Shared printer problem but not shared folder issue

Question

Hi,

I have a Win7pro PC that shares HP Officejet 800 on a local network. It's a small office of 6 Windows10 machines. The Win7pro machine has also a shared folder in case anyone would like to drop off the file to it and print it off the machine. All of it works well with office Win10 machines except for one. 

The stubborn one is a Win10 fully updated machine that can see and use the shared folder on Win7 machine but is refusing to connect to the shared printer. When trying to add a shared printer by the name (as I did with other 5 machines) I am getting an error: 'Windows cannot connect to the printer. Check the printer name and try again'

What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Please help!

Answer 1

I’m not really sure to be honest, it would take quite a lot of digging into logs and troubleshooting to try diagnose the issue unfortunately.

Let me know how you get on with the IP method and if that resolves the issue?

Kind Regards,

Elise

Answer 2

Hi Elise,

Thank you for your reply. 

'Can you do it by IP address' - I have been thinking of it and it looks like my only hope ;)

Any idea why other Win10 machines can talk to the printer (using shared name) but that particular one can talk to the shared folder but not to the shared printer?

Kind regards,

Tomasz

Answer 3

Hi, I'm Elise, an independent advisor and I'd be happy to help with your issue.

Can you do it by IP address, there are instructions for this here:

Using the Start Menu search (Magnifying glass icon - lower left taskbar) type "Control Panel".

In the Control Panel window select Devices and Printers.

In the Devices and Printers window click on Add a printer.

Select "The printer that I want isn't listed"

Choose "Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings", then click Next.

Select Create a new port and choose Standard TCP/IP Port, then click Next.

Under Hostname or IP address: Type in the IP address of the printer you intend to connect to.

Note: this will fill in the Port name: at the same time with the same IP address, this is OK. Also, leave the "Query the printer..." box checked.

Windows should find the driver automatically. If not, you may need to download the driver (for that specific model printer) from the manufacturers website.

Once it finds the driver, type in the Printer name: (this can be whatever you want to call it), then click Next.

In the Printer Sharing window, select Do not share this printer, then click Next.

IF, you want this printer to be default, you can choose the Set as the default printer box. It's good idea to Print a test page, to confirm that it works, then click the Finish button.

The printer should now show in Devices and Printers, and be selectable when printing from within documents, etc.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Elise