With the Windows printer and the computer it’s connected to active, and the printer set up for sharing, you’re ready to add the printer to your Mac.
Add the Shared Printer to Your Mac
- Launch System Preferences by clicking its icon in the Dock.
- Click the ‘Print & Fax’ icon in the System Preferences window.
- Click the ‘Printing’ tab.
- The Print & Fax window will display a list of currently configured printers that your Mac can use.
- Click the plus (+) sign, located just below the list of installed printers.
- The printer browser window will appear.
- Click the ‘Default Browser’ tab.
- Hold down the option key and click the ‘More Printers’ button.
- Select ‘Advanced’ from the dropdown menu at the top of the Printer Browser sheet.
- Select ‘Windows Printer via SAMBA’ from the Device dropdown menu.
- Enter a name for the printer in the ‘Device Name’ field. The name will identify this device when you select a printer to use on your Mac.
The next step is to enter the shared printer’s device URL, in the following format:
smb://user:password@workgroup/ComputerName/PrinterName
An example from my home network would look like this:
smb://TomNelson:MyPassword@CoyoteMoon/scaryxp/hp8500
The PrinterName is the ‘Share name’ you entered in Windows XP.
- Enter the shared printer’s URL in the ‘Device URL’ field.
- Select ‘Generic’ from the Printer Model dropdown menu. You can try using one of the specific printer drivers from the list. The drivers most likely to work are labeled ‘Gimp Print’ or ‘PostScript.’ These drivers usually include the proper protocol support for shared network printing.
- Click the ‘Add’ button.
