i would like to print from my laptop to through my pc . my computers are running xp

rstringfield,

Since you did not say which OS you're using, I'm going to hope it's XP. If you're using Vista the ideas are the same, but the dialogs might be slightly different, plus there may be additional security issues that I'm not aware of. If you're using OS X, this answer won't be of any help.

On your desktop computer, open the "Printers and Faxes" control panel item. Right-click on the printer that you wish to share and select "Sharing..." from the context menu. This will bring up a wizard that walks you through the sharing setup procedure.

Once you have completed the wizard, open the "Printers and Faxes" control panel on the laptop. Use the "Add a printer" wizard and when it asks you for the location of the printer to add, select the second radio button "A network printer, or a printer connected to a different computer". This will also walk you through the process of searching for and selecting the printer you've shared from the desktop computer.

Once you've completed it, you'll want to print a test page just to make sure everything is connected and talking properly.

If you have any more questions, please post them to the forum or you can contact me directly.

Take care,
Ric