Vista Laptop won't connect to XP network printer

[thesteeles]

I recently bought a Vista laptop. I have two XP desktops that share a HP Deskjet 960c printer. The XP's both connect fine to the printer. The Vista is on the network, but it wont find the printer. I don't know what to try. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

Are you sure that the printer you are trying to connect to has Vista drivers? Are the drivers installed on said laptop?

 

[thesteeles]

Thanks for the reply. I idid check the driver. I went to the HP site and went to download the driver and got this message:

"The driver solution for this product is included in your Windows Vista operating system and is already on your computer. There is no need to download anything.

The other desktop that runs xp on the wireless network found it on the network fine. The printer is at the main desktop pc. I have 2 xp desktops and 1 vista laptop.

I can connect to the network fine with the Vista laptop. I just cannot find the printer.

Thanks again.

 

[shortstop20]

Click Start.

Type \\xxxxxxxxx in the search box.

x = the name of the computer that the network printer is attached to. This will show you all shared printers and network devices(Hard drives, etc.) attached to that computer.

 

[Alvin.C]

Hello,

Have you assigned your laptop to the same workgroup as the two dekstop PCs?

 

[thesteeles]

I am able to connect to the network with the laptop and both desktops. I am able to access the internet thru all. When you state is the laptop assigned to the same workgroup, where do I go to check that? I don't remember doing that on the 2 desktops, but they are both running xp, so did they do that automatically? Thanks.

When I typed in \\xxxxxxxxx the search found nothing.

 

[TKF]

Open MY Network Places > left pane R click on view workgroup comp.> L click each comp.there> properties should list workgroup

 

[thesteeles]

Pardon my ignorance, I dont see my network places in vista. where should i look.

 

[TKF]

Pardon my ignorance, I dont see my network places in vista. where should i look.

Sorry I misread ur post I found a couple of thing that might Help

Right click desktop/Personalize. Under tasks, Change desktop icons. Choose what you want--Network is among them. Or, Control Panel/Network and Sharing Center.

The Network and Sharing Center, which you can access through Control Panel, is a central location with links to various network-related functions, including "View computers and devices". An interesting new feature is the network map, which shows the topology of the network computers, switches, router, etc. To see it, click "View full map". To enable Windows XP computers to appear in their proper place in the network map, install the LLTD Responder on them. It's available here: Download details: Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120) An easy way to access another computer on the network is to click the Start button, type the other computer's name in the Start Search box in this format, and press Enter:

heres a couple of links that might be helpful >File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista

Windows Vista Community: Discussion Groups

 

[EricB]

give them the same workgroup name and use the add a printer wizard