Okay, I found a solution. I'm posting it to help others.

Logically it makes no sense to me, but it worked so...

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

ChooseAdd a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name. Type in the //computer name/printer name ie. My computer's name is basement and the printer name is EpsonSty so I typed in \\basement\epsonsty

Yahoo! It worked. Go figure! Hope this helps someone else so they don't spend the hours I did on it!

 

Oops! I realized I made a typo: Here is the corrected version:

I found a solution. Logically it makes no sense to me, but it worked so...

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

ChooseAdd a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name. Type in the \\computer name\printer name ie. My computer's name is basement and the printer name is EpsonSty so I typed in \\basement\epsonsty

Yahoo! It worked. Go figure! I guess Microsoft thinks printers on a intranet are local.

Hope this helps someone else so they don't spend the hours I did on it!

 

I randomly googled this specific problem and luckily found this site. This solution worked like a charm. Thanks so much

 

Your welcome!

 

Thanks very much for sharing your experience. You've saved me a huge amount of time with my first experience with Vista (using a client as the guinea pig).

This is obviously a bug in Vista. Let's see how long it will be before Microsoft fixes it.

 

Thanks for posting your solution. I was stuck for a while. With XP I always added printers attached to other computers as a network printer so I was thrown when I had to add it as a local printer by its network name.
I really find some of Vista's features and security a little over the top and inconsistent at times.

 

Dude your a genius, cheers... boo to vista and HP. this just took me 4 hours to find your post, worked in 30 seconds!!! thanks!!!

 

Worked like a dream - fantastic

 

ok, Im hoping that you can help. I have been trying to network a vista laptop and an xp pc. I have managed to do the file sharing bit and am now stuck with the printer sharing. I have been able to install the printer (I have tried as both a local and a network) but I am unabke to access it. All i get is an error message saying "Access Denied".

Any ideas?

 

Matt21, have you tried to add the printer? Or were you just viewing it as part of the network when you tried to connect. Try adding it via the control panel >> printers procedure.

 

Yes, I have tried adding it in that way, but to no avail.

If I try to add it in that way, I go to Add printer, and then I have tried both as a local printer and as a network printer.

When I try local computer, I use the \\computersname\printer name port, and it is installed. However when you try to print it says - Problem Communicating with the Printer.

When I try to add it as a network printer, it performs a search and picks up the printer. I lik next and its says it is connecting to the printer. Have a few minutes it says, "Windows cannot access the printer. Operation could not be completed. (Error 0x0000000d)"

If I try to drag it accross the network it comes up with the same message, "Windows cannot access the printer. Operation could not be completed. (Error 0x0000000d)"Im completly stuck with this,

Matt

 

I'm also having the "problem communicating with the printer" issue with vista laptop trying to use printer on xp pc over network.

Got past the Access Denied problem following above instructions, but now when I try to print, Lexmark voice informs me that there is a problem communicating with the printer.

Any thoughts on what to try?

 

Since this thread is marked "Solved", you guys might consider starting a new thread.

-Is the printer shared on the XP machine?
-Are you using accounts with passwords? If so, they have to be the same name/password on both PC's.
-When the printer installed initially, did Vista go out and find drivers for it?

When I figured out the above, Vista downloaded drivers from Windows Update and then it gave me a dialogue box to print a test page. And I'm not using accounts with passwords either.

 

I too randomly googled my network printer issue (after hours of frustration), and thanks to you the solution worked. Thanks for posting your solution.

 

Thanks Melonhead. A good Sumaritan named Unbidden, referred me to this thread.

Let me add a few notes while this is fresh on my mind:
If you stop after adding the printer as 'local', it won't work, but that step seems to be necessary to prpoerly install the right printer driver. After completing the procedure, you must go back and add the printer as 'connected to another computer'.

 

My problem was I couldn't print to my shared printer, not that I couldn't access it. However the printer in my Vista "printers' was set up as a network printer not a local printer. Even though the port was named correctly i.e. \\host name\prineter name, and Vista said it was sending the files to the printer it was not.

I went thru the "add printer"/"new port"/"local Port"/"Port name/Printer name" and by GOD it worked.
I was seeing the printer installed on my XP machine in Vista Printers. It said it was the printer I was sharing from my XP machine. But some how I wasn't really connecting to it with Vista.
When I added the new printer on a local port and named the new port Vista recognized it and I could then print to it.
So I deleted the original shared network printer from Vista "printers" so that only one prinetr shows up and all is still well.

Thanks to MELONHEAD above all for his solution and many thanks to all on this site who was involved!

This problem was also resolved by Melonhead's solution on another thread called "Can't connect to network printer from Vista". with a reference to this thread.

 

Great find, man! thanks!

 

Great! Many thanks!! this solved a problem on which I spent a whole day before starting to Google.