Specifications

After you have created the share, the printer appears to other users on the network just like a shared
drive. To access the printer, a network user must install the appropriate driver for the printer and
specify the name of the share instead of a local printer port. To avoid having to type out the path,
you can drag an icon representing a network printer from the Network Neighborhood and drop it
onto the Add New Printer icon in the Printers Control Panel. After this, you need only select the
appropriate driver and answer the default printer and printer test page questions to complete the
printer installation.
Caution
Before you try to network your printer, make sure it’s network compatible. Many low-cost printers today are host based
and cannot be shared over a network. Check with the printer vendor for details.
You also can share your printer with non-Windows users if you set up a TCP/IP network and if the
other computers (such as Mac or Linux) have compatible drivers for your printer. This is much easier
if you can use a PostScript-compatible printer on the network.
Remote Drivers
Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 differ from Windows 9x and Windows Me in that they can store
and distribute the printer drivers for multiple operating systems. When you share a printer in
Windows NT/2000, the dialog box contains an Alternate Drivers selector that enables you to choose
the other versions of Windows operating systems used by the other computers on your network.
After the wizard installs the driver for the Windows NT/2000 system, it prompts you for the appropri-
ate media containing the drivers for the other operating systems you’ve selected. This way, when a
client selects that Windows NT/2000 printer share, it automatically downloads the proper driver from
the Windows NT/2000 system and installs it, preventing the user from having to identify the printer
manufacturer and model.
Print Sharing via Switchboxes
As an alternative to networking, a variety of printer-sharing devices are available at low cost. The
easiest, cheapest way to share a single printer with two to four computers nearby is with an auto-
sensing switchbox, available from cable makers, such as Belkin and many others.
Printer switchboxes have an output plug to which the cable to the printer is connected and two or
more input plugs to which the cables from the computers are connected. Computers are normally
connected to the box by 25-pin straight-through cables, and the connection from the box to the
printer uses a standard DB-25 to Centronics printer cable.
Manual Switchboxes
Simple switchboxes use a rotary switch to determine which computer has control of the printer.
Although these units are still on the market, they’re not recommended for use with laser or inkjet
printers or non-printer parallel devices because these devices can be damaged by the switching
process and the boxes normally lack IEEE-1284 bidirectional features.
Autosensing Switchboxes
Autosensing switchboxes are powered by either an external power pack or the data cables; they con-
tinuously switch from one port to the next until a print job is sensed. At that point, the box “locks
on” to the print job until the printer has been sent the last page. For use with MS-DOS printing
(which often cannot wait for the switchbox to scan the port), many of these boxes also provide the
capability for the desired port to be set manually. Most recent models support bidirectional IEEE-1284