Printing to Windows Printers

If you have printers connected to systems running Windows 95/98/Me or Windows NT/2000/XP, the printers can also be accessed from your Unix system using tools that are part of the Samba distribution. First, it is necessary to create a printer share on the Windows system. Then set up the printer on the Unix side by configuring a new printer and using a Samba printing program as the printer’s filter.

Sharing Windows Printers

Sharing printers on Windows is not unlike sharing files. In fact, it is a little simpler. Open the Control Panel, then double-click the Printers icon to open the Printers window. Right-click the icon for the printer you want to share, and select Sharing.... This opens the dialog box shown in Figure 10-5 for a Windows 98 system, or Figure 10-6 on a Windows 2000 system. (The dialog box appears slightly different on other Windows versions, but functions almost identically.)

Tip

On Windows 95/98/Me systems, you may need to run file sharing in share-level (rather than user-level) access control mode to access a shared printer from Samba. To check or set this mode, go to Control Panel, then double-click on Network, then click on the Access Control tab. More detailed information on this can be found in Chapter 5.

Sharing printers on Windows 98

Figure 10-5. Sharing printers on Windows 98

Figure 10-6. Sharing printers on Windows 2000

Click the “Shared as” radio button, then click ...

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