SOLVED Request leg up sharing a printer

[backslender]

I need help setting up printer sharing. I had it working great but now I've gone and replaced the PC that has the printer with a more up-to-date machine running Windows 10 Home. Previously I owned two PCs running XP. Years ago I set up the printer to be shared as well as certain file folders. Now I am 65 and frankly it's getting tough to tackle thorny technical matters.

We'll call the Windows 10 PC with the printer the Main PC and the other WXP machine the Bsmt PC. I haven't assigned a password to my Main PC because it's not what I want. In the past I think I had to set up what was called a "workgroup". But now, they are only offering a "homegroup" (possibly due to my OS being the Home version). So I went through the Homegroup wizard and when I've finished it tells me a made-up password for me to note and to use on my other PCs to complete the network setup. Yeah, right. Forget about any file sharing for just now and let's concentrate on just being able to share the printer. So I go to my Bsmt PC (under WXP) and click "Add a printer". At some point I specify the official name of my Main PC and it pops up with a dialog box beckoning me to log on to that computer. It asks for a user name plus password. I don't have a user name and so I don't understand. That made-up password given me by the Homegroup Wizard does no good here, I've found. I'm lost, yeech!

Note also that under WXP you could right-click a printer and ask for Properties and there would be a "Sharing" tab. I find nothing equivalent under W10. But maybe it matters little. I've attempted to enable network discovery and file and printer sharing as best I could muster; I think at the Network and Sharing panel (or the W10 equivalent of that). Of course I don't want to make discovery possible from the greater outside worlds. I hope I don't leave my system vulnerable in any way.

Possibly complicated things a tad (but I don't think so) is that I haven't yet been able to activate my copy of Windows, and it must wait until after Christmas to get some help from the vendors that sold me this refurbished PC with COA label showing a code that isn't taking, for some odd reason. I'm pretty certain I'll eventually get satisfaction with that because I bought from a reputable firm, US Micro, and they have a toll-free help line. But every once in a while this new PC reminds me that I "cannot personalize my PC until it is activated" or something to that effect. Remember, I have made no effort to "assign a password" or enumerate users. I don't need that complexity and I assume it is not mandatory. I just want the printer shared. (Needless to say, yes the printer works fine locally).

I'm certain this has no essential bearing but FYI my Main PC is connected via cable to a router and the Bsmt PC connects to that router via Wifi.

So please, can anyone here steer me in the right direction? Many thanks!

 

[Trouble]

you could right-click a printer and ask for Properties and there would be a "Sharing" tab. I find nothing equivalent under W10.

In Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Devices and Printers when you right click the printer to evoke the context menu, do not click "Properties" at the bottom of the list, instead click "Printer Properties" nearer the middle of the list.
You should see a "Sharing" tab there.
Unfortunately you may have a further problem because Windows 10 doesn't seem to like null or blank passwords, when sharing. As you can see in the "Sharing" tab it plainly states.....

IF you share this printer, only users on your network with a username and password for this computer can print to it.

AND if the basement PC is XP, then HomeGroup is of no use to you. A normal Workgroup configuration should work fine (just make sure that both machines are in the same Workgroup), but.... I think you are going to need a UserName and Password on the host machine because you are going to be prompted for credentials when you try and connect from the XP machine to the Windows machine to access any share and you will need to enter (from the XP machine)
MachineName\UserName
Password

Where "MachineName" is the name of the machine hosting the network share, followed by a backslash, then
Where "UserName" is the user name you are using to log onto the machine hosting the network share, and then finally
Where "Password" is the password for that user name you are using to log onto that machine hosting the network share.

 

[backslender]

Many thanks! That all sounds helpful. I'll be trying anew with those tips in mind. I'm sure to have more inquiries before it's over.

 

[backslender]

I get the distinct impression that this is going to take quite a lot of time and trouble. But I can hack it if you folks can. Now I'm not sure where or how to add a password or another user. Everything seems to hinge on one's Microsoft account. If I go to Settings>>Account>>Family and other people and try to "Add a person" it wants their email address or phone number. What!?? If I may inquire, where precisely must I go in order to set up a username and password for use by my Bsmt PC to gain access to my Main PC? I'm sorry but I am at a total loss at this point. I found the Sharing tab under Printer Properties and it is checked yes for sharing but it repeats the advisory that a username and password is required by users on other PCs that want access. I'm sorry! ..but this is getting confusing. Maybe what I want to do is impossible. I'll keep trying I guess and BTW there is NO urgency, so have a merry Christmas and many thanks!

