Setting up a shared network at home can be a tricky business

I have a laptop and two desktop PCs. My first desktop is connected to an Epson R210 printer which is connected to my Linksys wireless router via the LAN cable. My second desktop is connected to an HP PSC 1410 printer. My laptop and second desktop are both connected wirelessly but I have tried to create a network to share files and print to other printers and it does not work well. So far all my methods have not worked, even though we all share the internet through a combination of wired and wireless. I can't seem to work out how to set up our network so that the three computers can share files and print to each other. I want to print from the HP printer instead of the Epson printer, which is barely used. Any help would be appreciated.

Akhil Changani

Kowloon

Your problem is certainly interesting and has a number of solutions - none of which is likely to be easy if you have already tried some without success.

I must assume, when people do not mention an operating system, that they are referring to some form of Microsoft's many incarnations of its Windows operating systems. If you are using Windows XP, you could first try the following:

Click on Start and release the mouse on My Computer. You should see a list of devices connected to your machine, including all hard disks. Right-click on the one you want to share and release the mouse on Properties.