Printer Software

Setting Up Your Printer on a Network

Sharing the printer
Setting up your printer as a shared printer
Setting for the clients

Sharing the printer

This section describes how to share the printer on a standard Windows network.

The computers on a network can share a printer that is directly connected to one of them. The computer that is directly connected to the printer is the printer server, and the other computers are the clients which need permission to share the printer with the printer server. The clients share the printer via the printer server.

According to the versions of Windows OS and your access rights on the network, perform the appropriate settings of the printer server and clients.

Setting the printer server

Setting the clients

Note:
  • When sharing the printer, be sure to set EPSON Status Monitor 3 so that the shared printer can be monitored on the printer server and clients. See Setting up EPSON Status Monitor 3.
  • When you are Windows shared printer user in a Windows Me or 98 environment, on the server, double-click the Network icon in Control panel and make sure that the "File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks" component is installed. Then, on the server and clients, make sure that the "IPX/SPX-compatible Protocol" or the "TCP/IP Protocol" is installed.
  • When connecting to a Windows XP shared printer, error and warning notifications do not appear during printing. Installing Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later will solve this problem.
  • When connecting to a shared printer beyond a router, error and warning notification for shared printers during printing is not available in some cases because of the router's settings.
  • The printer server and clients should be set on the same network system, and they should be under the same network management beforehand.
  • The on-screen displays on the following pages may differ depending on the version of Windows OS.


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Setting up your printer as a shared printer

With Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, or Windows NT 4.0

When the printer server's OS is Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, or Windows NT 4.0, follow these steps to set the printer server.

Note:
You must access as the Administrators of the local machine.

For a Windows 7 printer server, click Start, and click Devices and Printers.

For a Windows Vista printer server, click Start, click Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then click Printers.

For Windows XP Home Edition printer server, click Start, click Control panel, then click Printers and Faxes.

For a Windows XP Professional printer server, click Start, and click Printers and Faxes.

For a Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 printer server, click Start, point to Settings, and click Printers.

For Windows 7, right-click your printer icon, click Printer Properties, and then click the Sharing tab in the appearing screen.

For Windows Vista, XP, 2000, or Windows NT 4.0, right-click your printer icon, and click Sharing in the menu that appears.

For Windows XP, if the following menu appears, click either Network Setup Wizard or If you understand the security risks but want to share printers without running the wizard, click here.

In either case, follow the on-screen instructions.

For a Windows 7, Vista, or XP printer server, select Share this printer, then type the name in the Share name box and click OK.

For a Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 printer server, select Shared as (for Windows 2000) or Shared (for Windows NT 4.0), then type the name in the Share name box and click OK.

Note:
  • Do not use spaces or hyphens for the share name, or an error may occur.
  • In Windows 7 or Vista, you cannot select share this printer until you click the Change sharing options button.

You need to set the client computers so that they can use the printer on a network. See the following pages for details:

With Windows Me, 98, or 95

When the printer server's OS is Windows Me, 98, or 95 follow these steps to set the printer server.

Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.

Double-click the Network icon.

Click File and Print Sharing on the Configuration menu.

Select the I want to be able to allow others to print to my printer(s). check box, then click OK.

Click OK to accept the settings.

Note:
  • When "Insert the Disk" appears, insert the Windows Me or 98 CD-ROM in the computer. Click OK and then follow the on-screen instructions.
  • When the prompt to restart the computer appears, restart the computer and continue with the settings.

Double-click the Printers icon on the control panel.

Right-click your printer icon, and click Sharing in the menu that appears.

Select Shared As, type the name in the Share Name box, and click OK. Type a Comment and Password if needed.

Note:
  • Do not use spaces or hyphens for the share name, or an error may occur.
  • When sharing the printer, be sure to set EPSON Status Monitor 3 so that the shared printer can be monitored on the printer server. See Setting up EPSON Status Monitor 3.

You need to set the client computers so that they can use the printer on a network. See the following pages for details.

Sharing the printer when the firewall is on

Note:
To share files and printers when Windows Firewall is on, perform the following procedure.

Windows 7

Click Start, click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click Windows Firewall.

Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off in the window on the left. Make sure that Block all incoming connections, including those in the list of allowed programs is not selected, and then click OK.

Click Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall in the window on the left.

Select Share file and printer, and then click OK.

Windows Vista

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

Click Security, and then click Windows Firewall to open the Windows Firewall window.

Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off in the window on the left. When the User Account Control screen is displayed, click Continue.

Make sure that Block all incoming connections is not selected from the General tab.

Open the Exceptions tab, select File and Printer Sharing, and then click OK.

Windows XP

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

Click Security Center.

Click Windows Firewall to open the Windows Firewall window.

Make sure that Don't allow exceptions is not selected from the General tab.

Open the Exceptions tab, select File and Printer Sharing, and then click OK.


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Setting for the clients

This section describes how to install the printer driver by accessing the shared printer on a network.

Note:
  • This section describes how to access the shared printer on a standard network system using the server (Microsoft workgroup). If you cannot access the shared printer due to the network system, ask the administrator of the network for assistance.
  • When you want to use the EPSON Status Monitor 3 at clients, you have to install both of the printer driver and the EPSON Status Monitor 3 in each client.
  • If the printer drivers are not already installed on the client, please install them before performing these settings.

With Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, or Windows NT 4.0

On the Windows Start menu, open the Device and Printers, Printers or Printers and Faxes.

For Windows 7 clients, click Start, and click Devices and Printers.

For Windows Vista clients, click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Printers.

Windows XP Professional clients, click Start and then click Printers and Faxes.

Windows XP Home Edition clients, click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Printers and Faxes.

For Windows NT 4.0 or 2000 clients, click Start, click Settings, and then click Printers.

Right-click the icon for the printer you wish to change the settings for, and then click Properties (Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and Windows NT 4.0) or Printer properties (Windows 7).

Click the Ports tab and then click Add Port.

When the Printer Ports window appears, select Local Port, and then click New Port.

Enter the following information for the port name and then click OK.

\\Name of computer connected to the target printer\name of shared printer

After returning to the Printer Ports window, click Close.

Check that the name you entered for the port has been added and selected, and then click Close.

Note:
If EPSON Status Monitor 3 is installed with the Windows Firewall feature turned on (recommended), the shared printer may not be able to be monitored. This problem can be resolved by adding EEBAgent.exe to Exceptions of the firewall function.

With Windows Me, 98, or 95

On the Windows Start menu, click Settings and then click Printers.

Right-click the icon for the printer you wish to change the settings for, and then click Properties.

Click the Details tab and then click Add Port.

Click Network, enter the following information for Specify the network path to the printer, and then click OK.

\\Name of computer connected to the target printer\name of shared printer

Note:
If you do not know the path to the network printer, click Browse to search for the appropriate printer.

Check that the port name you added is selected for Print to the following port, and then click OK.


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