I have Windows Server 2003 and 2008 on a separate computer used for server purposes.
For sharing a non-network printer from my server to my desktop and laptop, all I did was this:
- Make sure that your server and workstation are connected to a network device, e.g. a router or switch.
- Find, download, and install the appropriate printer driver on the server.
- Connect the printer USB cable to the server.
- After printing a test page, go to the Windows Setup CD (for 2003) to install the "Internet Printing" component, then go to the Server Manager to add and configure the Print Server. For 2008, just install the Print Services role, then click what components you need, and that's it - don't even need the setup DVD (yes, literally - 2008 is a huge improvement over 2003).
- Go to the Network icon in Windows XP/Vista (or 7 Beta) and wait for the computers to show up in the workgroup (or domain, but that requires Active Directory), then find the server computer. Make sure you know what address (i.e. \\SERVER\ServerAdmin\Printer or something to that) you'd need for the next step.
- Under XP/Vista, go to Printers folder and then Add Printer. Once you see the Network printer option, select that, then Browse to Network Places, then when it finds the server, log in the server using the credentials from the server's user account, go to the Printer folder and select the printer intended for sharing. Once the shared printer's *in* the Printers folder in XP/Vista, right-click and set as default.
- Print a test page from the workstation and make sure it works. If it passes, congrats!
