Have you checked to make sure that any firewalls running on these computers are configured to allow local network access?

 

Steve

How do I do that?

First try temporarily disabling the McAfee firewall on both computers and see if it solves the problem.  If it does, you can delve into the documentation on how to configure it so that your local network is in the safe zone (I don't know the McAfee terminology for this, but it should be something similar).

 

Steve

They both have McAfee Security Center.

It's difficult to answer the question without knowing which firewalls you have installed, and even then, things change with each new version and I can't keep up with them.  You may have to consult the documentation or help files built into the firewall programs.  Nearly all Dell computers ship with some version of McAfee Security Center, Norton Internet Security, or sometimes even Zone Alarm.   Do you have any of these?

 

Steve

I figured out how to add the computer to the McAfee Network but when I try to add the printer it says that I do not have permission to do so. Also that blank passwords are not allowed. What does that mean? Thanks again!

Jen

Jen,

 

I have never used Vista and, from what I can learn from the internet, Vista makes all of this more complicted.  The only way I can help with Vista, since I have nver seen it, is to search the internet using Google.  The results of this search can be seen at:

 

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DIUS,DIUS:2006-22,DIUS:en&q=vista+printer+sharing+password

 

In particular, you might want to look at the following Microsoft article, which discusses passwords and sharing (about 1/3 of the way down).

 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

 

Sorry I can't be of more help, but I wil be crippled on these issues until Microsoft straightens out all of the problems with Vista and I am forced to use it.

 

Steve