Windows 7 wireless won't find shared printer

[The Fumbler]

Let me start from before Dec 25,2010. I run an XP SP3 desktop. Recently replaced wife's XP computer with a Win 7 Ultimate unit. Both were connected to Linksys 4 port and then onto cable modem. No problem with her unit being able to print from my HP Laserjet which is directly connected to my computer.
Move to today. Got the kid a Dell laptop running 7 Home Premium 64bit. Also bought a Cisco Linsys E3000 Wireless 4 port. Removed the old 4 port, installed the wireless. All 3 units up and running fine. kid is wireless, me and the wife hard wired. My wife can still see and print to my printer. Can't get the wireless laptop to find my printer. I ask for your wisdom on this problem.

 

[Trouble]

First question, is it just the printer that the new laptop can't find/see? Is the new laptop able to connect to any other shared resources on your computer?
On the new laptop go to HP and download the windows 7 64bit drivers for your printer to a folder of your choice. They will probably come as a compress file or a self extracting installer format. Use 7Zip or another compression utility to extract the files into the same folder. Then;
Determine the name and Ip address of your XP desktop and
On the new dell laptop
Open Devices and Printers
Select add printer near the top menu bar
Select add local printer
Choose Create a new port and local port from drop down arrow Click Next
In the enter a port name do one of the following
1. \\MachineNameHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName or
2. \\ipaddressOfMachineHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName
In the install printer driver dialog box do one of the following
1. In the left panel select your printer manufacturer and in the right panel select your printer model (to use Win7 native drivers) or
2. Select the have disk button and direct the install process to the folder where you have download and extracted the Win 7 drivers for your printer.

 

[The Fumbler]

Don't think I will find drivers. My printer is an HP laser 5P it's really old connected to my parallel printer port. It prints just flawlessly. My wife's computer had no problem finding it and no drivers were needed to make it work. Why can't the lap find it. I tried your suggestion but couldn't find drivers

 

[Trouble]

That's why I asked if the new dell could access any other shared resourse like a shared folder on your computer. If he can't see anything with regards to your XP box in the Explorer Network Window on his machine that you may need to take a look at a couple other things on the dell.
First type ncpa.cpl into the search box and hit enter
right click on the wireless adapter and choose properties
scroll the middle window as need to select Internet Protocol Version 4 highlight and select the properties button then click the advanced button on the resultant dialog box and select the WINS tab and select the radio button next to Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP and OK your way back out of there.
Type services.msc into the search box and hit enter
In the services console scroll as needed to select TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service double click it
set the startup type to automatic and click the start button.
Probably be a good idea to reboot now.
See if you have any better luck in "finding" the printer now.
And by the way my install of Windows 7 64bit Ultimate has native drivers already for your HP Laser 5P, not sure why you weren't able to select native drivers during the process I described earlier. May be just a difference in the Win7 versions, not sure. See attachment

 

[The Fumbler]

You are a huge help. Once I added the port to my computer, it looked to add the driver. It was not in the list but i pressed the windows update button and after a brief update download it was there. I installed it and it works perfect. Now if I could only find drivers for my wife's Dell A940 all in one printer it would be a good week. Her printer won't work with 7 but works just fine on my machine.
Thanks again.

 

[Trouble]

Thanks and glad to hear that you've managed to resolve your issue.
Regarding your wife's issue with the Dell A940.
First of all have you tried a similar "Windows Update" process with her printer?
Second it might be possible to use Dell's Vista drivers in compatability mode to help the process along.
Vista 64bit drivers from dell Link Removed - Invalid URL
Vista 32bit drivers from dell Link Removed - Invalid URL
Might be worth a try.
Regards
Randy