Derrick’s Musings

So I recently purchased a new laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium installed. I would have preferred a new MacBook Pro, but alas, it was not in my budget. Vista is not a particularly bad operating system. Just like Mac OS X, it has its good features and its shortcomings. However, as most people have discovered, Bonjour for Windows, which allows someone to print to a shared printer connected to a Mac from a Windows PC, does not really work with Vista. I have searched the web for a workaround to this problem, but what helps some people doesn’t work for everyone. I have found a work around that worked for me, which I will now share:

1. Make sure that both computers are connected to the same workgroup
   • For Mac OS X:
     • Click the Dock’s Finder icon.
     • Click Applications.
     • Scroll to the Utilities folder and select it.
     • Double-click Directory Access.
     • Enable changes by clicking the padlock.
     • Provide an Administrator account user name and password.
     • Double-click SMB/CIFS.
     • Enter the workgroup name you wish to use in the resulting window or select it from the provided drop-down menu.
     • Click Apply.
     • Close Directory Access
   • For Windows Vista:
     • Click Start.
     • Right-click Computer and select Properties.
     • Scroll to the Computer Name, Domain And Workgroup Settings section.
     • If the Workgroup is already correct, no changes are needed, go to step #2. If you would like to change the workgroup, click Change Settings
     • Where it says “To rename this computer, click Change,” click the Change button
     • Change the name is the Workgroup text box and click OK. You will be asked to restart the computer
2. In Mac OS X, make sure that Windows Sharing and Printer Sharing are both enabled. To do so:
   • Open the Apple menu (top left Apple logo)
   • Click System Preferences
   • Click the Sharing icon
   • Under the Services tab, click the check box in front of Windows Sharing and Printer Sharing
   • Click on Windows Sharing and click the Accounts button
   • Check the boxes for the accounts you wish to share and click Done
3. In Windows Vista, we will now connect to the shared printer
   • Click Start
   • Click Network
   • Double-click on the appropriate computer name (the Mac where the printer is connected)
   • Double-click on the printer you wish to connect to
   • Windows will tell you it can’t find the driver. Click OK
   • It will now ask you to select a driver. DO NOT click the actual name of your printer. You will not be able to print to it if you do (at least in my case with my HP PSC 1310). Select “Generic” as the manufacturer and “MS Publisher Color Printer” as the printer.
   • Click OK
   • Click Next
   • Printing a test page wouldn’t hurt at this point. Luckily, they give you the option to do so.
4. THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT!! The Print spooler is incompatible with this workaround. To disable the spooler:
   • Right-click on the newly installed printer and click Properties
   • Click the Advanced tab
   • In the middle of this window, “Spool Print documents so program finished printing faster” will be selected. Instead, make sure that “Print directly to the printer” is selected.
   • Click OK
   • If documents are spooled instead of directly printed, they will NOT print 95% of the time and you will have to uninstall and reinstall the printer.
5. Congratulations, you should now be able to print to your printer connected to your Mac from Vista without using Bonjour for Windows.

Well, good luck! I hope my guide has been helpful for you! If you have any questions, just e-mail me at derrickg (at) derrickgoodfriend (dot) com.