Sharing Printers and Folders

Section 1:

A. To begin the sharing process you must first create user account on the host machine.

  1. Open user manager
  2. Select User - Add New User
  3. Enter a User name and a Password
  4. Uncheck the "User must change password at net login" box
  5. Check the "User cannot change password" and "Password never expires" boxes
  6. Click the Groups button
  7. Add the user to the "Guest" group, Remove the user from the "Users" group
  8. Close the User Manager application

B. You must also know your computer name. Below are the steps to find the name if you are unsure:

  1. Right click on the Network Neighborhood Icon and select Properties
  2. Your computer name is shown under the Identification tab.
  3. Click CANCEL

 

Section 2:  To share a printer:

A. While installing a new printer:

  1. Under the Start Menu select Settings then Printers
  2. Double click ADD NEW PRINTER
  3. Check the "My Computer" option and select next
  4. Select "LPT1" under port options
  5. Select the appropriate options for the Manufacturer and Model for your printer
  6. If your printer isn't listed you may need to get the correct drivers from the manufacturers Web Site.
  7. If you are prompted to "replace current drivers" choose Keep existing drivers (recommended)
  8. Give the printer a local name
  9. If you want this printer to be your default printer select YES when prompted (If you are prompted to insert the Windows NT 4.0 CD at this point, you can map to \\banshee\passwd and select the I38640\I386 directory.)
  10. In the printer sharing dialog select Shared As: and give the printer a share name. (It is best to keep this simple and use only one word. You will need to remember this later.)
  11. When prompted to print a test page select YES. If the test page prints the printer was installed successfully.

B. Sharing an existing printer:

  1. Select Printers under the Settings section of the start menu
  2. Select the printer you wish to share
  3. Right click on the selected printer icon and select Sharing
  4. In the printer sharing dialog select Shared As: and give the printer a share name. (It is best to keep this simple and use only one word You will need to remember this later.)
  5. Click OK

C. On the client machine:

  1. Open Notepad
  2. Without quotes type "Echo Off"
  3. Without quotes type "Net Use LPT1 \\wwwwww\xxxxxxx yyyyyyy /user:zzzzzzzz"
  4. wwwww = machine name (obtained in step 1)
  5. xxxxxxx = share name ( name you gave the SHARE in section 2)
  6. yyyyyy = (password for the user created in section 1)
  7. zzzzzzz = (user name for the user created in section 1)
  8. Select File and save as...
  9. Enclose the file name in quotes and give it an extension of .bat (i.e. "print.bat")
  10. Double click the .bat file to be sure it works.
  11. Under the Start Menu select Settings then Printers
  12. Double click Add New Printer
  13. Check the "Network Printer" option and select Next
  14. Type \\wwwwwww\xxxxxxxxx in the network printer box. (wwwwwww = machine name where the printer is connected, xxxxxxxx = share name of the printer.)
  15. Click Next
  16. If you want the shared printer to be the default select Yes when prompted.
  17. Select Yes when prompted to print a test page. If the test page prints the shared printer was installed successfully.
  18. When prompted to print a test page select Yes. If the test page prints the printer was installed successfully.

 

Section 3:  Sharing folders

A. On the host machine:

  1. Create a folder
  2. Right click the folder and select Sharing
  3. Select Share this folder
  4. Give the folder a share name (It is best to keep this simple and use only one word. You will need to remember this later.)
  5. Select either User Limit or Maximum Allowed.
  6. If you want to restrict the folder to read only click the Permissions button. Change the permissions for Everybody to READ ONLY. Click OK.
  7. Click OK

B. On the client machine:

  1. Open Notepad
  2. Without quotes type "Echo Off"
  3. Without quotes type "Net Use v: \\wwwwww\xxxxxxx yyyyyyy /user:zzzzzzzz"

    v: = could be any unused drive letter from G-Z followed by a colon (:)

    wwwww = machine name (obtained in step 1)

    xxxxxxx = share name ( name you gave the SHARE in section 2)

    yyyyyy = (password for the user created in section 1)

    zzzzzzz = (user name for the user created in section 1)

  4. Select File and Save as...
  5. Enclose the file name in quotes and give it an extension of .bat (i.e. "print.bat")
  6. Double click the .bat file to be sure it works.
  7. Open MY COMPUTER. The share you connected to should be listed in that window.
  8. Copy the .bat file to the startup folder in the start menu.

 

Created by the Workstation Support Group
Last updated 2-April-01