Shared Printing

What is shared printing?

Shared printing is the process of allowing multiple computers connected to the same network access to a common shared printer. Below is a common scenario where we would set up shared printing:

Imagine a restaurant with two POS terminals, one server terminal (POS1) for taking table orders and one bar terminal (POS2) for drink orders. When a server places an order on POS1 or POS2, they want the food orders to print to the KITCHEN printer and the drinks to print to the BAR printer. However, the bar printer is not a network printer but a local printer. By setting up shared printing on POS2, we allow other POS terminals to access the local BAR printer on POS2. So how do we share the BAR printer?

Setting up shared printing

Using 'Devices and Printers' or 'Print Management', locate the printer you want shared (typically the 'LOCAL' or 'BAR' printer on the bar station) and open up 'Properties'.

Go to the 'Sharing' tab and check 'Share this printer'.

Set the share name to 'BAR' for either the 'LOCAL' or the 'BAR' printer.

Click 'OK' to save.

Enabling file sharing

In the Windows search bar, type and select 'Advanced sharing settings'.

Under 'Private' or 'Public':
- select 'Turn on network discovery'
- select 'Turn on file and printer sharing'
Under 'All Networks':
- select 'Turn on sharing so that anyone with network access can read and write files in the Public folders'
- select 'Enable file sharing for devices that use 40- or 56-bit encryption'
- select 'Turn off password protected sharing'

Adjusting security policy

In the Windows search bar, type and select 'Local Security Policy'.

Under 'Account Policies' -> 'Password Policy':
- Set 'Maximum password age' to 0.
Under 'Local Policies' -> 'Security Options':
- Set 'Accounts: Guest account status' to Disabled
- Set 'Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords...' to Disabled

Adding ports

Next we will add the printer to the POS computers the printer is being shared to. If not yet installed, install the proper driver for the shared printer. Whether the driver is installed as a USB or NET port does not matter as we will be adding a port later.

Find the printer in 'Devices and Printers' or 'Print Management' and open Properties.

If not yet set, name the printer appropriately.

Go to the 'Ports' tab.

Click 'Add Port...'

Select 'Local Port' and click 'New Port...'

Set the port name to '\\POSX\NAME' where 'X' is the number of the POS terminal and 'NAME' is the share name of the shared printer.

Select the new port you just added and click 'Save'.

Do a test print to make sure everything has been configured properly.

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