I am running XP Pro on a Mac using Parallels. It seems that I cannot print from both the Mac and XP at the same time. I have to disable the printer in Parallels to print from the Mac and visa versa. Is this the way it has to be or am I doing something wrong?
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
The printer(s) are USB. One is an Epson R1800 and the other is a Brother All in one. I did consider sharing the printers on one or the other, but I was hoping there was a way for Mac and PC to share. this is the first time I've used Parallels. I thought perhaps the was a setting to allow this. Neither printer is network ready, so I would have to purchase more equipment to make that setup work.
Since parallels is giving you a virtualized instance of Windows, any Hardware on the Mac side will have to be shared with Windows side, example your CD drive, you will be able to access it on either the Mac or Windows but not both at the same time. the same thing applies to any USB device connected, at this time i am not aware of any way to twak the setting to allow this setup, but maybe will have a look at this once i get to the office tomorrow, where i have a few systems that i can check this on.
Sharing appears to be the cheapest alternative for you to use it from both systems.
On the windows side try to install Bonjour for windows so OSX sees it.
In Mac OS X, open System Preferences -> Sharing -> Services and enable the Printer Sharing service.
Go to System Preferences -> Print & Fax -> Sharing and make sure that your printer is enabled in the "Share these printers with other computers" list.
Make sure that your printer is able to print from the Mac side (print a test page).
In Windows VM download and install Apple Bonjour for Windows - http://www.apple.com/suppo
When Bonjour installation is complete, start Bonjour Printer Wizard on your Windows desktop.
Click Next. Select your printer from the Wizard's Shared Printers list and click Next.
You should select either Generic/Postscript driver for your printer or your printer particular model if it's available in the list. Hit Next.
Click Finish and try printing any document using the Bonjour printer.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: virtualxistancePosted on 2009-02-08 at 22:33:31ID: 23587774
What kind of a Printer is this? USB i assume, if so when you print from the Windows side, the Printer is connected to one of your USB ports, which you may have to disconnect once you wish to print from the Mac side.
Options:
1. If you can have this printer set up as a Network printer then you could use IP based printing from either OS.
2. You can share the printer on the Windows side and access it from the Mac side provided Windows is running.
Please provide any additional information so that i can try and give more specific answers if the above do not help.