Printer Networking I have a desktop PC with Windows XP Service pack 3 and a laptop with Windows Vista. I do I network these so I can print to my printer (Lexmark X2250) from the laptop.

Make sure both devices are connected to the same network, the printer is on, and the desktop can successfully print to it.

1. On the desktop, go into your Printers and Faxes section from the Start Menu or Control Panel. Right-click on your printer and select Sharing. It may ask you if you want to learn more but you can hit "Just enable sharing" and then hit the radio button to "Share this printer." You can pick a name for the printer if you wish, or just hit OK.
2. On the laptop you'll need to connect to the desktop through Windows Networking. If you know the name of the computer you can just type "\\COMPUTERNAME" without quotes and put the computer's name after the two back-slashes. If you don't know the name you can go through the Networking and Sharing center to view your network.
3. Once you are connected to your desktop you should see any folders or printers that have been shared. If your printer is the only thing you have shared then that's the only entry you should see. If you double click on the printer it should ask you if you want to connect to the printer, which should take some time. Once you see the Printer queue window pop up you have successfully connected to your router!