Printing to homegroup printers

[sfkayser]

I have a home network with 4 Windows 10 and two Windows XP computers. The 4 Windows 10 computers are in a Homegroup and all are set up to share files and printers. I can access documents on all of the computers in the homegroup from every other computer in the homegroup. Two of the computers are logged in with local user accounts. The other two are logged in with Microsoft ID user accounts. One of the Microsoft account computers has an HP inkjet printer and a Brother laser printer attached via USB ports. I can print on those two printers from the host computer and from the two computers logged in with local accounts. I cannot print to those two printers from the other computer logged in with a Microsoft user account. When I try to do so I get a notification that says "access denied, unable to connect". If I change that one computer to a local account, it works just fine immediately, but when I change it back to a Microsoft ID user account the problem recurs. That would seem to preclude driver, homegroup and network problems, but I rule nothing out at this point.

I have searched the web and tried numerous suggestions, but can't find this specific problem answered. The easy solution would be to use a local account, but I prefer not to and more importantly would like to learn why this is occurring. Any suggestions?

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Are you prompted for credentials when you attempt to "connect" to that printer?
Are there any other shared resources (files or folders) on that host node?
Can you connect to them?

If you are not prompted for credentials, then you may have corrupt credentials.
Check Control Panel, Credential Manger, Windows Credentials for that particular computer.
You can attempt to edit them but my suggestion would be to just remove it.
Then
Attempt to reconnect and make sure when you are prompted for credentials you use the machine name followed by a backslash and then the user name on the host computer with proper access rights and that user name's password.
Like
BillGs-PC\[email protected]
P@$$w0rd

The name of the computer that is hosting the network resource is BillGs-PC
The user name with proper rights to access resources on that host PC is (e-mail address removed)
His password on that PC is P@$$w0rd

Failing that you could always add him as an actual user on the resource host computer, you don't actually need to log on as him, just so that user is there with access to local resources.

 

[sfkayser]

Thanks for the input. I'm at a loss as to how to correct this issue without simple going to local accounts.

The computer which hosts the two printers is a desktop that my wife uses daily. It has files which I can now access on my computer via the homegroup. I deleted all credentials from both of these computers, rebooted, and reentered them when requested. I also added the new user to her computer as suggested. I can now access the files on her computer via the homegroup, but still cannot connect to either of the printers, though I can see them as devices on her computer under the network prompt in explorer. When I attempt to connect to them I get a message that says the credential information is different than what is stored (I got this even before there were any visible credentials in credential manager), but it it unable to overwrite that information and access is denied.

Interestingly, I cannot access the files on my computer from her computer, so I assume that adding my computer info as a user on her computer is what is allowing me to now access her files. I can access all of the files on both of these computers from the two computers that are logged in with local accounts, and I can print on both printers from both of the local account computers as well. So I think I tried everything that you suggested, but I still have the same printing problem.

 

[Trouble]

HomeGroups and the so called "Sharing Wizard" can be a real pain from time to time.
First, I need to ask, is there any third party security suite software involved on the network. Specifically on the printer host or on the problem client machine?

Personally I never use HomeGroups nor the sharing wizard (I explicitly turn that off and always use the "Advanced sharing button"). I always use WorkGroup and always change my "Advanced sharing settings" to "Use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers".
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings

When you add or change users and or explicitly change permissions (sharing tab) or NTFS Permissions (security tab) you need to log off and log back on (sometimes even restart) the computer so the new access token is granted.

 

[sfkayser]

Thank you for your comments on this issue. I will continue to check back for homegroup solutions, but I have opted to follow your preference for using user accounts and passwords to set up the network and sharing. I turned the homegroup off and created credentials on each of the computers for all of the other computers manually. It took a while, but mainly because I had named my computers poorly and had to make some changes. I shared everything that I wanted shared and after a great deal of rebooting on each of the computers the network seems to function exactly the way I want it to. All of the computers can print on all of the printers, and I can access all of the shared files on all of the computers. Though I didn't include them in today's effort, the advantage to this approach is that I will also be able to add the seldom used XP computers to the network as well.

Again thanks for your comments, but I'd still like to understand why the homegroup approach just didn't work.

 

[Trouble]

I'd still like to understand why the homegroup approach just didn't work.

IDK..... sometimes it works like a charm and sometimes ...... not so much...... as you've discovered.
I cringe when I hear HomeGroups. They're like networking for muppets..... Microsoft wanted something that anyone could use and that's what we ended up with. Sort of like the old NetBEUI days.
Guess, I'm just getting too old.

 

[Tim Locke]

Homegroups have never worked properly for me except for a while with a pure W7 Home environment.
Now I have been reminded of NetBEUI I won't sleep properly for days!