Sharing a printer is commonly done in small home or office network, so that can save cost and utilize the printer better. The printer sharing process in Windows Vista is pretty easy, however you need to install the printer driver on the computer before sharing the printer.If you are upgrading from Windows XP Professional to Windows Vista, many of the basics of file and printer sharing should be the same. If you are familiar with the concepts, you should be able to sort out the menus and options in Windows Vista.Just like in Windows XP, you can easily set up a printer that’s connected to a PC to be shared among users on the network.Even if you are familiar with file and printer sharing, it is important to note that Windows Vista has made some changes to how it manages workgroups and public folders and you might need to read up and learn more about Microsoft’s new operating system in order to get up to speed.
Enable Printer Sharing in Windows Vista
- Select ‘Control Panel’ from the Windows Vista Start menu.
- Select ‘Printer’ from the Hardware and Sound group.
- A list of installed printers and faxes will display.
- Right-click on the icon of the printer you wish to share and select ‘Sharing’ from the pop-up menu.
- Click the ‘Change sharing options’ button.
- The User Account Control system will ask for permission to continue. Click the ‘Continue’ button.
- Place a check mark next to the ‘Share this printer’ item.
- Enter a name for the printer in the ‘Share name’ field. . This name will appear as the printer’s name on your Mac.
- Click the ‘Apply’ button.
Use a Shared Printer in Windows Vista
Once you have enabled the sharing of a printer in Windows Vista, you can add that printer to other PCs on the network so you can print from it. Here’s how to do it in Windows Vista:
- Open the Printers folder from the Windows Vista Control Panel.
- Click the Add a printer button on the toolbar.
- Select the Add a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer button. It will begin searching for any shared printers on the network.
- Select the printer and click Next. If you don’t see the printer you want, click the appropriate button to manually find it.
- Enter your desired name for the new printer.
- If you don’t want the printer to be the default one selected/used when printing from the PC, uncheck the appropriate option.
- Click Next.
- A window should appear indicating the printer was successfully added.
- To ensure its setup correctly click Print a test page.
- Click Finish.
If you’re unable to find the shared printer during the setup, you may want to ensure that printer sharing isn’t disabled on the PC hosting the printer. You can check this by opening the Network and Sharing Center in Windows Vista control panel and scrolling to the appropriate entry on the status light area. Remember that in order to use the shared printer in Windows Vista, both the printer and the computer it’s connected to must be on.
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