shared printer asks for password

[DragonFire]

I am having trouble sharing a printer on our XP network.

In the past I had loaded a network printer with static IP on my "master system", and then shared the driver for workstations on the network (this way i can pause printing in the school lab).

However, I cannot do this same task now on a new system (XP Pro x64 edition). When i install the printer driver with static IP and set to shared on the master pc, the workstation computers can browse and see the printer, but it asks for a password when they try to connect to it. This never happened on the other XP Pro machine.

Any ideas why workstations are asked for a password when attempting to add the printer from their workstations?

Thanks.

[ecross]

Hello DragonFire,

Are you running XP Pro with simple file sharing enabled or disabled? That makes a big difference.

With simple file sharing enabled, it uses the Guest authentication for network access. If it is disabled, you need to create indenticial username with passwords that matches both of the computers on the network. You'll setup user accounts and set up the share and NTFS permissions. An example walk-through is shown here:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...ring/index.htm

[Robert M]

Hey Ecross,
That link you posted could be interpreted to mean that you should not enable ICF on a ICS host computer. For example: a Windows XP computer running the ICS service.You need ICF running in on the ICS host in that case, right?
No distinction about that is made at all in the link.

[DragonFire]

ok, one step forward, one step back, lol.......

First, i did indeed forget to enable simple file sharing on my host computer (i had just shared the printer shared and forgot about the simple file sharing part).

However, now i cannot access my workgroup on the network from any workstation or host computer. (When i click "show workgroup computers" i am denied). So now i can't even access the workgroups to browse to the shared printer at all.

I still do have a samba server which is broadcasting its shared directories, a snap server which is broadcasting its directories, and the shared directories on my old XP host system......... but the shared directory on this new system is not showing up at all.

I turned the Firewall OFF on the LAN so that shouldn't be a problem. Is XP Pro x64 any different from the regular 32bit version when working with file sharing and simple networking? I'm starting to think that getting the x64 bit edition of XP Pro was a big mistake since there seems to be several incompatibilities with programs (i only got it because the new system is an AMD 64 4400 dual core).

The strange thing is that this morning before enabling simple file sharing i was able to browse the MSHOME workgroup from any workstation. This morning i also replaced an old hub with a 100mbps switch, but i don't think that should have any effect on being able to browse the workgroup (everything else still works fine after changing the switch except i have 100mbps speed now).

Any ideas on this jackpot i'm in?

[ecross]

Hi Robert, I'm not sure where you got ICF in that link. The article describes file sharing in XP Professional. It is important to use a software firewall either the Windows Firewall or third party on any computer that is directly connected to the Internet using ICS. It is even a good idea to have it installed on all computers on the network even behind NAT router.

I haven't delt with XP x64 bit systems but I don't think there is much of a difference between 32-bit and 64-bit XP to a home user. The 64 bit systems may not be for everyone.

[DragonFire]

Hi guys,
Well i dumped the XP x64 and reinstalled a more dependable XP Pro. It has solved my password and workgroup connection troubles for the most part..... plus all the apps run fine on it without scouring for 64 bit editions.

I do still have a slight printer sharing problem though...... i installed our phaser printer driver on the host machine with it's own static IP. Then i shared the printer on the network. The printer automatically shows up as a shared printer in the workstations and prints..... although all the documents show up as "remote downlevel document" in the host machine's print queue now. Before i could see if it was a webpage, a word document, a .jpg picture, etc...... is there something i can do to remedy this?

Thanks.

[Robert M]

The Microsoft Knowledge Base has information on the phrase Remote Downlevel Document. You can search the MSKB using the link below.
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

[kako_shirazi]

I had the same problem with accessing files and printers on XP pro.

I tried all that is said in this thread and others on the internet, but nothing worked. Finally I used the windows network trouble shooter from Control Panel ->Network Connections left hand side panel.

I selected File and Printer Troubleshooter -> I can't share files or printers.

The troubleshooter said I have duplicate computer names on my network and suggested to rename the computer and restart. Once I changed my computer name everything worked as it should.

I should mention that I had just replaced am older computer and used the same name. Even though the old computer no longer existed, but my guess it that the name was still associated with some IP address in the router.