Using printer connected to Mac

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I have a PC with Windows 98 SE and a new Mac with OS X. They are both connected to a router and use DSL to connect to the Internet. That part all works fine. The HP printer that I had on the PC I now have connected to my Mac. How do I get the PC to print to the printer now? I figure I must have to set up some kind of network to get the PC to look for the printer in its new place, but I’m now sure what or how. Anybody have any ideas?

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Charlie, when you say they’re connected to the router, I would assume you’ve completed the process of networking the two computers, huh? I don’t know diddly about a Mac but it looks like you’re got to go into the Mac’s “sharing” and make the printer a shared device. If you don’t know how, we’ll get a Lounge Mac user in here to direct you.

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Well…..I don’t think they’re really networked, yet, although they theoretically are. On the PC, when I go to Network Neighborhood, the PC doesn’t see any computers at all — not even itself. So I guess that means that TCP/IP is working, since the PC can see the Internet (as can the Mac), but there’s something rotten in Denmark somewhere, since the most basic networking is missing. This may well be because, in my desperate attempt to make this work, I randomly changed settings in the network window and other places. (sigh)
The Mac appears to be all set. I’ve configured it for printer sharing, and it’s happy. I don’t know, however, how to make the Mac look for the PC, so I don’t know if there’s more to do on that end.
Any ideas? Thanks so much!!!

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In addition to the tip from Chris have a look at this. Tip #2 “2. Other users can

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Thanks Chris and Bowlie,
Well, I’ve made some progress, but I’m still stymied. Now the Mac can see the PC and the PC can see the Mac. In addition, from the Mac I can connect to the PC by using the PC’s IP address, entering the PC username and password, and then mounting the PC’s C drive on my Mac. Then I can see all the files on the PC.

But from the other direction, when I go to the PC and open Network Neighborhood and double click on the Mac Icon, I get a window entitled Enter Network Password. This window has two lines: the top one says Resource: EMACIPC$ and the next line says Password:, followed by the ubiquitous textbox into which I am supposed to enter the password. This window does not ask for a username. No matter what I put in as a password, when I hit OK, it tells me “Incorrect Password. Please try again.” I’ve tried my Mac password, my PC password, the word “password”, the word “admin”, and leaving it blank. No luck.

According to the article you referred me to, the usernames for the two computers have to be the same, so I tried that, and still no luck. My PC contacts say the PC is set up correctly, and they don’t know what password the Mac needs. Apple says that the Mac is set up correctly, and the problem is with the PC. (!)

I’m leaning towards believing that this is a Microsoft problem. Somewhere there’s a Network Password I’m supposed to put in to satisfy Microsoft, but I don’t know what it is or where to get it. I have tried deleting all the *.pwl files and starting over fresh with a new (same as Mac) username and a new password, but still no luck.

All I get from either Windows or Mac people is finger pointing! No solutions! I have even thought of simply moving the printer up to the PC and accessing it from the Mac, but the room with the PC is too small to fit the printer in it.

It seems to me that the solution shouldn’t have to be house-unheaval. There must be a simple way to figure out what password is needed.

Help! Help!

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Hi Charlie,

Did some more looking at the Mac Support site. I found this gem here which might be a clue. [indent]

---

For users of Windows 98: If you log in to Windows 98 with a username, make sure it matches your Mac OS X account’s short name. If you do not log in to Windows 98 with a username, you will need to create a new Windows 98 username that matches the account short name in Mac OS X.

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[/indent]As you may know the short name is the same name as your ‘Home’ folder and while it may be the same as your user name, it often isn’t. You cannot change the short name on your Mac (it would be a very bad idea to even try). It probably is easier to change the username in W98.

Although I use both OS X and Windows, I don’t have the two networked, so I am running out of ideas. If the above doesn’t work I can recommend the Apple Discussions at http://discussions.info.apple.com/%5B/url%5D.

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Hi Charlie,

Did some more looking at the Mac Support site. I found this gem here which might be a clue. [indent]

---

For users of Windows 98: If you log in to Windows 98 with a username, make sure it matches your Mac OS X account’s short name. If you do not log in to Windows 98 with a username, you will need to create a new Windows 98 username that matches the account short name in Mac OS X.

---

[/indent]As you may know the short name is the same name as your ‘Home’ folder and while it may be the same as your user name, it often isn’t. You cannot change the short name on your Mac (it would be a very bad idea to even try). It probably is easier to change the username in W98.

Although I use both OS X and Windows, I don’t have the two networked, so I am running out of ideas. If the above doesn’t work I can recommend the Apple Discussions at http://discussions.info.apple.com/%5B/url%5D.

