How to share printer in Windows 7 and access through XP

     To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and Printers from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon.



Next double click on “Customize your printer”.



      In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name.



      To find the shared printer double click on the Windows 7 machine icon under Network.  Here you can see the printer connected to your Windows 7 machine and also the Users Folder.



Setup XP With Shared Printer

To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Start menu and click Run.




Type the computer name of your WINDOWS 7 be sure to put two slash (look at my sample below)




Now as you can see the printer, right click the printer and click connect.



Your done. You can now print for a network printer.



      In some cases you will need to install the XP drivers for the shared printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with XP.  When everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the shared printer.