 

[Trouble]

You shouldn't need another account.
The account that already exists on the Windows 10 machine that is currently hosting the shared network printer, is the account information you will need to authenticate when prompted, when you try to attach to the printer on the Windows 10 machine from the basement PC.
The problem will likely arise, when an if that account on the Windows 10 machine has no password.
I assumed that the account was not a Microsoft Account, as that would have already been password protected, but instead was a local account which you created and did not have a proper password associated with it.

Can you see the Windows 10 computer from the BsmtPC when you look at the network (workgroup).
Can you ping the Windows 10 computer from the BsmtPC from a command prompt using either the NetBIOS name of the Windows 10 PC or the IPv4 address of the Windows 10 PC, or both?

 

[backslender]

Yes, I am definitely making some headway, but I am still not arrived at the resolution. Okay, about the password, YES I did have an existing Microsoft account and I set that for my overall access. It is of course based on using my email address (something @suddenlink.net) serving as my so-called username. So yes I know my username and I know my password. Funny, under sign-in Options settings (or something like that) when asked when the W10 PC should require my logon credentials, it offered me just two choices: Never and When machine awakens from Sleep. So I chose "Never" of course. But damnit, it demands my password anyway, after a reboot. Oh well, that's not a huge issue right now. And while I was fiddling with Settings I found a place where I could set my Workgroup name, and I set it to what my Bsmt PC (running WXP) uses the certain name. Now, when I go to my Network Places panel downstairs I can click on "View workgroup computers" and sure enough, my Main PC appears! Hallelujah.

But now all is not right yet, because if I go to Printers and click "Add printer" SURE ENOUGH that printer I wish to add IS SHOWN -- but when I select it the dialog box pops up asking for my logon credentials and I type my well-known email address and Microsoft password, case-particular, yet oddly, it comes back and announces something like, "The credentials you supplied are not sufficient to gain access to the printer". Huh??

Again, I'm at a loss. Arghh!!

Any suggestions? No urgency about this matter, mind you. Thank you and Merry Christmas

 

[Trouble]

Again.....
You have to....
As mentioned above.....
Type the machine name first....
That is the name of the windows 10 computer......
Followed by a backslash.....
Followed by your "well known user name"
All of the above goes into the User Name text box
Followed by the password for that account.
which goes into the password text box

 

[backslender]

No, it just stubbornly refuses to do it. I'm at the Bsmt PC, and I verify that my Main PC appears when I click "View workgroup computers". Then I go to Printers and Faxes. I click Add a printer. I select choose a network printer. Sure enough, when browsing network printers THERE it is!! I double click it. A dialog box pops up asking for username and password. I enter "sewingroom\<my precise email address>" because earlier today I've renamed my Main PC to "sewingroom" and rebooted it and that name is confirmed in my view of workgroup computers from downstairs. Then I go to the Password text input and enter my well-known Microsoft account password that is working consistently to access my Main PC upstairs upon restarting, each time. And then I hit Submit or Logon or Ok, whatever it says, and it comes back saying the credentials are insufficient. If I try again I get this really odd error message warning that if I "overwrite my existing credentials" that something evil might occur. I cannot recall the precise message. So I hit yes (do overwrite) anyway and then I just get another now-familiar insufficient credentials message. And I go back to Network Places and I get some message about my workgroup (and it tells the name) is "no longer available". So I have to reboot the downstairs (WXP) PC and things come back perfectly Ok but again, any attempt to Add the desired printer using the credentials that you and I feel strongly should do the trick -- and it's to no avail. Terrible, horrible. Life is truly tough! Alas.

 

[Trouble]

OK. I've discovered that this is more of a pain than I first thought.
Not the installation particularly, I just had to trick it and install it as a local printer but using a new local port and using the path | \\MachineName\ShareName
My problem came when it came time to install the drivers for a pretty modern printer onto an old XP machine. Fortunately Epson had XP drivers, I just had to use 7zip to extract the executable and then dive through the folders to find the right .inf file

So... try this
1. Click Start > Printers and Faxes.
2. Click Add a Printer on the left pane.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Local printer attached to this computer and click Next.
5. Select Create a new port, select Local Port for the Port Type, and click Next.
6. For Port Name, enter the network path to the printer by entering two slashes, the computer name or local IP address of the PC sharing the printer, and then the share name of the printer. For example “\\dellpc\hpprinter” or “\\192.168.1.100\hpprinter”
7. Select the printer and click Next. If the exact model isn’t listed, try the closest model number or a generic printer. AND install the actual drivers after the process is complete
8. Follow the rest of the wizard.

