Printer Problem on Home Network - Not Printing from One Computer

Hi all,

I'm going to do my best to describe what's wrong here - I usually find myself a competent computer user but this problem has me completely stumped and I'm hoping someone can help!

Background info: I have a desktop computer and a laptop at home. The desktop is connected via CAT5 to the modem. The laptop is connected to the same modem and the same network, but via a wireless signal. Both desktop and laptop are Windows 7 Home Premium x64. Both desktop and laptop belong to the same homegroup/workgroup. It is possible to see shared files between the computers no problem. File sharing is enabled on both computers and works normally.

So far, so good. However, I am unable to print from my laptop in a very peculiar way. I'll simply say what goes on (rather than attempt to analyse) so you can judge for yourself:

When I print from the desktop: Print job goes into print queue. I am able to see the document in the print queue, on both the desktop and laptop (i.e. Laptop detects the correct printer and sees there's a document queued). Document prints as expected, and disappears from queue.

When I print from the laptop: Print job goes into print queue on laptop only - Only the laptop sees the document in the print queue, desktop does not see it at all. After some time (usually ~10 seconds per page) the document disappears from the queue, as if it was printed normally. However, the desktop never registers the document in the print queue, and most importantly the printer never prints.

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Questions I've already answered from talking to friends:
- Is this a software issue with Office 2003 (what I use)? Not as far as I can tell, printing PDFs and from websites also don't work on the laptop.
- Could it be that the printer you added to your laptop isn't recognised as being the same printer? I doubt this, because when I print a document on my desktop but check the print queue on my laptop, the document is present.
- What kind printer do you have? HP Deskjet F2180.
- Is your network preventing the two computers from connecting to each other? I don't think so, because file sharing is on for both, works normally on both machines, and I can see the desktop's print queue from the laptop.

Thank you in advance for any help! I'd love to be able to print from my laptop, and not have to transfer files over to my desktop whenever I want to print.

How is the printer made available on the network? Hosted, attached to a PC and shared? Or integrated network card and printer is attached directly to the network.
Check the event viewer on both right after the problem presents, look for an event that suggests the print job failed and maybe even says something about access denied.

Originally Posted by Trouble

How is the printer made available on the network? Hosted, attached to a PC and shared? Or integrated network card and printer is attached directly to the network.
Check the event viewer on both right after the problem presents, look for an event that suggests the print job failed and maybe even says something about access denied.

Hey there,

The printer is attached via USB to the desktop computer. I will check the event viewer this evening and post what results I find here.

Hi there, There is indeed a problem with my laptop it seems, the Event Viewer found the following error straight after I attempted to print: The document Printer Problem on Home Net..., owned by John, failed to print on printer {53C61245-739A-469A-BA1C-1A1C34B4B410}. Try to print the document again, or restart the print spooler. Data type: NT EMF 1.008. Size of the spool file in bytes: 22588504. Number of bytes printed: 0. Total number of pages in the document: 1. Number of pages printed: 0. Client computer: \\JOHN-LENOVO. Win32 error code returned by the print processor: 2147500037. Unspecified error (John-Lenovo is my laptop) Any ideas?

Not exactly the error message I was hoping for. So if you don't mind jumping through a few hoops, try this;
First make sure you have the latest full feature driver package from HP, (2009-10-20 , Version:13.1.0, 245.67M) for windows 7 64bit, downloaded and extracted to a folder on your laptop. Software & Driver Downloads HP Deskjet F2180 All-in-One Printer - HP Customer Care (United States - English)
Then delete any reference to that particular printer from device and printers on the laptop and then install it as a local printer using the following method
Open Devices and Printers
Select add printer near the top menu bar
Select add local printer
Choose Create a new port and local port from drop down arrow Click Next
In the enter a port name do one of the following
1. \\MachineNameHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName or
2. \\ipaddressOfMachineHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName
In the install printer driver dialog box do one of the following
1. In the left panel select your printer manufacturer and in the right panel select your printer model (to use Win7 native drivers) or
2. Select the have disk button and direct the install process to the folder where you have download and extracted the Win 7 drivers for your printer.
See if that works for you

I've done all of the above but still get this

The document Test Page, owned by John, failed to print on printer HP Deskjet F2100 series. Try to print the document again, or restart the print spooler.
Data type: NT EMF 1.008. Size of the spool file in bytes: 197200. Number of bytes printed: 0. Total number of pages in the document: 1. Number of pages printed: 0. Client computer: \\JOHN-LENOVO. Win32 error code returned by the print processor: 2147500037. Unspecified error

Given that I never see the print job at all on the desktop, I'm guessing the problem is still laptop (or router?) based? I'm just confused now.

This problem has now been solved - through an option I don't recall seeing on any other version of Windows before!

Right click on printer and go to printer properties on the computer the printer is hosted on...go to SHARING tab...uncheck "Render print jobs on client computers". It turned out to be that simple.

Very strange, that!

Excellent news. Congrats on resolving your issue and thanks very much for the followup. I'm sure many will find you solution helpful.
Thanks much for joining. Your membership and contribution is appreciated.
Best Wishes
Randy

You need to choose compatible driver in Windows 7. First, you have to click the ‘Start’ button and select and ‘All Programs’. Then, go to ‘Accessories’ and select ‘System Tools’ and then click ‘System Information’. Then, you have to select the ‘System Summary’ and then review the OS Name and System type to find out which version of operating system you are running. Then, accordingly choose the network printer driver for your computer.