note that in Windows version "Home Edition", there are no local security policies, so on such versions most likely it will not be possible to share the printer, but only if it will connect to it using another computer.
Step 3
Well, and the final point will be the Windows firewall. This, of course, is a rather controversial point, since some recommend not touching it at all, others insist on the opposite. As for my opinion, I, for Windows XP users, in principle, recommend disabling it down to the service that is responsible for this component.
Regarding users of Windows 7 and above, everything is not so categorical here, and the firewall should be turned off only in the corresponding section located in the control panel. But, do not completely disable the service, otherwise you will not be able to share the printer in the future.
In general, usually in Windows 7, the need to disable or enable this component occurs depending on the situation, therefore, I recommend, just in case, to check the connectivity to the printer in both cases.
Disable Firewall on Windows 7 and above:
Stop the firewall in Windows XP services:
Once again, just in case, I repeat that you should not disable the service in Windows 7, otherwise in the future you will have to face a problem when sharing the printer, which will be discussed later.
Setting up the printer
So, having finished with the system settings, you can now go directly to the printer itself. A little higher, we opened network access directly to the computer itself. Therefore, we will be able to go to the computer, but unfortunately we will not see the installed devices on it until the printer is shared.
In order to do this, you need to follow a few more simple steps:
But, do not rush to close this window as it is also recommended to set security rules so that other users, in case of failure, at least could clear the print queue.
Well, what about the printer and operating system settings we figured out, now you can safely proceed to connecting the printer over the network.
We connect to the printer from another computer
Well, what are we already at the home stretch, now we just have to connect all the other computers to our shared printer, this is done quite simply.
But, it is so simple, it is not always the case, sometimes when trying to connect, the system may say that it does not have the necessary software for this device, so you will have to do it manually.
In addition to this option for connecting a network printer, there are several really good ways to connect, which you will learn about in future articles, so there is only one recommendation, either subscribe to our blog updates or even better