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Charlie,
A little more searching has led me to conclude that, while networking a PC to a Mac is fairly straight forward, being able to print from a PC to a USB printer connected to a Mac can be a bit of a challenge (but you knew that, didn’t you). I’ve found thiswhich explains the challenges and some possible solutions. Good luck!

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Charlie,
A little more searching has led me to conclude that, while networking a PC to a Mac is fairly straight forward, being able to print from a PC to a USB printer connected to a Mac can be a bit of a challenge (but you knew that, didn’t you). I’ve found thiswhich explains the challenges and some possible solutions. Good luck!

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One last comment. You may find it easier to connect the HP printer to your network, via the router. That may be an easier solution (but will probably involve some expense). Try the HP web-site or the Networking your Home forum here maybe of some help.

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Yes, after reading the last article you linked, I think that connecting from the PC to a USB printer on the Mac is more daunting than I can stand. Of course, since I can mount the PC C drive onto my Mac, I can print things by simply opening the PC files on my Mac and then printing. It’s cumbersome, but since the PC is used by my teenage son, he’ll have to deal with it, not me!

It still seems like it should be easier, but we are talking about Microsoft, after all. What else should I expect?

Thanks for the help!

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shhhhh. You don’t want to get caught saying things like that in this lounge Even if it is true.

And I’ve heard a lot of good things about the new MS Office (for the Mac). I just can’t afford the CHF500 ($400) for the upgrade!

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By the by, I got my eMac for $799 and MS Office for the Mac for an additional $149. So for less than $1,000 I have a complete system! And of course, the Mac doesn’t need things like virus protection, since viruses don’t work on the Mac. Add on the attractive fact that Kazaa and Napster also don’t work on Mac — my son hates this feature as much as I love it — and I’m a pretty happy camper, outside of this annoying printer thing.

Cheers,

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As you may know there are three versions of Office 2004 for the Mac. The following are the retail prices in the USA and

Office 2004 USD400 CHF779 (USD631)
Upgrade USD240 CHF439 (USD356)
Student USD150 CHF249 (USD201)

The US price doesn’t include tax (if anyone pays it) but the Swiss price does include our 5.6% VAT. But still this doesn’t justify a 50% higher price. MS can just wait a few decades before I pony up hard cash for a fairly minor upgrade. I saw in a recent post somebody had found Office for the PC for $25 or so for a CD only OEM version.

Be careful – there are no virus for OS X in the wild at the moment, but they are possible. Keep your ports closed tight (System Preferences –> Sharing –> Firewall) and be careful when you are prompted to enter your admin password to install new software, or to run new software for the first time.

If you haven’t already done so, set up a user profile for your son if he uses your Mac at all. (and don’t tell him your admin password). That way you get to veto any new software he wants to install – and there are Kazaa type programmes for the Mac.

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Thanks for the virus tip. I’ll make sure Firewall is checked.

My son does have his own user name and he doesn’t know mine, but he’s so happy to have a computer in his room, he hasn’t noticed yet that he can’t get on the Mac. He also doesn’t seem to have noticed that this networking problem means that I can see everything on his computer, but he can’t see anything on mine. (!) Wonder how long that will last…

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Thanks for the virus tip. I’ll make sure Firewall is checked.

My son does have his own user name and he doesn’t know mine, but he’s so happy to have a computer in his room, he hasn’t noticed yet that he can’t get on the Mac. He also doesn’t seem to have noticed that this networking problem means that I can see everything on his computer, but he can’t see anything on mine. (!) Wonder how long that will last…

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By the by, I got my eMac for $799 and MS Office for the Mac for an additional $149. So for less than $1,000 I have a complete system! And of course, the Mac doesn’t need things like virus protection, since viruses don’t work on the Mac. Add on the attractive fact that Kazaa and Napster also don’t work on Mac — my son hates this feature as much as I love it — and I’m a pretty happy camper, outside of this annoying printer thing.

Cheers,

Reply | Quote

shhhhh. You don’t want to get caught saying things like that in this lounge Even if it is true.

And I’ve heard a lot of good things about the new MS Office (for the Mac). I just can’t afford the CHF500 ($400) for the upgrade!

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I’m not sure if you’re willing to spend a few dollars for this, but there is an option to purchase a hardware device to hook the printer directly to the network. This device from Linksys would do the job. I however, have no experience with these devices, to say how well they work.

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Thanks, Chris. Although for the money (~$85) I can buy a whole nother printer for my son’s computer to use!

I do have a few more tricks to try before I give up completely, like downloading all the service patches and making the passwords for the 2 machines match, so there’s still some room for experimentation. I did get referred to an article specifically about getting a PC to print to a printer on a Mac, but it had lots of technical details (something about SAMBA, for example) with which I was unfamiliar. The article says that without downloading specialized code and stuff, there’s no way to make the connection work.

