Printer Sharing

Many people will have a network of computers, with a central printer connected to only a single PC. It is easy to share this printer with user networked computers, allowing everyone in your workgroup to print directly.

First of all, you need to enable printer sharing on the host PC (the one with the printer directly attached). This allows other PCs to see the shared printer and connect to it via the host computer. To do this, open the Control Panel by clicking on the Start Menu > Control Panel:


Then, click View Network Status and Tasks:


If printer sharing is disabled, click the button next to Printer Sharing, then Turn on Printer Sharing and click Apply:


Printer sharing is now enabled on the host computer, allowing access to the connected printers (as long as a username/password from that PC is used).

On the PC you wish to grant access to the printer, browse the network from the host PC to view the printer listing. Once you have found the shared printer you wish to use, right click on it and select Connect:


It may require a username and password from the host computer, if so type these details in. Windows should now install the required drivers and add access to the shared printer, allowing you to print from any application.