Here's what mine looks like after it is done

\\14393CI = My Windows 10 Computer Name
\EPSON = The share name of the printer on my Windows 10 computer
So..... the local port name is
\\14393CI\EPSON

Hopefully if you have a printer driver disk with XP drivers on it, you won't have the same issues with the driver installation that I had.
Fortunately, I had an old XP machine to play with.

 

[backslender]

That's GREAT - thank you! I haven't quite got it to work completely yet but this could eventually work - give me some time. Fortunately I do have the original install disk for the printer. I did not have that disk handy in front of me when I first tried your idea but so I chose a near generic name from the list and told it to go ahead. The printer is "HP Deskjet D1600 series" and I chose "HP Deskjet". It created a Printer alright but failed to print a test page upstairs. But I am not giving up. 'Fact is, I can only run up and down stairs so often at my age and condition. The printer setup CD was upstairs and now I have it. I've gone and deleted the Printer I created on my first attempt and I'll try again using the install CD, and choose "Have Disk" option in the dialog sequence.But I need you to clarify one ULTRA important thing. On my W10 Main PC under Printer Properties Sharing tab, I have ticked the box that says "Render print jobs on client computers". Is that how I should have it? It's that that makes it so critical to have the right driver installed on my Bsmt PC, yes?? I'll keep trying and maybe eventually I'll get the breakthrough. I'll post when there's new word.

 

[backslender]

WOW - I'M pretty darned sure it WORKED!! I sent two successive test pages to the newly created printer and monitored the 2nd one (I couldn't monitor the 1st because it happened before the Add Printer wizard was fully finished) and the document showed status=Printing in the queue display and after a brief time the document vanished so I guess it printed and concluded Ok. This is GREAT! Many many thanks! I sleep downstairs so I'll look in the AM at my test prints but I think I am in business, WOW!

very very grateful!

 

[Trouble]

Glad you managed to hang in there and sort it out.
I suspect that if you saw it in the queue and then it disappeared and no error was produced, you've probably got it resolved.
Good work and thanks for letting us know with the follow-up information.

I can only run up and down stairs so often at my age and condition.

I recently made it to 67 and it seems like running up and down stairs is what I do most of the day.

 

[backslender]

Glad you managed to hang in there and sort it out.
I recently made it to 67 and it seems like running up and down stairs is what I do most of the day.

More power to you! I'm a couple years younger but have substantial limiting issues, alas.

A further concern: it's interesting to note that my printer sharing got implemented without my ever having to specify login credentials from my Bsmt PC. So I dearly wish there would be a means to now delete the single administrator user account on my Main PC that I established only because it looked like it would be needed to effect printer sharing. I tried to remove that single user but found no means to accomplish that removal. I would much prefer a PC that NEVER asks me for a password and assumes me to be master of the machine simply by virtue of my being at the controls physically -- which was how it was previously. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[Trouble]

Have you tried using the technique described in this Article here https://www.windows10forums.com/articles/how-to-switch-to-a-local-account.27/
You should be able to leave the password boxes and hint box blank

NOTE: I would suggest that before doing so, you temporarily activate the hidden Administrator Account, just in case something doesn't go exactly as planned.
Right click the Start Button and from the context menu select Command Prompt (Admin) and in the command prompt window type
net user Administrator /active:yes
hit enter
you should see something to the effect that...... "the command completed successfully"
That will provide you with a means of accessing your computer should something not work correctly when using the technique described in the article. You don't want to be without an admin user.
Afterwards, disable the hidden administrator account by
Right click the Start Button and from the context menu select Command Prompt (Admin) and in the command prompt window type
net user Administrator /active:no
hit enter
AND again you should see that the command completed successfully.
You don't want to use that account for normal day to day tasks in Windows 10.

 

[backslender]

Yes, it worked! I am so very grateful. Sure, I had noticed that "Use a local account instead" link myself but was too unsure and, well, I dunno, I just failed to pursue it. In retrospect, I should have ventured. But, all's well that ends well!

'Hope your Holiday is a merry one!