[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:- Calling all networking experts ...
Win98SE home network (3 machines), file & printer sharing, internet connection sharing -- everything works fine (more or less!). Printer is hooked up to the main machine and prints fine from all machines on network. Now I am trying to install an additional LOCAL printer, not on the main machine, but on one of the others. Windows insists on giving it the same port as the network printer (i.e. LPT1 \\virginia\hpdeskjet) and there seems no way of assigning it to another port. The only other possibilities listed by Windows are the two comm ports. Windows "Help" doesn't seem to help at all! I've tried everything, but the new printer is always given LPT1 the same as the network printer, which causes a dreadful conflict. There must be some way of assigning a different port address to a local printer, surely?? I want to use the new printer locally, as well as the current network printer. New Printer is HP Deskjet 610C, and I have the latest drivers d/l from HP. ------------------------------------------- To me the "suspicious" part of your info is the address of the network printer (LPT1 \\virginia\hpdeskjet). There surely shouldn't be any reference to LPT1 in this string? It is your LOCAL printer that should be using LPT1. If you are printing to a network printer your computer communicates via the network card, and doesn't use a "port". If I were troubleshooting this setup, what I would do is:- (Note: I recommend you always have the computer and printer powered off whenever you are connecting or disconnecting a parallel port plug) 1) With the client computer (the one you're installing two printers on) shut down, remove any plug which may be connected to the parallel (LPT1) port at the back of the machine (presumably the printer cable you've just fitted for the second printer). At the same time, maybe verify what kind of cable is being used for the network connection - presumably it will be cat5 cable with small plugs, like telephone plugs fitted. 2) Start the machine and use Windows Explorer to browse to the main machine (\\virginia); verify that you can see the files on \\virginia from the client machine, and that the network operates OK and does not depend in any way on the Parallel port which you just disconnected (assumes you have file sharing enabled on \\virginia). 3) Open the printers folder on the client machine (start\settings\printers), locate the network printer (\\virginia\hpdeskjet)in there, right click on its icon and select "delete" to remove it. 4) Shut down the client machine, reconnect the printer cable to the second (local) printer for this machine, turn the printer on and restart the computer. Now, again in the printers folder, use the "add new printer" icon to install the new printer as a LOCAL printer on LPT1. Note: you can either select the brand and model printer from the list Windows offers you, or click "have disk" and use the printer manufacturer's disk or CD ROM. However, I've come across some printers which won't install this way, and have to be installed direct from the manufacturer's CD ROM (ie you insert the CD ROM in the drive and run the install programme from there, without using the Windows "Add Printer" facility). At the end of the install procedure do a test print as recommended. Hopefully this will work, and there should be no chance of interference from the previously installed network printer. If you do get interference here, this may indicate that something else on your machine has been allocated to LPT1, and you may need to investigate further through device manager (my computer\properties\device manager). 5) If step 4 was successful, go back to the printers folder and re-install the network printer, making sure you specify that you are installing a network (not a local) printer at the first step of the installation wizard. You shouldn't need to use the disk or CD Rom supplied by the printer manufacturer. Once you have browsed to the network printer you want to use (should be called \\virginia\hpdeskjet I reckon, without any mention of LPT1), Windows should ask you if you want to use the same drivers already installed (recommended), so you don't need to mess round with the printer manufacturer's software again). At this stage, you should have the network printer operating again, without any reference to LPT1. You don't even need to have a parallel port fitted to your machine to run a network connection, since the network will be communicating via your network card and its own cable. This is both logically and physically separate from the parallel port. Good luck - John S (Napier, New Zealand) __________________ John Selby [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________ ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines & make sure you've followed proper posting procedures, http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com =====================================================
