XP Printer sharing using ICS

[rushn]

Hello,
I just setup my main PC with XP, and it has an HP all-in-one printer attached to it. I setup XP's ICS so that my laptop can do file sharing and internet sharing with the main PC. That all seems to be working. However, the laptop is not able to see the printer on the main PC, even though I have sharing enabled for the printer on the XP machine, as far as I can tell...
Is there something I have to do to make the laptop (running WinME) be able to see the printer?

Thanks for any assistance!

[BertImmenschuh]

All I had to do in Win98, Win2K, and WinXP is go to the Printers and Add a Printer. As you go through the steps, be sure to tell the notebook it is a Network Printer and it should allow you to browse the Network for the printer. Then it will bring in the drivers needed from the machine that the printer is physically connected to. As far as my network goes, I had the printers (laser on one and inkjet on another) working in Win98FE long before I did the ICS bit in Win98SE, which was when it was first available.

[BertImmenschuh]

My first answer was the one for a Local Area Network. This is what the Help file says about an Internet Printer:

"To connect to a printer using a browser
Open Internet Explorer.

In the address bar, type one of the following:
If you don't know the printer's name, type using the format: http://PrintServerName/printers/
For example type http://W2KPrintSrv1/printers to receive a page listing all the printers located on print server W2KPrinterSrv1.

If you know the printer's name, type its URL using the format: http://PrintServerName/PrinterName/
For example type http://W2KPrintSrv1/HPColor5/ to go directly to that printer page.

When viewing the printer's page, click Connect under Printer Actions to connect to that printer.
Windows automatically copies the appropriate printer driver to your computer and the icon for the printer appears in Printers and Faxes in Control Panel.

Notes

To open Printers and Faxes, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Printers and Faxes.
If you know the printer's URL you can use the Add Printer Wizard to add the printer using its URL rather than typing its name in the Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) format: \\printserver_name\share_name. When the wizard prompts for the printer name, just enter the printer's URL, in the format, http://PrintServerName/PrinterName.
From the printer's URL page, you can view information such as the printer model, the printer's location, and the number of documents waiting to print, as well as properties such as print speed and whether the printer supports color printing. You can pause, resume, and cancel printing of any document you have sent to the printer. If you have the Manage Printers permission for the printer, you can also pause or resume operation of the printer. For information about printer permissions, click Related Topics.
For Internet printing, you must have IIS installed. For more information, click Related Topics.
You must use Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) version 4.0 or higher to connect to a printer.
After you connect to a shared printer from a Web browser, you can use it as if it were attached to your computer."

What this tells me is that the printserver is set up just like a domain server (constant connection) and who knows where the servers are actually located, so retrieving the printed page may be 'difficult'. For example, the one holding my domain is 300 miles away.

[rushn]

That is what I was expecting to be able to do, but when I browse the network, the printer doesn't show up. That's why I'm confused i guess... =/

[BertImmenschuh]

In the Printer folder on the computer it's attached to, how is the printer shared? It should have asked you to name it. In the Sharing window, there is a button for additional drivers. You may need to put a check mark in the Win98/ME for the notebook.

[rushn]

Well, I noticed that the printer was using port DOT4_001, (whatever that is?) and changed it to LPT1:, then I changed the printer name that you mentioned, and told the laptop to specifically use the new name. Something in that combination of things made it happy! =)
Thanks for all your help Bert!

[BertImmenschuh]

You're welcome. I'm glad it worked.