Unable To Network Canon Printer

SouperComputer

it seems the drivers with the Canon I250 & I350 (not to mention others) deliberately do not support sharing on a network out of the box.

Couldn’t find any help on google, I was wondering if anybody has successfully worked around this. Basically the sharing tab does not exist, independently of OS.

Dun

But it's Windows that determines sharing. Does right-clicking on the printer in the Printers (and Faxes if you're on XP) not give you a sharing option? Can you share ordinary folders okay?

SouperComputer

sharing drives is fine.

ive tried different pc's with different OS.

for some reason the software\drivers disable the sharing option on some of their printers. I might try manually installing the drivers. Ill probably lose any extra funcionality, but at least I dont have to keep booting somebody else off their computer!

Capt'n Midnight

In general to confirm sharing - setup a generic text printer (manu=microsoft) and share it.

Going back to Windows 3.11 HP printer drivers used to replace the print manager which stopped sharing the printer - fix was to copy printman.* from Disk 5 and then expand the files.

Check the manuals to see if they emulate other printers (good ole IBM ProPrinter / Epson FX80 / HP LaserJet etc.) and then use that driver instead.

Are they network printers or on a local port
Sharing remote printers is messy.
If push comes to shove you could one of those jetdirect type boxes and then connect to the IP port.

Course if they are WinPrinters you are at the mercy of the drivers

ColmOT [MSFT]

Why would a manufacturer want to restrict printer sharing?

Hal1

Hi, just a suggestion have you enabled file & printer sharing? well each OS is a lil different. In windose98, go to your 'control panel' then click on 'network settings' a dialog box will appear on it you will find a 'file & printer' sharing tab, click it and make sure you check the boxes for file/printer sharing. Restart your pc once this has been done. After your pc reboots, locate your printer in 'my computer' right click on it and select sharing. That is all you should have to do, but make sure you install the apporiate printer driver for your printer before hand. Anyone wanna add to this its a while since I had to do this but that is the correct procedure imo .

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by ColmOT [MSFT]
Why would a manufacturer want to restrict printer sharing?

I have absolutely no idea why a manufacturer would try to sell a more expensive product that mainly differs from the basic model by having some features NOT disabled.

SouperComputer

Originally posted by Hal1
Hi, just a suggestion have you enabled file & printer sharing? well each OS is a lil different. In windose98, go to your 'control panel' then click on 'network settings' a dialog box will appear on it you will find a 'file & printer' sharing tab, click it and make sure you check the boxes for file/printer sharing. Restart your pc once this has been done. After your pc reboots, locate your printer in 'my computer' right click on it and select sharing. That is all you should have to do, but make sure you install the apporiate printer driver for your printer before hand. Anyone wanna add to this its a while since I had to do this but that is th correct procedure imo .

em, ive done that. Its a regular issue with the low-end canon printers.

Why would they disable it? Same reason Xp home can't access domains or encrypt files: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or alternatively: €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

ColmOT [MSFT]

The reason that Windows XP Home doesn't support domain membership is simple: the average domestic user doesn't have a domain controller in their house. Also, File encryption isn't high on the list of the 'most used features' of domestic users either. It's the same with WMI...how many domestic users do you know use WMI? Even SMP support. Windows XP Home Edition is aimed at 'home users'.

Printers on the other hand I think are different. Since most houses have at least 1 PC, and many have >1 PC, having a printer that disables printer sharing is a greater end user impact than having a SKU of Windows that doesn't support domain membership.

Just my opinion...

SouperComputer

tend to agree with ye, but its still driven by profits in both cases IMHO

ColmOT [MSFT]

As a solution, if there is a similiar printer that does support printer sharing, you can force Windows to use the other printer's driver and that way, allow printer sharing.

SouperComputer

well, manually installing the .inf files from within the executable fixed it.