This is an unvarnished cry for help. I use a PC running the latest Windows XP. Ten feet away from me, my wife uses a PC running the latest Windows XP. Both of our computers are connected to the net through an old (but solid) LinkSys router. The printer (an HP PSC 2110 All-in-One) is plugged by USB directly into my computer. It’s not a network printer. And here is the punchline:
My wife can’t print from her machine.
She prints by mailing documents to her Gmail account, rolling her chair ten feet across the floor to my computer, getting into her Gmail account and printing. Oh, and I forgot an important part of the process: she curses too. She curses because, despite the fact that her husband works in the software business, and despite the fact that she complains about this printing problem regularly, she still cannot print from her computer.
Windows claims to give you the ability to set up a home network for people in my situation. I have tried many times and failed. No matter how many times I follow the steps (and consult various helpy sites), the machines never see each other. The problem appears to be the virus/firewall software. I actually switched from Norton to ZoneAlarm thinking that might help, but it didn’t. I could keep troubleshooting down that avenue, but I’m sick of it. I’m curious to hear if there is some other solution out there that lets you print to a remote printer. I don’t care if the bits get routed through a leaky server at web 2.0 startup in Kalamazoo. A workable hack beats my current situation hands down. Any suggestions?
Rambles Blog at Star Chamber 
Well I COMPLAIN; I wouldn’t call it “cursing”.
Ned,
From your entry, I assume all PCs and printer are connected via a router.
Since router would assign independent IP addresses to all devices, how about go buy a network printer adapter. (I am currently using D-Link DP-301P printer server, $30)
Then within MS Windows’ printer setting, you can set it in direct IP printing to the printer.
If you need further instructions, please feel free to email me. I would be happy to help.
Your WIFE, cursing??? NO WAY!! :) Just get her a separate printer…. She deserves her own.
As I said before in a less appropriate place, just buy another 10 foot USB cable. : )
I am interested in where the less appropriate place was!!I am trying to imagine where an inappropriate place would be to say–“just buy another UCB cable..” That is most intriguing–inquiring minds in Applachia want to know? (ps..I don’t know how to use HTML tags for style.-I am sure that comes as a surprise)
This should be (should be.. o.-) really simple to set up, although xp won’t network through a desktop firewall (it sends data over IP, which a firewall will generally block). If you’re still using ZoneAlarm you can set up your wife’s PC as a trusted IP address on the Firewall tab, and networking should then work fine, provided you have TCP/IP configured correctly. Then it’s just a matter of sharing the printer from your machine.