Network Printing issue with XP and Vista

Hi All,

Ok Ill be quite specific with my issue. I have 3 desktops running XP Professional networked via a Netgear Router (WGR614v7). I have a Vaio which I then connected to the wireless network, getting to see all the XP machines was a pain in the you know what but finally got that working fine as I downloaded a patch for the XP machines.

The printer is connected to the main XP Desktop machine via a USB cable. Its a Panasonic all in one KX-FLB802CX.

When I click on the Network I can see the ptinter. (The computer its connected to is called Shirley). So I went to Shirley's computer (Running XP), clicked on Printers and Faxes and enabeled sharing.

I then went to add a printer on my Vista (Home 32) laptop by clicking on add a printer and I selected " Add a network, Wireless or Bluetooth printer" It Detected the printer, I clicked on next and it installed perfectly (No Errors at all) Vista also had the driver for the printer and it installed the driver as well.

That made me very happy, as I was reading some of the threads thinking wow I did it. When I try to print a document through word, I go to print and wallah \\Shirley\PanasonicKX-FLB802CX comes up as well. I then click it and hit print, the little spool icon in word shows it printing page 1. I get absolutely no errors at all BUT nothing prints. I even click on "Test Print" under the printers of my laptop it says printing but nothing happens,NO ERRORS again.

What I have also done after reading some some of the forums is this.

1. Ensured that the workgroup name on the XP machines is the same as my Vista Laptop, needless to say I wouldnt be able to access the 3 other desktop XP manchines otherwise.

2. Opened Printers and Faxes on Shirles desktop, gone into properties and UNchecked the "Enable Bidirectional Support" under Ports in Properties. Also Seen that the USB "Virtual Port for Printer" is checked ON under printer properties of my Laptop.

3. Turned off the Quick Heal Firewall Protection running off Shirles Desktop and turned on the Default Firewall for Win XP (Control Pannel / Firewall ).

4. I also uninstalled the printer from my laptop, went into Add printer and this time clicked on "Add a Local Printer", Checked the Use Existing Port option scrolled down and selected the USB001 (Virtual Printer Port for USB), click next and then click on windows update for the correct driver for the Panasonic printer. No Correct driver for Panasonic KX-FLB802CX.

I then tried to get the driver off the net but I get the full installation which is 22 MB.However I dont want to install the full version of the software when I know vista has the driver for it.

Can someone pl assist me as this is driving me up the wall.

Cheers

Well , if the job gets stuck in the print queue on the laptop , then its evident that this is no firewall issue , the issue is with drivers. please install the vista additional drivers on your vista system and i bet its gonna work

Ok Will give it a shot, but can I just install the drivers and that will be it?

Or Will I have to uninstall the printer that I added using the " Add a Network wirelesses,Bluetooth Printer" and add a printer using the "Add a LOCAL Printer"

Thanks for the prompt reply DOS.

jeejeebhoy, I have responded to your PM but I am going to post my reply here as well in hopes that it may help someone else in the same boat as you are. It almost never does but I am hopeful :D

I am no PC guru, FAR FROM IT, I do enjoy helping out whenever I can to give back some of the help that other Fellow members give me but, Networking is, by far, the worse for me when it comes to computers, more so when Vista is involved as I am also a newbie when it comes to Vista. Don't get me started on Laptops since I am having a similar situation with mine at the moment loosing connectivity when screen saver comes on and I wake it up from it.

Now, being said that, it appears you have done pretty much all and everything there is to do. The only thing I can add is the following:

1.- Make sure that your laptop has the same name on the Workgroup network (all of them must be name the same... ie: jeejeebhoy) and then reboot the machine.

2.- Each desktop or Laptop name must not be the same as this may cause a conflict. This name must not be confused with the WORKGROUP name.

Example:

A.- Desktop with Printer attached (Name: Mstr Bedroom, Workgroup name: jeejeebhoy)

B.- Desktop # 2 (Name: Kids Bedroom, Workgroup name: jeejeebhoy)

C.- Desktop # 3 (Name: Living Room, Workgroup name: jeejeebhoy)

D.- Laptop # 1 (Name: Lappy, Workgroup name: jeejeebhoy)

3.- The computer where the printer is attached to must be turned ON if you want to print. The printer must be ON as well but this one is a given of course.

Do the other computers print w/o a problem?

Have you tried installing the printer directly to the Laptop just to test if it works this way?

I know this is always a pain but you have got to take the laptop using vista out of the equation of problems before you go crazy trying to troubleshoot the "Why it does Print".

When it comes to Networking I have found that REBOOTING after every change helps trememdously... don't ask me why though!

Good Luck and I hope you can make this work.

Click to expand...