Microsoft KB Archive/943898

= How printers are shared in a Windows Live OneCare circle =

Article ID: 943898

Article Last Modified on 11/13/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Windows Live OneCare

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INTRODUCTION
This article describes how printers are shared in a Windows Live OneCare circle.



MORE INFORMATION
You can print from any computer in a Windows Live OneCare circle to a shared printer that is attached to any computer in the circle. If you have a USB printer that is attached to a computer in your Windows Live OneCare circle, Windows Live OneCare automatically sets up connections to this printer from all other computers in the circle. You can print directly to the printer from any application on any computer.

Environments that are supported for shared printing in a Windows Live OneCare circle
Windows Live OneCare supports shared printing in most environments when the following conditions are true.

Note In this article, a &quot;host computer&quot; is a computer that is physically connected to a printer, and a &quot;client computer&quot; is a computer that is not physically connected to a printer.
 * The printer is connected to a Windows Live OneCare computer through a USB cable.
 * The host computer and the client computer are both part of the same Windows Live OneCare circle. Additionally, they are connected to the same router. Therefore, both computers are on the same subnet. However, they can be connected to the router by any kind of media.
 * Both computers can detect one another on the network.
 * Both computers have the same hardware architecture. For example, both are 32-bit computers.
 * Both computers are running when the print job is started.

Note You may have to enable the Simple File Sharing option to open the Guest account to successfully share the printer.

Printers that are not supported for shared printing in a Windows Live OneCare circle
The following types of printers are not supported in a Windows Live OneCare circle:
 * Network printers: Printers that are directly connected to the network through an Ethernet cable or a Wi-Fi connection.
 * Wireless printers: Network printers that do not appear as network printers to a computer that is running Windows.
 * Software printers: Software components that resemble printers but that are not actual printers. For example, Fax, Send to OneNote, Print to XPS, and similar programs. Additionally, programs that print to PDF files are part of this category.
 * Old printers: Windows Live OneCare supports printers that use user mode printer drivers. These are also known as &quot;version 3&quot; drivers. Windows Live OneCare does not support printers that do not use user mode printer drivers. In versions of Windows before Windows XP, printer drivers work in kernel mode. However, after the release of Windows XP, most printers include user mode printer drivers.

How shared printing works
After the host and client computers detect one another on the network, they will authenticate one another by using the Windows Live OneCare infrastructure. Then, the two computers will start printer sharing automatically.

After printer sharing is started, the following actions occur on the respective computers:
 * On the host computer, you do not see any apparent change. Changes do occur in the Printers and Faxes item in Control Panel. To view the changes, follow these steps:
 * Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Printers.
 * The printer appears as shared. Additionally, if you right-click the printer object, a Windows Live OneCare icon is displayed.
 * After a client computer detects the availability of a printer on a host computer, you are prompted to follow these steps:
 * A dialog box appears that prompts you for permission to install the printer driver on the computer.
 * After you approve the installation, Windows Live OneCare installs the printer in the background.
 * After the installation process is complete, you are notified of the success or failure of the operation.
 * If the installation is successful, you are also provided the opportunity to print a test page and to configure the printer as the default printer. This dialog box appears to every user on the client computer.
 * After the successful installation of the printer, you can print from any program on the client computer if the following conditions are true:
 * Both the host computer and the client computer are running.
 * Both computers are on the same network.

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo kbprint kbdriver kbprinters kbexpertisebeginner KB943898

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