Setup USB network printer on Windows 11 machine

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quickymart

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#311752 11-Feb-2024 23:41

My son has a new laptop running Windows 11, which I want to setup for him to be able to print documents for school over the network.

The setup goes something like this:

USB printer > plugged into Windows 10 desktop machine > Spark Smart modem > printer shared over network

With my old Vista laptop I recall setting up a USB printer port (or something) and this allowed me to print a document from said laptop, route it through the desktop and the printer would spit it out.

Windows 11 doesn't seem to have this option, and if I try to type in the path manually to the printer I get "Access Denied" - but at the same time I can see the folders that are being shared from the desktop over the network.

Googling hasn't produced much in the way of helpful information so far, and I can't seem to determine what the IP address of the printer might be to try and share it that way, if required.

It's a fairly old one now, an HP LaserJet 1020 but it's perfectly fine for his school assignments, which are mostly text. HP doesn't seem to have drivers for Windows 11 on their site either (I tried installing it directly on his laptop but to no avail).

Anyone had any success setting up one of these with Windows 11? Note that printing from the Vista laptop works fine.

Thanks in advance 🙂

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#3195732 15-Feb-2024 12:46

Anyone know? I can't be the only person with this setup, surely? 😀

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#3195821 15-Feb-2024 13:39

Printing is via the SMB path and any IP address would be that of the machine the printer is connected to.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/101156-add-shared-printer-windows-10-a.html

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quickymart

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#3195869 15-Feb-2024 14:53

Thanks for this, will have a look.

Failing that, is there such a thing as a Windows 11 downgrade kit? ie, you have 11 but want to downgrade to 10 instead? Does such a thing exist?

shrub

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#3195873 15-Feb-2024 14:59

Can the printer be plugged into the USB port on the Router and shared that way?

richms

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#3195876 15-Feb-2024 15:01

shrub:

Can the printer be plugged into the USB port on the Router and shared that way?

That makes its own set of problems as many printers do not use the standard USB printing descriptors because they offload more of the work to the PC, and it also breaks apps like the HP ones that tell you that you need to order more ink etc

Richard rich.ms

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#3195896 15-Feb-2024 15:24

quickymart:

Thanks for this, will have a look.

Failing that, is there such a thing as a Windows 11 downgrade kit? ie, you have 11 but want to downgrade to 10 instead? Does such a thing exist?

Very unlikely to be any functional difference between 10 and 11 re: adding shared printers. Printer wizard interface at least looks the same to me.

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bagheera

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#3195900 15-Feb-2024 15:32

Sound like the printer not shared - on the PC with the printer, got to the printer and get properties, and click on the share tab, then share it, then on the PC with out the printer, add printer and go \\<pc with printer name>\<share name you put in> or most like you will see it with the shared folder after you share it

quickymart

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#3196016 15-Feb-2024 20:38

shrub:

Can the printer be plugged into the USB port on the Router and shared that way?

I don't think that works, this printer is quite old now (2006). Otherwise that's probably what I would do.

quickymart

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#3196017 15-Feb-2024 20:38

bagheera:

Sound like the printer not shared - on the PC with the printer, got to the printer and get properties, and click on the share tab, then share it, then on the PC with out the printer, add printer and go \\<pc with printer name>\<share name you put in> or most like you will see it with the shared folder after you share it

Thanks, but it's definitely setup for sharing - it's been shared using this method previously over the network and worked just fine. It's just this 11 machine that's giving me grief when trying to add it.

lxsw20

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#3196032 15-Feb-2024 21:58

Downgrade rights to Windows 10 is only a thing with Windows 11 Pro (not Home) also why would you move back to an Operating System that is dead next year.

It's very unlikely Windows 11 is the issue.

snj

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#3196043 15-Feb-2024 23:37

Regarding the "Access Denied" does anything show up in the Audit Log in Event Viewer?

One thing that can trip up sharing on Windows these days is Microsoft Accounts, if the printer is shared with your son's Microsoft Account user, you might need to fix the link/cache for it, a bit of detail at https://cmdrkeene.com/remote-desktop-with-microsoft-account-sign-in/ but the crux is to open a command prompt on the Windows 10 machine and do something like:

runas /u:MicrosoftAccount\[email address] winver

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quickymart

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#3196077 16-Feb-2024 08:33

Thanks, that's a good idea, will try that when he's home as he has the laptop with him at school at the moment.

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#3196102 16-Feb-2024 09:20

quickymart:

bagheera:

Sound like the printer not shared - on the PC with the printer, got to the printer and get properties, and click on the share tab, then share it, then on the PC with out the printer, add printer and go \\<pc with printer name>\<share name you put in> or most like you will see it with the shared folder after you share it

Thanks, but it's definitely setup for sharing - it's been shared using this method previously over the network and worked just fine. It's just this 11 machine that's giving me grief when trying to add it.

And if you look at the Security tab does Everyone have print permission???

quickymart

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#3196132 16-Feb-2024 10:58

Spyware:

And if you look at the Security tab does Everyone have print permission???

Just checked that, and yes.

quickymart

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#3484884 27-Apr-2026 21:52

Ahoy, just bumping this thread as now I have a similar issue, although this time around it's kind of in reverse 😁

I finally upgraded the desktop mentioned above to Windows 11 last week, however now my network shared printer isn't working again. Instead of the 1020, I now have an HP Smart Tank 7300 series printer. This was shared under the old desktop OS (Windows 10) and users on my home network could print files with no issues.

However after upgrading to 11, printing from another device (not the desktop) doesn't work. I deleted the printer but now the laptop I'm using can't find the printer. I remember the IP address of the printer needed to be added and setup manually previously so I thought I'd give this a go but to no avail. The help files for the printer are useless.

Can someone please point me in the direction of a step-by-step of adding a network printer on Windows 11 when it's not being detected automatically?

Edit/update: I figured it out in the end, had to install HP's "Smart" application on the laptop, which is a nuisance as I was trying to avoid doing that, but I couldn't find anywhere to just download the drivers and be done with it. All seems to be working now.

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