Network Printers
 

We've recently had two new computers installed on the office network, but I can't work out how to access the network printers from them. The computers are running xp and our server is on sbs 2003 (though I don't know if that's relevant). I've tried installing it from the printers and faxes window, but it doesn't show up anywhere. What do I do?

What kind of printers are they? Are they connected to the network with ethernet cable or are they connected to someone else's computer?

Is SBS running as a print server too? If not, it is recommended instead of sharing printers throught the computers themselves. That way, when you want to install a printer on a computer, just point it to \\<servername>\<printer_name> You can also manage permissions, queues and spooling from the central location.

The above "point it to" is not working due parsing errors. It should be "backslash, backslash, servername, backslash, printer name".

The printer I'm trying to access (an Olivetti d-Copia MF200) is plugged directly into the network with an ethernet cable. I had a go at pointing to it the \\\ way in case it was somehow set up as virtually 'on' the server, but no joy. In fact I just had a look on the server and it's not recognised there either, so will still have to surmount the same problem.

Is there any way I can look for it using its IP?

well, if it has an IP, can you ping it? If so, then yes, you can look for it by it's IP address.