Printing to Shared Printers

If your network has multiple computers, and a printer is attached to one of them, it is a good idea to share the printer. Sharing the printer gives you the benefit of using that printer from any of the other computers on your network.

In order to share it, open the properties of the printer from within the Windows Printers folder. In the Sharing tab, select the option to share the printer and provide a share name. You should use a short share name without spaces for compatibility and simplicity reasons. You should also determine the computer name prior to continuing as it will be required later. One way to find the computer name, choose Run from the Start menu, type CMD, and press OK. In the command prompt, type “hostname” and press Enter.

INTELLIscribe Enhances Shared Printing

Shared printing can be slow, especially if quite a few print jobs are incoming at once. With shared printing comes security and permission issues, not to mention print driver issues. TCP/IP printing resolves these issues and INTELLIscribe can help out. Plus using INTELLIscribe for shared printing gives you popular new features like broadcast printing, fail-over printing, print destination balancing, and more.

INTELLIscribe and Shared Printing

INTELLIscribe software (installed on a Windows PC) transforms the user’s print environment into a print distribution center. INTELLIscribe, while printing using shared printing technology, merges Windows network printing with TCP/IP printing, thereby elevating the entire print environment.

A user no longer needs to be logged in to accept print requests and INTELLIscribe can accept print jobs from a Windows printer when the printer is shared. Read more about INTELLIscribe and shared printing. You can download and try it free for 21 days.

Steps in Sharing a Printer

1. Once the printer is shared, you need to connect to it from the other computers.
2. On one of the other computers, open the Windows Printers folder and select to add a new printer.
3. When prompted, select the option that this is a network printer, or a printer attached to another computer.
4. When prompted for which printer to connect to, choose Connect to this printer.
5. Type \hostnamesharename, substituting the computer name for hostname and the share name in place of sharename.
6. Continue and finish the Add Printer Wizard using the options of your choice.
7. Repeat this step on each computer you wish to use to print to this printer.

Shared Printing Information

• Microsoft’s shared printing information and setup assistance.
• Home network shared printing tips and information.