Printer Sharing with Vista

We had setup Printer Sharing a few months ago when I had a sony vaio notebook after MUCH difficulty and stress. It turned out to be the Norton Internet Security was the issue. We changed the trust control level and that allowed the 2 computers to communicate with each other.

NOW my mom has a dv5t and we also have a family computer (Pavilion a6460t). Both systems are running Windows Vista Home Premium w/SP1 32 Bit. Now we're using NIS 2009 on both of the computer and I'm trying to setup Printer Sharing for her so she can print from her laptop to the printer that's connected thru a USB cable to the desktop computer. However I'm experience difficulty yet again and don't have a clue as to what's going on.

Right now both computers are set to "Private Network" on the Network & Sharing Center.

Network Discovery is ON for both computers.

Printer Sharing is turned ON on both computers.

Password protected sharing is turned off for both computers.

Both the laptop and desktop are connected to the SAME wireless router (Linksys WRT610N).

Also to be clear the Workgroup for both systems is "WORKGROUP"

The laptop's computer name is "JSimpson-PC" and the desktop's name is "SIMPSONFAMILY-PC".

Yet when I go to the Network & Sharing Center and click on "View full map" the map on my the desktop ends up showing ONLY the desktop connected to the router connected to the internet globe. It's like it does not recognize the laptop that's connected to the SAME wireless router (Linksys WRT610N)

I go to the dv5t and I go to Network & Sharing Center, click on "View full map" and the SAME thing happens. The map shows the laptop's PC Name connected to the router connected to the Internet globe. Again it's like the he laptop does not recognize the desktop.

However the network map that appears when I click on "View ful map" for BOTH systems shows the XBox 360 which is connected to the router thru an ethernet cable....

As for NIS 2009 I tried changing the network trust level to FULL TRUST and that didn't change anything...so I don't know what else to do or what's going on.

I tried contacting Linksys thinking it might have to do with the wireless router but they told me that it has nothing to do with them and that I should contact MS or HP. But I was wondering if maybe someone on here who's expert may know something.

I would appreciate any and all help.

 

find the ip address of the pc sharing the printer (orb/run/cmd/"ipconfig/all")
from the laptop try ping it (orb/run/cmd ping x.y.z.w-ip address) if you can ping it try accessing it directly (orb/run "\\x.y.z.w")

report back

 

Okay for the "ping" command

When it gets to the black screen do I just type in ping and press enter?

Or do I type in ping put in a space and then the ip address?

 

ok first find out the address of the other computer
it is called an IP and it is usually formatted as 192.168.1.xxx
so do it on the desktop.
go to the black screen and type that ipconfig/all and look for an ipv4 address

write it down

go to the notebook
open the black screen there
and type ping (the desktop address)
it should either respond or fail to connect
next (if ping connects) type in the run \\ (the desktop address) nospaces

 

Okay I typed "ping 192.168.1.102"

This what happened....

"Pinging 192.168.1.102 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.101: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.101: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.101: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.101: Destination host unreachable.

Ping Statistics for 192.168.1.102:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 <0% loss>,"

What does that mean?

 

it means it has been blocked probably by NIS

never the less try the \\192.168.2.102

 

Response:

Network Error

Windows cannot access \\192.168.1.102

Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnose.

Details:

Error code: 0x80070035
The network path was not found.

I clicked on Diagnose and it said...

Cannot communicate with 192.168.1.102.

Network diagnostics pinged the remote host but did not receive a response.

Windows has found a problem that cannot be repaired automatically. Contact your ISP or network administrator forh elp or click here for information about things you can try to help resolve the problem...

 

yep. blocked.

try disabling the nis firewall on both ends, you can disconnect your router from the internet for security reasons beforehand.

and try again

 

So how should I do this exactly? Take out the ethernet cord going from my dsl modem to my router at the router end?

And then disable the firewall and try to view the network map again?

 

yep plug it out.

try that and also you can try the direct access to the desktop using the \\192.168....

 

Okay I did everything as you asked. The networking icon just said, "Local Only" and I had both the desktop and the laptop connected to it.

Then I disabled the "Smart Firewall" on BOTH systems.

Then I clicked on "View full map" for both systems. Same issue occured.

Tried the \\192.168.1.1.02 in the run box but the same communication error came up.

This is so frustrating...

 

ok the only thing left is a firewall on your router blocking the traffic
do you know how to go to the router configuration menu ?

 

Yes....what should I be looking for when I get there? And is that a common occurrence? And if so why would a router do that?

 

its not common but its possible, you did say you can see the xbox... can you access it ?

 

No. I see the icon but I try to click on it but it won't open up anything in a new window. Like it does when I click on my desktop icon (and the laptop icon when I'm on that).

 

wait try doing \\localhost on either of your machines...

 

I did on the desktop and it brought up my printer.

On the laptop it just brings up "Send to OneNote"

Both show a "Printers" icon

 

thats fine

now you sure about the ip address ?
lets go different route.
go to network and sharing center click on view status (few lines under the globe) then click on details

you should have the ip address sub net mask and default gateway make sure the net mask and the gateway are the same on all computers.