It’s discouraging. But once my tolerance for aggravation increases again, I might try it all out.

Thanks,

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Thanks, Chris. Although for the money (~$85) I can buy a whole nother printer for my son’s computer to use!

I do have a few more tricks to try before I give up completely, like downloading all the service patches and making the passwords for the 2 machines match, so there’s still some room for experimentation. I did get referred to an article specifically about getting a PC to print to a printer on a Mac, but it had lots of technical details (something about SAMBA, for example) with which I was unfamiliar. The article says that without downloading specialized code and stuff, there’s no way to make the connection work.

It’s discouraging. But once my tolerance for aggravation increases again, I might try it all out.

Thanks,

Reply | Quote

I’m not sure if you’re willing to spend a few dollars for this, but there is an option to purchase a hardware device to hook the printer directly to the network. This device from Linksys would do the job. I however, have no experience with these devices, to say how well they work.

Reply | Quote

Yes, after reading the last article you linked, I think that connecting from the PC to a USB printer on the Mac is more daunting than I can stand. Of course, since I can mount the PC C drive onto my Mac, I can print things by simply opening the PC files on my Mac and then printing. It’s cumbersome, but since the PC is used by my teenage son, he’ll have to deal with it, not me!

It still seems like it should be easier, but we are talking about Microsoft, after all. What else should I expect?

Thanks for the help!

Reply | Quote

One last comment. You may find it easier to connect the HP printer to your network, via the router. That may be an easier solution (but will probably involve some expense). Try the HP web-site or the Networking your Home forum here maybe of some help.

Reply | Quote

Thanks Chris and Bowlie,
Well, I’ve made some progress, but I’m still stymied. Now the Mac can see the PC and the PC can see the Mac. In addition, from the Mac I can connect to the PC by using the PC’s IP address, entering the PC username and password, and then mounting the PC’s C drive on my Mac. Then I can see all the files on the PC.

But from the other direction, when I go to the PC and open Network Neighborhood and double click on the Mac Icon, I get a window entitled Enter Network Password. This window has two lines: the top one says Resource: EMACIPC$ and the next line says Password:, followed by the ubiquitous textbox into which I am supposed to enter the password. This window does not ask for a username. No matter what I put in as a password, when I hit OK, it tells me “Incorrect Password. Please try again.” I’ve tried my Mac password, my PC password, the word “password”, the word “admin”, and leaving it blank. No luck.

According to the article you referred me to, the usernames for the two computers have to be the same, so I tried that, and still no luck. My PC contacts say the PC is set up correctly, and they don’t know what password the Mac needs. Apple says that the Mac is set up correctly, and the problem is with the PC. (!)

I’m leaning towards believing that this is a Microsoft problem. Somewhere there’s a Network Password I’m supposed to put in to satisfy Microsoft, but I don’t know what it is or where to get it. I have tried deleting all the *.pwl files and starting over fresh with a new (same as Mac) username and a new password, but still no luck.

All I get from either Windows or Mac people is finger pointing! No solutions! I have even thought of simply moving the printer up to the PC and accessing it from the Mac, but the room with the PC is too small to fit the printer in it.

It seems to me that the solution shouldn’t have to be house-unheaval. There must be a simple way to figure out what password is needed.

Help! Help!

Reply | Quote

In addition to the tip from Chris have a look at this. Tip #2 “2. Other users can

Reply | Quote

Well…..I don’t think they’re really networked, yet, although they theoretically are. On the PC, when I go to Network Neighborhood, the PC doesn’t see any computers at all — not even itself. So I guess that means that TCP/IP is working, since the PC can see the Internet (as can the Mac), but there’s something rotten in Denmark somewhere, since the most basic networking is missing. This may well be because, in my desperate attempt to make this work, I randomly changed settings in the network window and other places. (sigh)
The Mac appears to be all set. I’ve configured it for printer sharing, and it’s happy. I don’t know, however, how to make the Mac look for the PC, so I don’t know if there’s more to do on that end.
Any ideas? Thanks so much!!!

Reply | Quote

Charlie, when you say they’re connected to the router, I would assume you’ve completed the process of networking the two computers, huh? I don’t know diddly about a Mac but it looks like you’re got to go into the Mac’s “sharing” and make the printer a shared device. If you don’t know how, we’ll get a Lounge Mac user in here to direct you.

Reply | Quote

I did a quick google search, and found this website on the Apple website.

Any help for you? I have no idea if it’s helpful.

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I did a quick google search, and found this website on the Apple website.

Any help for you? I have no idea if it’s helpful.

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