point and print (XP)

[patmoore]

I have a 2-computer network with a Dell running Windows XP and a homebuilt computer running Win98. I thought all I needed to do to access the Dell printer connected to the XP machine over the network was to drag the icon into the printer window on the W98 machine and "Point and Print" would pick up the appropriate drivers, which I loaded on the XP machine when I installed the printer. Instead, I'm being prompted to choose a printer or load a disc. The Dell printer is shared, and works fine on the Dell XP machine. What's wrong?

[DaveA]

On the XP machine the Printer needs to be shared. On the 98 machine you need to go to "Control Panel, Printers and Fax" and then select "Add Printer" select "Networked" and follow the instructions.
Hope this helps.

[patmoore]

I shared the printer and selected control panel, printers on the 98 machine. add printer/networked opend a wizard, and it asked for a disk. I went to browse, and could select network, but I don't know where the 98 drivers are stored on the XP machine. I selected the option to load the 95/98 drivers when I installed the printer on the XP computer, but have no idea where they are located (or even what they're named). Still no luck. Before, I installed the drivers on the 98 machine off the disk, but it didn't work properly - put a line in slant mode in the middle of each page.

[DaveA]

Normally the OS will as if you want to copy drivers from the shared computer and I will use them. Most of the print drivers for XP will work for 98, Me and 2K.

[StuartR]

You need to load the Windows 98 drivers.

If you will have many different Windows 98 systems connecting to this printer, or you are likely to have to reinstall your Windows 98 PC often, then you can add the Windows 98 drivers to the Windows XP system. On the Printer Properties dialog box, go to the Sharing tab and click the "Additional Drivers" button. This will allow you to load the Windows 98 drivers so that whenever a Windows 98 system tries to connect it can be given the drivers it wants.

StuartR

[patmoore]

Thanks for the help, folks, but it looks pretty hopeless. I tried to load the Win98 drivers on the XP machine, but it kept telling me they weren't on the disk, so I called Dell and discovered that the A940 doesn't support Win98. I put my older Lexmark printer back into the system and tried that. When that wouldn't work, I emailed Lexmark and they responded that they don't support mixing operating systems for sharing because the Lexmark 5150 is "a host based printer that uses an operating system dependent datastream. This datastream will be different for different versions of Windows." According to them, the only way I can use the printer on a win98 computer is to devote it exclusively to that computer. They also suggested that I could hook it up through a TCP/IP adapter, but then I lose the 5150's scan and fax functions because they're not supported over TCP/IP. I guess we'll just have to move documents to the XP machine for printing until I can afford to upgrade the other computer. I can't get XP to run on it--it's a PIII 450 with 128 Megs of memory, and kept stopping when I installed XP.

[DaveA]

I ran XP on a PIII 450 with 128 Megs for a while then upgraded the memory to 256 and it ran well for a couple years for me. It now is in Kansas with my step son and is still running well.

[patmoore]

I tried to take it up to 256 with a chip from a friend, and it returned memory errors. We couldn't get the errors on any other computer. The single 128 chip has been working fine. It was a mess when I put XP on it, but I don't know if it was the memory chip or the operating system. I'd put XP on the box if I could get up to 256. Any memory advice?

[DaveA]

How many memory slots is in your machine?

What size of stick do you now have?
Found that it works best to have the same speed as the one that is in there now.

[patmoore]

It's at home, I'm at the office. I'll rip in there and see tonight. Haven't looked in there for so long I've forgotten the details.