2 Easy Ways to Enable Sharing with USB Printers

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For small home or office networks with only a few computers and light print usage, a USB printer is a good choice that can be shared among all computers. There are some benefits to print sharing using a USB printer instead of a network printer. USB printers usually cost less than networked printers and are more compact. A USB printer can be shared either through a Windows computer or a USB server, which is inexpensive and usually easy to set up, but requires its own network jack.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Using a Computer

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    Right click on the printer to be shared.
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    Follow the prompts to allow sharing.
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    Enter a share name for the printer. This is the name that other users on the network will see when searching for printers. Limit the name to 8 letters with no characters or spaces.
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    Follow the prompts to install drivers for these computers. This will save time since the drivers won't have to be downloaded and installed separately on the other computers.
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    Right click "add printer" and select "network printer." Allow Windows to search the network for printers. If the printer isn't found automatically, select "the printer I want is not listed." Select "browse for printers" and find the computer that is attached to the USB printer. Click the plus sign to expand it, and then select the printer.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Using a USB Server

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    Make sure it is compatible with the operating systems of all computers on the network and with the USB printer.
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    Plug an RJ45 Ethernet cable into the server on one end and the network wall jack on the other.
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    Follow the proper order for plugging in power, network and USB connections.
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    Navigate to the printers folder. Right click "add printer" and select "network printer."
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    If a printer is not found, select "the printer I want is not listed." Select "browse for printers" and find the USB server that is attached to the USB printer. Click the plus sign to expand it, and then select the printer. Follow the prompts to install the printer.
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      Warnings

      • The Windows firewall or other installed firewalls may block access to the printer from other computers. Be sure to configure the firewall to allow traffic to the printer. Follow the instructions from the firewall vendor.
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      • The instructions here show how to share a USB printer using Windows Vista. Older versions of Windows use similar steps to configure USB print sharing; all sharing and adding is done through the "printers" section of the control panel.
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