wireless print server, way off topic.

[smartmart]

Hi guys, can any of you computer techs help me out here? I have two laptops, one running winme the other winxp. I have a wireless belkin router and a wireless belkin print server. Both lappies are wifi enabled. Now the problem!!!! My winme works fine and prints lovely. The printer drivers stay in the control panel even though the printer is not directly connected. My winxp seems to delete the drivers when i disconnect the printer and re-installs when I connect the printer. Therefore, not being able to print to the wireless print server. I have spent 3 long hard hours on the phone to belkin tech support. They say "hmm, that shouldnt happen". Well I bloody know that. They take me through all the ADD ports fiasco, and re-install the print server, turn off firewall /anti-virus etc. Nothing seems to work. So my shiney new winxp laptop can't hold the drivers for the printer when it is not directly connected. I believe it could be down to the WINDOWS FOUND NEW HARDWARE device, because when i connect the printer it whizzes and whurrs, then says" hardware is ready to use". Can anybody please give some ideas, maybe to isolate the FOUND NEW HARDWARE device or just simply tell me how to overcome this..regards Martin, surrey.

[rovingcowboy]

this xp did the same thing for my remote mp3 player drives i think when it happend i just told the found new hardware to add it. as it has not done it so long ago i can not remember but it does not do it anymore.

so maybe xp just needs a check mark from the found new hardware program?

[smartmart]

Thanks roving....I did initially install the software for the printer.Then the software for the server.When xp tried to add it too, I initially cancelled it, allowing only the dedicated software. So when all went bad, I let windows install it just to see. But unfortunately for me, it didnt work, the printer still went AWOL when disconnected.

[junglemonkey]

try the old trick of turning off the bibi function of the printer. see if that works.

i don't know of anything else to try so some one else will have to help if that does not work sorry.?



roving cowboy / keith hall.

[smartmart]

try the old trick of turning off the bibi function of the printer. see if that works.

i don't know of anything else to try so some one else will have to help if that does not work sorry.?



roving cowboy / keith hall.

I would try that !!!! what's the old trick ? the bibi ?

[rovingcowboy]

sorry about that i mis typed that. it is bidi. and according to the old printers if it had bidi drivers and it did not responed you could turn off
the bidi driver option and it would then respond.

bidi drivers let the information go both ways turning them off lets the info only go to the printer.

but according to the help i have for the printer i got it says the bidi drivers can mess up other things too.

you also might want to check the date of manufacture on the printer if it was older then when xp came out then you need to update your drivers from the manufacture of the printer if they bothered to make new xp drivers for it. some just blew off the old printers and made new ones since it was easier to make a new printer then to redo the drivers to work with xp.

for some reason HP comes to mind as one of the companys that scrapped their old printers when xp came out. but there were more then just one company doing it there were about 5 printer companys doing it then.

so if you have an old made before xp was released printer and you can't get updated drivers for it your out of luck you need to buy a new printer.

[smartmart]

sorry about that i mis typed that. it is bidi. and according to the old printers if it had bidi drivers and it did not responed you could turn off
the bidi driver option and it would then respond.

bidi drivers let the information go both ways turning them off lets the info only go to the printer.

but according to the help i have for the printer i got it says the bidi drivers can mess up other things too.

you also might want to check the date of manufacture on the printer if it was older then when xp came out then you need to update your drivers from the manufacture of the printer if they bothered to make new xp drivers for it. some just blew off the old printers and made new ones since it was easier to make a new printer then to redo the drivers to work with xp.

for some reason HP comes to mind as one of the companys that scrapped their old printers when xp came out. but there were more then just one company doing it there were about 5 printer companys doing it then.

so if you have an old made before xp was released printer and you can't get updated drivers for it your out of luck you need to buy a new printer.

Thanks for the reply Roving..
Maybe I wasnt clear to begin with.!!
The printer is two years old.Well within xp days.
The printer works fine if it's connected via USB to the xp laptop. But when I disconnect the printer and plug it into the print server, the drivers disappear. In other words, if I check what printers I have in control panel-printers, faxes, there is no printer.Although its installed and works great if I unplug the USB cable from the print server and plug the printer directly to the xp machine.

[rovingcowboy]

then the only thing i can think of is that the printer server can't understand the drivers for that printer or the printer can't understand the printer servers drivers. some things just don't like to talk to each other.

you might end up having to write your own driver to make them talk.?

unless you can check drivers.com and see if you can find one there that will make it work?

[paulmt]

Does your wifi network see the print server, should this have it's own unique address?