Printer

Can anyone tell me how I can get my printer which is on my other computer via an USB cable to my new computer. Old one using XP this one Windoze 7, it is not on Wi Fi only on cables. Ethernet to the modem but UB to the old machine for the printer
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Computers are on home network yet printer is not on network it goes via a usb cable to my old comp
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On the machine with the printer installed (Windows XP I believe you said), click Start -> Devices and Printers then right click on the printer and select "Sharing..." Give the printer a unique name for the network.

On the machine that needs access to the network printer (Windows 7), click on Start -> Devices and Printers. Up near the top there should be a button that reads "Add a printer", click on that. Then click on "Add a network printer ..." If the printer shows up in the list, go ahead and select it and let Windows install a driver for it. If the printer does not show up in the list, select "The printer that I want isn't listed" which allows you to manually type in the shared printer name in the form of:

\\[windows xp machine name]\[unique name you gave printer]

The double backslash is required. Enter the machine name for your Windows XP machine and the printer name in the appropriate places. An example would be:

\\MyXPmachine\HPInkJet

Note that sharing files and printers from XP to Windows 7 can be problematic since Microsoft changed the way sharing works on Windows Vista and 7. Vista and 7 don't like to see shared resources from XP easily. You may also have to manually install a Windows 7 compatible driver on the Windows 7 machine, and some drivers don't allow for network installs.

To find the Windows XP machine name, click on Start then right click on My Computer and go to Properties. Click on the Computer Name tab and look for a line that reads "Full computer name". Use this name in the example above if you have to manually type the machine and printer name.

Hope that helps.

trouble is now I have lost network this machine only shows this one, I clicked on homegroup and now there is no network between the two so any ideas of how to fix this
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sorted out my network but not printer yet.
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Having trouble with the driver windows cannot update so it looks like I cannot use the printer because of the driver
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I've never seen an XP + 7 network work properly with Homegroup.

Can't help with your problems if you don't tell me what is/isn't working.

Did you get any errors with any of the procedures I outlined? Could the Win7 machine not see the printer? What part failed?

It sees the printer but I have got trouble with the driver for the printer with 7
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Does the printer have a Win7 compatible driver?

No that is the problem it only has an XP one on the disc I got when I brought it new a few years ago and the UPdater cannot find anything and when I try to search on the Disc It seems that it cannot find anything that will help it. SO I have decided to do it the ild way of moving things from one computer to the other. Thansk got you help
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Have you tried searching the manufacturer's website for a Win7 driver?

No will try it later I am closing this now
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