Help! Network printer question

[ginahoy]

I have an old HP LaserJet 4 with HP network card, plugged into an ethernet port on my router. When browsing the network, the printer shows up under my desktop computer, which is also hardwired to the router. This means my wife can't access the printer from her laptop unless my computer is powered up. I'm fairly certain it wasn't always like this. How can I unbind the printer from my computer so it shows up on the network, independent from my computer?

[Bazango]

I have an old HP LaserJet 4 with HP network card, plugged into an ethernet port on my router. When browsing the network, the printer shows up under my desktop computer, which is also hardwired to the router.

Did you ever have the printer hooked up to the computer that it shows up under? If so, just try deleting the printer from the computer it shows up under. The printer should make its own presence known on the network otherwise. Perhaps an old setting is interfering.

[Midknyte]

If the printer is connected to ethernet, then it is not bound to your computer. verify that the printer's settings are correct for your network. ping the printer's IP from both computers.

[Train]

My Brother LaserAlso shows up there in Vista. printer is hooked through my router, wired, and shows up in the Win 7 network.

[ginahoy]

Apparently I originally installed the printer "under" my computer and shared it. That must have been the problem. It's been a long time ago.

I deleted that instance, but now the problem is I'm unable to find the printer anywhere. Interestingly, the Add Printer Wizard now shows the old instance (//my_computer/LJ4 Network) at the Network level (e.g., no longer "under" my computer), BUT, when I try to connect, I get an invalid name error. I tried cycling the router and the printer to no avail. Also, the printer doesn't show up when I browse My Network. But the Ethernet port on the router is lit.

I'm unable to locate any instructions for setting up this card (I think its a J2552). Any idea how to reconnect?

EDIT: Someone in another forum suggested connecting via TCP/IP. I had no idea how to do this but eventually figured out I could select Local rather than Network printer at step 1 in the Add Printer Wizard, then select "HP Standard TCP/IP Port" at step 2. I did this for each computer rather than sharing. This seems to work fine. But selecting local printer for a network printer seems so counter-intuitive.

[ua549]

Actually it is intuitive if you are familiar with sharing versus networking.
Setting up a network printer implies a shared network resource.
Setting up a local printer with a tcp/ip port implies a remote printer that is not controlled by another system.
That said, it is just a matter of understanding the differences between the two different methods of accessing a printer.

Note that if you have set up a printer using a remote tcp/ip port you can still share that printer. In practical terms it means that the print data flows through the machine that shared the resource rather than going directly to the printer.