virtualbox.org

I'm quite new to VB and I'm not a techie. My son introduced it to me as I need Windows on the Mac Mini he bought me. My set up is a Mac Mini 10.6 host and XP as guest. My immediate problem is I've activated a USB filter for both a Epson 610 All In One and an external fax modem but Windows will not recognize either one. It seems to me this s/b a "seamless" connectivity situation and it is far from that. I've googled, binged, forumed, etc, and keep coming up with techie solutions that are over my head, if they work at all. I've "solved" the problems by;
1. To print a Word document on XP I've got to save it as a PDF in the folder that connects both systems on the desktop, then go to the Mac side open it up and then print it as if it were a Mac document.
2. Virtually the same procedure for faxing anything on the external modem.

XP (the guest) will not recognize anything on the Mac side except for the use of a mouse. There has got to be a better way, if so it is not readily apparent to me. In any event, this simplicity s/b built into the program, why else have USB filters? I cannot be the only person running into this, if anyone can tell me what I'm missing, I'd be grateful and if it really is a bug, someone who knows how to do these things should do it. Thanks,