Sharing a printer between Windows 7 and Windows XP

HiMPBenjamin,

Scenario 1:

First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by default is named Workgroup. If both are administrator accounts and if you are unable to login from only one administrator account, then you may have to change some settings to get access to printers in workgroup.

Check if you have followed all these steps while setting up file and printer sharing from Windows 7 to Windows XP.

Steps to setup file and printer sharing from Windows 7 to Windows Xp:

a. On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing settings.
b. You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile.
 • Network discovery – on
 • File and printer sharing – on
 • Public folder sharing – on

c. If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off password protection.  This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings toward the bottom of the list.
d. Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP machine and the Windows 7 as well.
e. 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.
f. Next double click on “Customize your printer”.
g. In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name.
h. You can install Additional Drivers before setting up the XP machine. To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7 machine icon under Network.
i. Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders.
j. Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7.
k. Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in the Public folder on Windows 7.  If you have password protection enabled you will need to type in the username and password of the user account on the Windows 7 machine first.

Scenario 2:

Setup XP with Shared Printer

a. To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers and Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard.
b. Now select “A network printer or a printer attached to another computer” then hit Next.
c. Next select “Connect to this printer…” and type in the path for the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next.
d. Now click Yes to the confirmation message.
e. Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard.

NOTE: In some cases you will need to install the x86 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.

Additional information:

File and printer sharing frequently asked questions
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/File-and-printer-sharing-frequently-asked-questions

Share a printer:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Share-a-printer

Sharing files and printers with different versions of Windows
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/sharing-files-and-printers-with-different-versions-of-windows

You may also install the printer in Windows xp by setting the computer to cleanboot mode.

Visit this below link:

How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353 

Note: set the computer to its original state after performing cleanboot.