# another printer sharing question (xp/vista) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2007, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981 "2007-11-02T06:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/1 "2007-11-02T06:21:21Z")
I say ‘another’ because I did a keyword search and didn’t find an answer. Im running Vista on my laptop and xp on my desktop. I setup file and printer sharing on the desktop and laptop and the firewalls on both are set to share.Oh wait I _can’t_ set the laptop printer to share since there’s no printer on the laptop vista wont allow it. On the laptop I can ‘see’ the shared files on the desktop as well as the printer when I go to ‘start\>network\>printer’. I can clearly see the printer (I named “printercanon”) plain as day from the laptop. When I go to print I get **“windows cannot connect to the printer.Access is denied”**.Oh I did try to set the printer permissions I cannot access them on the desktop.But I can ‘see’ the permissions from the laptop.They seem to be set right. BTW I can access shared files from the laptop that are on the desktop,just to make that crystal-clear. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/2 "2007-11-02T07:02:45Z")
Just a note: I just tried to ‘add a printer’ on the Vista machine and got the same “access denied” message… ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/3 "2007-11-02T08:18:53Z")
Are you logged on to both machines with the same username and password? Si ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/4 "2007-11-02T09:01:00Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] Are you logged on to both machines with the same username and password? Si [/QUOTE] yes I just downloaded the driver to the laptop (its not for Vista by the way)and disabled the firewall on the desktop for a minute just to check.. Access denied,access denied,access denied…grrrrrrrrr :mad: I.cant.change.settings. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/5 "2007-11-02T09:16:02Z")
What permissions have you set on the printer? ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/6 "2007-11-02T09:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] What permissions have you set on the printer? [/QUOTE] I cant access the security tab to change the permissions settings (on the xp). I followed the instuctions to a ‘T’: _1.open printers and faxes 2.click printer you want to set permissions for. 3.press and hold down CTRL,and then right-click the printer for which you want to set permissions,click properties,and then click security tab_ …only the security tab **never** materializes ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/7 "2007-11-02T09:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=Tony Montana] I cant access the security tab to change the permissions settings (on the xp). I followed the instuctions to a ‘T’: _1.open printers and faxes 2.click printer you want to set permissions for. 3.press and hold down CTRL,and then right-click the printer for which you want to set permissions,click properties,and then click security tab_ …only the security tab **never** materializes [/QUOTE] Try running in Safe Mode to modify the permissions (I am guessing you have XP Home). Check that you are not running with Simple File Sharing - use Explorer|Tools|Folder Options|View, then uncheck the _Use Simple File Sharing_ box at the bottom of the list. The final option is that there is a way of adding the XP Pro security tab into XP home. This has worked pretty well for me, but YMMV. Si ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-printer-sharing-question-xp-vista/424981/8 "2007-11-02T09:51:49Z")
\*\*OMFG I found the solution \*\* at the [Microsoft forums](http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1192680&SiteID=17) and printed a test page. \*Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer. ChooseAdd a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next. A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name. Type in the \computer name\printer name ie. My computer’s name is basement and the printer name is EpsonSty so I typed in \basement\epsonsty\* Thanks… TM