Printing from Vista Computer to Windows 2000 Professional Computer

I assume the printer is working on Windows 2000.
In W2k, go to the Properties of the Printer, Sharing Tab, and enable Sharing.  Also, make sure the personal firewall is disabled.
on Vista, goto the start menu and type \\W2kComputerName and press enter.  You will probably get prompted to authenticate, enter a username/password that exist on W2k.
You will get a box with the printer share name (and any other shares on W2k).  Double-click the printer's sharename and select Yes to install.   You might need to have the Vista Driver handy.

The above method is different as you do not need to have username/password that exist on W2k, and W2k is not necessary to logon for accepting print job from Vista.

If the printer can connect to the router directly via ethernet/LAN, then all computers can use the printer without any problems. That might be a simpler way of doing things.

All you would have to do is to install the printer drivers on all machines and search for the printer on the network and connect to it.

Hope it helps.

Jackieman - Could you please share the steps for accomplishing the following: 1. Set a fixed internal ip address (say, 192.168.0.x)  for Windows 2000 Professional desktop computer.

waturtle - Could you please share the steps for accomplishing the following: If the printer can connect to the router directly via ethernet/LAN

I would like to test these.

Thanks All,

If your printer supports network connectivity via LAN, then you need to use a LAN cable that goes from your printer into the router. You don't need to connect this printer to anything else (not even a computer).

After this, you need to install the printer driver on the computers that will use this printer and then search for a printer on the network. Then right-click and 'Connect'. That will connect the printer to a computer. Do this on all PCs that need to use this printer and it should be good.

If you have any confusion, please let us know the printer model and company name, so that we can find out if it supports network connectivity or not. Some printers only connect with a USB, but others have both USB and LAN/ethernet connectivity.

Hope it helps.

Do a ipconfig /all in DOS prompt first for both your desktop and laptop first.

For Vista, Start -> Run -> type cmd and press enter and you will see a DOS prompt.

For W2K, Start -> Run -> type command and press enter and you will see a DOS prompt.

In DOS prompt, type ipconfig /all and press enter.

For both laptop and desktop, copy the following value under "Local Area Connection".

1. Subnet mask
2. Default gateway
3. DNS 1 and DNS 2

If laptop and desktop have different values for the 1 and 2 above, my method will not work.

If the values are the same, go to the link below to see how to set a fixed ip for W2K.

http://portforward.com/networking/static-2k.htm

How to Set a fixed internal ip address (say, 192.168.0.x)  for Windows 2000 Professional desktop computer

1. Start -> Settings -> Network and Dial-up Connections

2. Right-click "Local Area Connection" and click "Properties"

3. Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click "Properties" button

4. Select "Use the following IP address: and input the internal fixed IP, Subnet Mark and Default Gateway.

   Note: The internal fixed IP must be unique in your local network (no two device / computer will use the same internal IP).

5. Select "Use the following DNS server addresses"

6. Enter IP address for "Preferred DNS server" and "Alternate DNS server" according to the findings from ipconfig /all

7. Click "OK" button to close all open windows.

8. Restart W2K desktop computer.