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Information Technology

Network Setup Problems with Windows XP
December 2002
Ed Erwin

The instructions below discusses what to do if you are having problems setting up your Network after installing Windows XP.  If after completing these steps and you still are having problems, contact the call center.

Windows 95 computers can’t see XP computers

Making sure the workgroup name is the same on all computers will alleviate a lot of confusion.

If you double-click the My Network Places icon on the desktop in Windows XP you will get a screen with an Entire Network icon.

Double-clicking this will give you another screen where you should see a choice called Microsoft Windows Network, double- clicking this will take you to the workgroup page.

Each workgroup is identified by an icon of three computer screens in the shape of a triangle. If you have more than one of these and one is named Workgroup, then you have not changed the workgroup name on the new computers. You can double-click this icon and display the names on the computers that need the workgroup name changed.

To confirm/change the workgroup or computer name in Windows XP:

Right-click My Computer icon on the desktop.

Choose Properties from the menu.

On the System Properties page go to the Computer Name tab. The computer and workgroup names appear here. If either needs to be changed select the Change button and make the appropriate changes and chose OK on both screens. You will be prompted to reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.

To confirm/change the workgroup or computer name in Windows 95/98:

Right-click the Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop.

Go to the Identification tab on the Network Properties page. You can verify or make the changes here. Chose OK on both screens and then if you have made changes you will be prompted to reboot the computer.

Sharing Printers

Once you have all the computers in the same workgroup and you can view them all then you can share the printers.

If you have the main printer configured on a computer you have swapped out for a new one with Windows XP do the following:

Go to one of your Windows 95/98 computers (not the one you had the printer connected to before) and chose Start - Settings - Printers.

When the printers window opens go to the icon for the main printer, right-click it and chose Properties. In the printer properties go to the details tab and you will see a ‘Print to the following port’, in the editable area you will see something like this <\shirley>.

Shirley is the computer name and hp is the share name for the printer. Write down the share name.

Go back to the Windows XP computer and chose Start - Settings - Printers and Faxes.

Find the icon for the printer you want to share, right-click it and chose Sharing. You will see the printer properties with the sharing tab open. Move the dot to ‘Share this printer’. Then you will have to type in the share name you recorded from the other computer (just the printer share name, i.e. hp).

If you renamed this computer to the same as the one it replaced computers already setup to print to it on the old one, should be able to now.

To connect a Windows 95/98 computer to a shared printer on a Windows XP computer do the following:

Double-click Network Neighborhood and find the XP computer name, double-click the icon for it and you will see the shared printers and folders on that computer. Right-click the icon for the printer and chose Install from the menu.

You will get a screen asking you if you print to this printer from MS-DOS programs, just select next and you will get the printer driver page which lists Manufacturers on the left and printer models on the right. This screen also has a Have Disk button. (HP LaserJet 4 is listed here, but for the HP 4000, DeskJet 1120 and 1220 will not be here and you must have a driver disk and use the Have Disk button. The County resource disk Drivers folder contains drivers for several HP printers used in the county offices) Chose the appropriate printer and follow the screens to finish the driver installation.

These instructions will also for sharing printers between Windows 95/98 computers.

To connect a Windows XP machine to a shared printer on another XP machine or a Windows 95/98 machine:

Double-click the My Network Places then do the same to the Entire Network icon on the next screen. On the screen after this double-click Microsoft Windows Network. You should see the workgroup name on the next screen, double click the icon and you should see all the computer names.

Chose the computer that has the printer attached, and then right click the printer icon and chose Connect.

If you are trying to connect to a printer on 95/98 computer from XP you may receive two error messages about the server not having drivers, just OK them both and you will get the Manufacturers screen. Windows XP includes drivers for most of the computers we use. Choose the appropriate printer and then follow the screens.

If you don’t have the CD or disk for a particular printer you will have to visit the Manufacturers web site to download it. Here is the link to HP's support site.

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