Printer Sharing Problem with Spousal Implications--Help

I have been completely unable to connect my wife's new Vista laptop to a
shared printer connected to an XP desktop. Because my XP laptop works
flawlessly with the shared printer she thinks I'm just not trying hard
enough. I need help. More complete information follows:

Both XP machines have SP 2. All machines have automatic updates applied.

Printer is an Okidata C5150 color laser printer hosted via USB to a computer
I'll call PrinterHostXP, an older Dell Dimension. Printer is shared and
there is one shared folder on this computer. PrinterHostXP is an older
computer and uses a USB 1 port.

My laptop, which I'll call MyLapTopXP is a 2 year old Presario. It has
never had any trouble connecting to the printer or the shared folder on
PrinterHostXP.

Wife's laptop, which I'll call WifeLapTopVista is a brand new Toshiba with
Vista Home Premium. This machine can see the shared printer and folder on
PrinterHostXP and can edit files in the folder. I can connect this computer
to the shared printer through a number of strategies (detailed below) but
whenever I attempt to print I get one of two results, depending on how the
printer was connected.

1. If I added the printer to WifeLapTopVista as a shared network printer I
receive d message saying "Could not connect to shared printer on server".

2. If I added the printer to WifeLapTopVista as a local printer on a TCP/IP
port the document will spool locally but after 10 seconds or so the document
shows "Error" next to the file name in the print queue with no other
information.

Regardless of approach the document never appears in the printe queue on
PrinterHostXP.

I have installed and uninstalled the printer on WifeLapTopVista in the
following ways:

1. Using the Oki software installation and navigating across the network to
identify the printer.

2. By using the Add New Printer dialog in Vista and selecting a Networked
printer. The network sees the printer with no trouble. If I have
uninstalled the printer drivers I use the "Have disk" option to install the
drivers and have used both the original distribution disk and the latest Oki
download version. If I have not uninstalled the drivers, connecting the
networked printer recognizes the printer type and uses the correct driver
from the last driver install.

3. By using the Add New Printer dialog in Vista and selecting a local
printer and then adding a TCP/IP port. In this approach the setup also
detected the printer type and used the proper drivers.

In addition, I moved the printer to MyLapTopXP, shared it, and connected to
it from WifeLapTopVista with the same results--successful connection
resulting in the printer appearing in the installed printers folder but the
same error dialog when attempting to print.

I can connect the printer directly to WifeLapTopVista via USB and it works
flawlessly.

Okidata has not fielded a Vista driver yet and advises using the XP driver.

Any help will be deeply appreciated. I will be happy to supply any
additional information. Thanks in advance.

many Vista printer issue can be fixed by adding it as local printer first
and then remap it as network printer. This search result may give more
details.

Vista Print Issues
Solved: Vista print Error 0x00000866 Resolution: 1. Add a Local
Printer and then create a new port pointing to the shared printer. ...
www.chicagotech.net/vista/vistaprint.htm


--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"lwestatbus" <lwestatbus@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FD5C12D5-055F-41AC-83A4-70B3995B27A9@microsoft.com...
>I have been completely unable to connect my wife's new Vista laptop to a
> shared printer connected to an XP desktop. Because my XP laptop works
> flawlessly with the shared printer she thinks I'm just not trying hard
> enough. I need help. More complete information follows:
>
> Both XP machines have SP 2. All machines have automatic updates applied.
>
> Printer is an Okidata C5150 color laser printer hosted via USB to a
> computer
> I'll call PrinterHostXP, an older Dell Dimension. Printer is shared and
> there is one shared folder on this computer. PrinterHostXP is an older
> computer and uses a USB 1 port.
>
> My laptop, which I'll call MyLapTopXP is a 2 year old Presario. It has
> never had any trouble connecting to the printer or the shared folder on
> PrinterHostXP.
>
> Wife's laptop, which I'll call WifeLapTopVista is a brand new Toshiba with
> Vista Home Premium. This machine can see the shared printer and folder on
> PrinterHostXP and can edit files in the folder. I can connect this
> computer
> to the shared printer through a number of strategies (detailed below) but
> whenever I attempt to print I get one of two results, depending on how the
> printer was connected.
>
> 1. If I added the printer to WifeLapTopVista as a shared network printer I
> receive d message saying "Could not connect to shared printer on server".
>
> 2. If I added the printer to WifeLapTopVista as a local printer on a
> TCP/IP
> port the document will spool locally but after 10 seconds or so the
> document
> shows "Error" next to the file name in the print queue with no other
> information.
>
> Regardless of approach the document never appears in the printe queue on
> PrinterHostXP.
>
> I have installed and uninstalled the printer on WifeLapTopVista in the
> following ways:
>
> 1. Using the Oki software installation and navigating across the network
> to
> identify the printer.
>
> 2. By using the Add New Printer dialog in Vista and selecting a Networked
> printer. The network sees the printer with no trouble. If I have
> uninstalled the printer drivers I use the "Have disk" option to install
> the
> drivers and have used both the original distribution disk and the latest
> Oki
> download version. If I have not uninstalled the drivers, connecting the
> networked printer recognizes the printer type and uses the correct driver
> from the last driver install.
>
> 3. By using the Add New Printer dialog in Vista and selecting a local
> printer and then adding a TCP/IP port. In this approach the setup also
> detected the printer type and used the proper drivers.
>
> In addition, I moved the printer to MyLapTopXP, shared it, and connected
> to
> it from WifeLapTopVista with the same results--successful connection
> resulting in the printer appearing in the installed printers folder but
> the
> same error dialog when attempting to print.
>
> I can connect the printer directly to WifeLapTopVista via USB and it works
> flawlessly.
>
> Okidata has not fielded a Vista driver yet and advises using the XP
> driver.
>
> Any help will be deeply appreciated. I will be happy to supply any
> additional information. Thanks in advance.
>