Can win95, 98, 98se, NT4 sp4 client print from NT4 sp4 server?

[ThurzNite]

Our network printer is hooked up to a NT4 sp4 machine. Can others use that printer? Everybody else is running all sorts of vers of Win: 95 (all 2 or 3 flavors), 98, 98se, and NT4 sp4.
Thanx.
Jay

 

[dirtboy]

Should be able to.

 

[Ladi]

Yup...Share the printer on your print server/make it a network printer and install the drivers needed for each of your clients. When you install the printer on the client, choose Network Printer Server and the appropriate printer.

It works....theoretically. Have lots of fun keeping your print drivers up to date.

~Ladi-who-hates-fixing-the-printers-at-work-every-3-minutes

 

[ThurzNite]

Hey Ladi...do you hang out in the forums all day? Seems like you always post/reply to my questions. Thanx a bunch! Right now, we're using a win95b as the server, but it's a slow dawg. We just got a new computer to replace it and would like to run NT4 so that it's more stable/secure. Theoretically, yeah, we thought it would work, but just wanted to be sure that the older win95 machines know what a NT4 machine is =)~
Thanx guys!
Jay

 

[ThurzNite]

Just talked to supervisor. The concern is that one person who's running NT4 can't print to the current 95b. It's an isolated problem cuz the other NT4's can print ok. Do you think swapping the 95 w/NT computers will cause any problems? I don't want to goto each computer to reinstall drivers and point them to the new computer.

 

[Ladi]

When I'm not fixing stuff here at work? Yeah, I'm in the forums...Note that I don't post at home off my crappy dialup

Anyways, yes, any machine that can see the network shouldn't have probs with an NT4 print server. When you swap out the old print server, you will need to go to each computer to make sure it's seeing the new server and install the printers. However, installing network printers is fast and doesn't require reboot. With decently adept users, you could probably even send out an email outlining how to install the new printer (Start>Settings>Printers>Add Printer>Network Printer Server).

~Ladi

 

[ThurzNite]

I don't think it'll be a problem asking the users to check if they can see the print server. That should be cool.
As for the printer drivers, I don't have to reinstall them, do I? If I make the new computer have the same name and IP addy as the original one, I don't think they'll be any problems (but then again, this whole swapping thing is new to me)
Hehe...competent users? Naw, sorry...tough enough time getting them to update their NAI dat files...hehe.
Jay

 

[tech]

How come you are using SP4. SP5 so far has been the choice for me.

 

[ThurzNite]

I usually don't stay up to date w/NT, so the only thing I know is that sp4 is pretty stable. As for not upgrading, it's my supervisor's choice, not mine. I can present a case, but I haven't really studied sp5 yet (as in, what the differences are and what it will do to our systems). Lastly, There's about 60 computers and it'll take a while to get them all done.
In my opinion, yeah, I'd like to upgrade and I'll come in on the weekend (w/overtime pay, of course!) to put all the machines on sp5.

 

[ThurzNite]

Ack! It didn't work. I put up the new computer and installed the driver. When specifying what OS to share w/, I put in Win95 and WinNT4. WinNT4 x86 installed, but not Win95. It's asking for a Windows 95 Flat Share CD. I've never heard of this cd before. Any ideas on how to get around this problem?
Jay

 

[NT4Mike]

What kind of printer is it? Hopefully, you are talking about a printer that has actual driver files instead of an .exe installer. For multiple OS, download the appropriate drivers for each and then specify the additional OS's that will be using the printer. When it prompts you, point it to the location of the driver files and all should be good. I can't remember whether or not it is one of those irritating prompts that won't let you browse to the location, so make sure you remember where you put each set of drivers.

If you are installing a printer that has an executable installer program, the only way that I have found to set it up is to actually go to the client machine and install it there and then point it to the share on the server.

One little thing that will save you tons of headache, especially on a large network.....

1. Once the printer is shared on the server machine and all drivers are installed, go to the client machine and browse through network neighborhood to the machine and then printer share.

2. Right-click on the printer share and then select "install"

3. You will never use the Add Printer Wizard for a network printer again.

Provided that you have the drivers installed on the server for each OS, this should work on all your machines.

-Mike

 

[ThurzNite]

Well, not really a fix, but I got around it somehow. I just hit Cancel. Oh yeah, it's a LaserJet 5N. I downloaded similar drivers for NT and 95, cuz I thought there might be a conflict. Unpacked the exe to a network dir. Went to client and installed network printer using the downloaded drivers. They work, so I'm not complaining. If somebody knows what a Flat Share CD is, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just shut my mouth. hehe.
Thanx for the help people
Jay