 

What happened to the router homepage? I thought you were going to look into that?

And yes I'm sure about the IP address...

 

thought we make sure...

 

and the fact you can see the xbox baffles me

 

IPv4 IP Address: 192.168.1.102
IPv4 Subnet Mas: 255.255.255.0

IPv4 Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
" " DHCP Server: Same
" " DNS Servers: 24.25.5.148
24.25.5.147

 

try ping from either of the machines to the default gateway 192.168.1.1

 

and the fact you get those dns server addresses...
might want to change it to automatically receive from dhcp under tcpipv4 in the network connection properties

 

Response:

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes = 32 time = 12ms TTL = 64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes = 32 time = 51ms TTL = 64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes = 32 time = 27ms TTL = 64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes = 32 time = 130ms TTL = 64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 <0% loss>,
Approximate round trip time in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 12ms, Maximum = 130ms, Average = 55ms


PS Everything is set to automatic under the adapter properties. I won't be using static ip until I get my new laptop...

 

ok so lets try the router menu

 

look for firewall

 

Okay tell me where to go to...

 

look at security

 

Okay I'm on the Security Tab

 

what u c ?

 

Okay there are 2 sub tabs.

The 1st one is Firewall

SPI Firewall Protection: Enabled

Filter Anonymous Internet Requests: CHECKED Box
Filter Multicast: Empty Box
Filter Internet NAT Redirection: Empty Box
Filter IDENT (Port 113): CHECKED Box

Web Filter:

Proxy: Empty Box
Java: Empty Box
ActiveX: Empty Box
Cookies: Empty Box

 

2nd Tab is VPN Passthrough:

PSec Passthrough: Enabled

PPTP Passthrough: Enabled

L2TP Passthrough: Enabled

 

Are you still there? What should I do?

 

Well I guess I'm back to square 1 then...

I'm headed off to bed...

 

sorry but connection lost and i went to bed.
anyway call those router gys and tell them you cant ping other computers on your network, don't mention printers or your NIS (escape route for the router guyz). if they cant get it to work -it should be replaced.

 

So you don't think it's the NIS?

Also did you look at the settings I reported above? Does that help or do I still have to call....

 

you couldn't get a ping through even after disabling the nis....

well you can try disabling the SPI Firewall Protection in the router
see if anything change.

but this is quite difficult as i dont have same router here...

 

If I do that will it hurt my internet security or will my NIS 2009 firewall be more than enough?

 

nis 2009 is good enough especially that the router provides nat
anyway you can unplug the net and check

 

I just disabled the firewall and clicked on refresh for the "view full map"

Still nothing...

I then kept it disabled and unchecked the box for "Filter Anon Internet Reqests". Then I refreshed yet again and still it only shows the desktop and the router.

And both the laptop and the computer are on. I don't know if I have to restart both or not. I'm guessing not though.

I think I'm gonna call Linksys unless you have any other thoughts?

 

dont test using the full map
test using ping

 

Tested doing the "ping" command. Still the same response as before. Destination host unreachable...

Should I put back on the SPI firewall and enable those 2 features I disabled...

 

yep and call linksys and tell them you cannot ping your other nodes.

 

What bull**** is this!? The idiot on the other line is saying he does not have sufficient knowledge about this issue and that he needs to transfer me to a "senior technician"

As a result I have to pay $9.99!

Are you effing KIDDING me!?

Why the hell should I PAY for customer service? I bought the router just a month ago!

 

God **** it I"m so pissed off at Linksys right now. He asked me WHY I wanted to ping and I panicked and told him that I wanted to do file sharing/printer sharing.

Then these *******s say it's not supported by Linksys....

What do I do now? I don't know what to say when they ask that question and I'm so frustrated right now I can't think straight.

 

Can anyone else help me with this problem?

 

Roy are you there?

 

Okay...first time i'm actually taking time to read through this issue of this thread. I saw it going over 5 pages and so I was curious as to why...beacuse Printer Sharing shouldn't be that difficult. So anyways...right off the bat from just browing through I would say to first completely Uninstall NIS from the computers and then try accessing the desktop computer by typing it's IP Address in 'Windows Explorer' on the laptop.

So therefore, you'll need to find out the desktop's IP Address by going on it and doing a Start--> Run and type cmd and hit enter. Then type ipconfig /all and take note of the IP Address. Then enter that in the Explorer window of the laptop computer...screenshot attached.

And make sure you actually have the printer itself 'shared'. On the desktop which it is connected to, go in the 'Printers and Faxes' folder, right click it, select properties, under the 'Share' tab make sure it's being shared.

 

Sounds like something else besides the router. Troubleshooting from afar is a pain in the rear huh?

If you can see the Xbox, but not the other computer it is more than likely not the router. While I haven't had too many problems with Norton, I'd uninstall it all so to rule out Norton. and start from there. I would not be surprised if Norton was screwing things up.