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General scenario of troubleshooting a networking question.

Monday, 28 September 2009 13:53 by Stephen

Case A: Network printer issue.

 

SituationA user is installing a network printer for the first time.A networked printer suddenly stopped working.
PreparationConnect a printer to power source and turn it on. Connect a printer to the computer. Get the disk with drivers or download a driver installation package from manufacturer website. Install printer drivers and make sure it’s fully functional when used locally. Check the network connectivity on both computers: ping both and access them by IP or NetBIOS name. A ping command can be run from a command-line window (Start->Run->cmd) and is used as follows: Ping address Where address is the computer name or its IP address. Computer’s IP address consists of 4 numbers from 0 to 255 and can be determined by running the ipconfig command, while computer name is comprised of alpha characters and numbers and can be found in My Computer properties under Computer name If ping command fails, that’s a general network connectivity issue that is to be dealt separately. You can access a computer or network by their IP or name if you type them into Start->Run window, preceded by two \ symbols, i.e.: \\192.168.1.103 Or \\ann-PC If you managed to open shared resources and see the printer you need, right-click its icon and click “Connect”. If you are asked if you want to use this printer as a default, click yes. If you are getting “not accessible” message, it’s a sharing or connectivity issue, which will be dealt with further.
InstructionsShare the printer. For Windows XP, go to Start->Control Panel, Printers and faxes, right-click on your printer icon and select Properties. Go to Sharing tab and check “Share this printer” and click Apply. For Windows Vista, procedure is the same, except for control panel application is called “Printers” and there is a context menu item called “Sharing” for all printers. Run Add printer Wizard on the computer, for which you want to install the network printer. For Windows Vista: Open Printers from Control Panel, double-click “Add Printer”, select “Add a network, wireless of Bluetooth printer” and choose your printer from the search results. If the printer is not listed, click the button below and run a search with custom criteria or browse for printer manually (or enter the host name and IP address). In Windows XP the automatic search doesn’t start, you should choose “A network printer” on the first screen, and “Browse for a printer” on the second screen. Wizard should ask if you want to install the printer drivers on your computer, click Yes. If you were able to connect to the remote printer, but still unable to print using it, try out the following steps: Install the drivers for your printer locally using a setup disc or a driver package downloaded from manufacturer’s website. Restart spoolsv service on computer that hosts the problem printer. Services management snap-in can be started from Start->Run->Services.msc or right-clicking My Computer->Manage->Services. Find a service named “Print Spooler” in the right pane and then stop it and run again using the controls in the left pane. Alternatively, the service can be restarted using these two commands (entered in Start->Run window): Net stop spoolsv Net start spoolsv Clear the printer spooler folder. Its location in Windows XP is: C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTER Enable simple file sharing. It’s enabled by default in WinXP. This can be checked by opening My Computer, going to Tools->Folder Options->View, “Use simple file sharing” checkbox of Advanced settings. Simple file sharing in Vista means sharing the printer to “Everyone”. If the printer is connected to the network using a print server, check if the server receives a valid IP address and a correct connection port is used in printer settings; Try resetting the print server. Remember that its default settings may differ from those that were being used;
Additional stepsA system restore is often helpful in such cases.
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