another computer question

is the printer/scanner/fax an all in one? I'd suggest a print server if it was-- one with a usb hub, but this would require your computer to be hooked to the network (use a firewall to block internet access) to use those devices.

 

I have a Mac and PC. The printer on my Mac died, so to print things out, I've returned to using Sneakernet. Except this is 21st century style, so instead of floppies I use a flash stick.

 

As someone else asked, is it an all-in-one device? That will have a bearing on how to do this. Also do you have broadband (DSL, cable modem, etc) or are you dialup? At any rate, have you considered a LAN? This is not as complicated as it sounds. You need to get a router, quite inexpensive, $50.00 range then depending on your hardware, network servers for your peripherals, they are small pieces of hardware that connect to your printer and to a network. Then with that in place, you give the print server(s) a unique IP address (the instructions that come with it will tell how), then in both computers you configure to print to that IP address rather than LPT1 or USB.

One word of warning however, before you go out and spend any money, check the documentation of your peripherals to make sure they will work over a network. Most all printers will (we even have old Okidata 9 pin dot matrix printers LAN connected at work), but it's much less common in scanners to be able to network them. If it's not mentioned in the documentation, check out the manufacturers web site.

Good Luck!!!

 

You'll have to give more information --
Hardware connection types ? (USB, parallel, ethernet)
Drivers for each peripheral available ?

In my house:
Printer is attached directly to the local home network,
Scanner is attached to whatever computer wants to use it,
A Mac is connected to a phone line when faxes are needed, and OS X's built-in fax used,
Internet attached to the home network

This is for an all-mac household, but I would set up a mixed group the same way.

 

OK this helps a lot, and actually makes the job a bit easier, well less expensive anyway. Go with the network I described earlier with a print server for your printer and load the drivers on bothe the PC and Mac. For the scanner, since you don't have Mac drivers, leave it connected to the PC, then on the PC, you should be able to set up a share, then connect to that share from the Mac.

Now I'm not too familar with Macs, but I would suspect they have a way to connect to network shared storage. If that's not something you can do with the Mac (connect to a Windows share), the alternative is a network storage drive, Linksys makes a pretty nifty unit for about $100. Anyway with a shared location to store files, you can do the scanning with the PC, store the scans in the shared location, then bring them into the Mac from that share.

Of course the all-in-one you mentioned is the most elegant solution. Something to check with this however, having both USB and parallel does not necessarly mean they can both be active at the same time, some can, others cannot. If they do not support using both connectors, you can still use the ethernet though.

 

Apple is not stupid and realizes most of the world is Windows based, so the Mac can read and write Windows shares and files. They fit in a Windows world. PCs, on the other hand, have a difficult time connecting to a Mac.

I agree with tleonhar, in general. I'd just make the network wireless. A closed WiFi network is locally pretty secure, so neighbors with laptops can't sniff your systems, and it makes running wires very simple, since there aren't any. Wireless print servers are cheap and common. I kind of like the idea of a network storage device that's also a print server, and wireless...

 

My PC and PC Laptop can (and do) share the same devices with my iMac, and my MacBook, and my two Mini Macs.

No problems.