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Network problem - can anyone advise?

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m_s:
Oh yes, many times!  I now have them printing to the i.p. address/printer, rather than to the computer name/printer - not sure if that ought to make any difference, but it seems a little more reliable somehow...

mouser:
what about moving the printer from the 98 machine to the xp machine - not practical?
and you ruled out the possibility that the firewall might be causing the printer problems?

m_s:
Not practical at the moment, because of the setup we have in the office, but I am suspecting the issue might have to do with XP-98 communication...  And I did find that switching off the firewall made it possible to see each of the machines with Look@LAN, and on that basis managed to configure them properly - so, no, not as far as I can see is it a firewall problem anymore.

Sentinel:
I would be strongly suspecting communication to the Win 98 box.  Peer-to-peer networks using Windows 95/98 are notoriously ropey.  I'd strongly suggest moving the printer to an XP box to see if this resolves your issue and if this isn't a practical solution at present (as you suggest) then get your management to invest in a dedicated print server such as a HP Jetdirect, Intel Netport or D-Link FEPS.  A cheap one like the D-Link will cost about £50 but hunt around you should be able to find one for much cheaper still.

I'd also suggest that you check the communication protocols in use on each of your machines and remove any IPX or NetBEUI you come across.  IP only is the only way to go these days but older Win 9X machines had a habit of throwing in everything by default.

A good place for networking advice is http://www.security-forums.com/ and for learning networking http://www.windowsnetworking.com/ is pretty good.

m_s:
I feel a fool, but a happy one! Following Mouser's advice, I tinkered a little more with the firewall before giving up, and now it seems to be working! I'm not sure about security aspects of this, so can anyone advise? I'm running Kerio Personal 4, and I noticed that under Applications/Network Security, MS File and Printer Sharing was denied for the trusted zone, so I permitted that - but that wasn't enough, so I then permitted Generic Host Processes and Any Other Application - is this network suicide? What does and doesn't need to be permitted? 

Thanks, Mouser: I touch my proud head to your feet!

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