2 Win7 64bit PCs 1 SONY printer

Mikeo444

Honorable
Oct 21, 2012
1
0
10,510
Hello,

I am looking for some hardware direction. For a project I am working on for my school.

Setup:


PC 1 (windows 7 64 bit)
Tasks:
- Saves User created file (under 10MB each) locally.
- Sends 1 copy to Printer

PC 2 (Windows 7 64 bit)
- Displays PC1's user created files in gallery format
- Allows users to send via email (INTERNET required)
- Additional copies can be printed on demand by users to the same printer

Printer - SONY Image printer, USB 2.0


We tried using the windows 7 printer sharing and ad hoc networks but it was unreliable in our test.

We want to do everything wired
Budget is very very low.

We tried using a belkin Router with USB but the printer sharing via usb was supported through software and didn't work very well when running on both pcs. So we are hoping to be able to use a hardware solution that does not require add on software.

The problem we were having with the Windows 7 printer sharing was that the other machine would give an error message that the print server job status monitor stopped working and would present a warning box. Even though the image printed.

SO please if anyone can help:
We are looking for a wired network switch to connect PC1 to PC2.

Have PC1 and PC2 wired to a USB print server. Has to do automatic switching and be USB 2.0 ideally without additional software

Finally connect PC 2 to the internet via a mifi USB device, or wifi.

Any see any holes in that logic?
Is there a better way to do it?

Any recommendations for a network switch or a Print Server?

 

DevITIS

Honorable
Oct 19, 2012
23
0
10,510
Sounds to me like what you want to do is share the folder on PC1 to make it accessible to users on PC2, or maybe a particular user. Either way, you would go to the folder properties dialog and the sharing tab. If the PCs are part of a the same network where both have sharing enabled, or they're on a domain controller, you can share the folder with PC2\Users. Otherwise I would setup a special local account on PC1 for sharing, then give the credentials for that account to users of PC2. From there they can browse to Network and connect to PC1 with those credentials to view the folder. I hope this helps. :)