4. Sharing a printer Be Something From Nothing

There are two types of shared printers:

•	Network printers are connected directly to a network, usually to a device called a print server rather than to a particular computer.
•	Local printers, which you're more likely to use, are attached to a single computer on a network. By setting up printer sharing, you can share a local printer with the other computers on the network.

After you have added a computer to a workgroup, you can share any printers that are connected to it. To share a printer, open the Printers control panel by clicking Start, pointing to Settings (or Control Panel) and then clicking Printers (or Printers and Faxes). Select the printer you want to share and on the File menu, click Sharing, or click Properties and then click the Sharing tab. In the Sharing dialog box, choose to share or not to share the printer.

You can also share new printers that you install on any of your networked computers. If the Add Printer Wizard detects that your computer is on a network, the wizard will give you the option to share the printer when you install it.

If you cannot access the Sharing option, or if you see a message stating that file and printer sharing is not turned on, you must enable the File and Printer Sharing component in Windows. In Windows XP you can do that through the Properties page for your network connection. In other Windows operating systems, you can use the network control panel.

Here are some other things to know about sharing printers:

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Naming a shared printer. When you choose to share a printer, you'll assign it a name in the Sharing dialog box to identify it to the entire workgroup. The name should be different from any other device name in the workgroup, and should not be the same as the workgroup name. Use a name that helps you easily identify it, such as the location or brand and model.

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Setting up other computers to use a shared printer. To use a shared printer, each computer must have the printer driver installed that works correctly with its operating system. You can install the printer drivers by using Add Printers in the Printers control panel to install the printer on every computer that is going to use it. Install the printer as you would install any other printer, and select A network printer, or a printer that is attached to another computer option during the set up. You can then browse to the shared printer - provided that it and the computer it is attached to are turned on and accessible on the network - and then complete the installation.

On computers running Windows XP and Windows 2000, you can also install the drivers for other operating systems when you first share the printer. To do so, click Additional Drivers in the Sharing dialog box. You do not need to install the drivers in the other computers.

After the shared printer is set up, you can send print jobs from any of the computers in the workgroup exactly as you would print to a local printer.