Network Printer fails to print

[klmb2001]

I manage a simple network at the office wit 5 Computers. The computers are DELL Optiplex 170 Series with the current configuration:

Os: WinXp Professional Ediition
HDD 80 GB, RAM: 256 DDR.

The problem i face is we have bought a new computer with a HP DeskJet Printer 6543 (directly connected to the Computer via a USB Cable) and installed it as a Network Printer. The printer acts really strange; Printing as from other computers can either print or not print at all unless you switch the printer off and on and sometimes it takes time to print or prints half of what is supposed to print. I have tried to uninstall/Re-install the printer but the same problem continues.

Internet connection and file transfer works perfectly, there is no question of a broken cable.

What should i do to resolve the problem.

[jmwills]

The printer has to be installed as a "local" printer on the machine it is directly connected to and a "network" printer on the other four. You alos need to mark the printer as being "shared" and give it a name or just go with the default share name that XP will provide.

[klmb2001]

Setting and configuring the network is not a problem to me. I have done all the stuff requred to configure the network printer but still it might print or not print at all.

Could there be a software failure/Incompatibility issue or the printer might be defective?. Is there any solution for the problem.

Thanks.

[jmwills]

Will it print from the local machine?

[DVOM]

Is there a software firewall installed on the print server? You don't want a software firewall on any server.

[klmb2001]

Thanks for the response. I have installed the printer drivers to all the Pcs but the problem still continues.

[jmwills]

Again, will it print from the local machine? There is no need to install the drivers locally. Once a machine see the printer, it will obtain the necessary drivers from the host machine.
Is the printer marked as "Shared"?