Peer to Peer Printing on a Windows 2000 Server Network

[Gordie]

We have a number of Windows XP Client workstations that use peer to peer printing on a Windows 2000 Server network. One client has a printer attached to it and set up in share mode so 8 or 10 clients can print to it. We have found however that since installing new Windows XP clients the share print facility doesn't work. In other words... when users login to a client workstation they don't get access to the shared printer. It works fine if I login as administrator. User profiles have not changed. Anyone have any ideas?

[alan-d]

This may sound obvious - but do you switch on the PC with printer attached on first?

If you don't the XP dosn't find it until the other PCs are rebooted.

[Geoff]

10 connection limit to XP clients. You're probably hitting it because the new machines are trying to install the printer drivers. Install them manually youself.

I personally try to avoid hanging printers off client PCs. It causes a lot of hassle. Can you not avoid it?

[andy]

£40 for a print server, £55 - you can have a wireless one!



Andy.

[mark]

Can't you increase the connection limit in XP? - He says it's only 8 to 10 PC's anyway.

[Geoff]

No. hard coded in by MS to stop you turning workstations into servers and depriving them of Windows Server licenses.

Buy a print server box, or use a computer running a server OS to act as a printer server (w2k, w2k3, linux, etc) is my recommendation.

[Ric_]

No. hard coded in by MS to stop you turning workstations into servers and depriving them of Windows Server licenses.

Rather ironic really that a Select license for server is less than an OEM XP Pro license

[DMcCoy]

I think that one machine can also use more than one of the connection limits, I can't ever remember getting 10 to work at once. I know NT4 / 2000 licensing server is broken (you might notice that it is disabled by default in 2003). I once had 30 machines using 70-80 licenses.

[nuttygeek]

@andy what make printer servers do you use for £40 and £55 ? I have used D-Link and the hp jetadmin ones that come when you get a network printer from hp.

[andy]

Netgear USB

3Com Wireless - not actually used it wireless - but it's there if we want to



Andy.

[Frazer]

There is a little hack where you replace tcpip.sys (with a hacked version) and it increases the the total simultaneous connections to 100
Not quite sure of the legal side to it but..
Ill find the link

[ChrisH]

I came accross that file as well while browsing sites that deal with slipstreaming all service packs and patches into source files.

[Frazer]

Yep thats right. www.msfn.org is one I found to be quite good.
The only problem is they all seem to talk about patching it before you install windows. Maybe you could replace the file in safe mode (non networking)
http://unattended.msfn.org/advanced/hackedfiles/tcp.htm has 2 links at the bottom for tcpip.sys - I think this is os ver depandant so you may have to patch your original file instead of using one of these.
Make backups!

[Geoff]

Not quite sure of the legal side to it but..

Same as the GINA patches. Its a breach of the EULA. So All your MS licenses get terminated. It's also copyright violation, these days thats a criminal offence carrying up to a 10 year prison sentence and an unlimited fine.