Use Apple's Bonjour for Windows to use a network printer

[ncurls]

Yesterday, I set out to print from Windows XP (guest OS) via a network printer. I could print via a usb connection, but c'mon, I'm rarely near my printer. I spent probably 4 hours (I'm dense and not afraid to admit it) trying to open up ports, use various network adapters, install drivers, etc. All had zero success.

Then I stumbled upon a forum posting here about installing Bonjour (an Apple product - they make a Windows version) on the guest OS.

It worked beautifully. So I thought I'd share what I did. I'm running Win XP pro as the guest OS and Mac 10.5.7 OS as the host.

1. With the guest OS off, in VB "settings", click on network, add a new adapter, select PCnet-Fast III - attach it to Host Only Adapter, name is vboxnet0
2. Start windows.
3. In Windows, download & install Bonjour for Windows (do a search, you'll find it)
4. Launch the app. It should find whatever network printers you are near. Install! In most cases, this will work. The second printer I added though I had to take another step.
5. Navigate to Start-Settings-Printers. Right click on that printer and click settings. Find the drivers tab, and scroll through the big long list of printers there to find yours. Make sure the printer is using the right driver.

Viola!

Hope it works for you too.

[dmurph]

I'm having difficulty getting my printer to work. It's hooked up via an Apple Airport Extreme base station and works fine on my host (OS X Snow Leopard). I tried installing Bonjour on the guest (Win XP, SP3) and configuring it as the previous poster mentioned, but Bonjour keeps "loosing" the printer. It finds it fine when the installer begins, but before the installer finishes, an error is generated "The Bonjour printer you have selected is no longer available. Please make sure it's plugged-in & powered-on."

I know this thread hasn't been active in a while, but anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

[ChipMcK]

The error message is because the VM and the host are not in the same network usually.

I opted to use Bridged rather than NAT and the connection is fine.

I played with Host-Only. And yes, it can be made to work, once the VM and host are in same network.

[dmurph]

Many thanks for the assistance, but I'm still without success. I tried switching to both host-only and bridged adapter. With the host-only setting, it couldn't see the printer at all. With the bridged adapter setting, Bonjour generates a cryptic "The Arguments are Invalid" error message and fails.

Just for kicks, I re-installed Bonjour from the CD. This was the same CD I used to get Bonjour to work on my Windows XP computer several years ago. It didn't work either.

This issue has something to do with Virtual Box (I'm using 3.1.6). Any thoughts?

[granfaloon]

This method will work, however make sure you have your printer enabled for sharing. In Mac OS X system preferences under "Print and Fax" find your printer and check "share this printer". Then the method outlined above using Bonjour should work. Hope this helps!

[ChipMcK]

if using NAT, check out http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic. ... 13#p134013