JeffBlais.com

One of the most common things I get asked is, “Is there a way that I can print without having to connect my printer to my computer all the time?” and the answer is yes, if you have a network setup.  But, you have to go through a series of steps to allow the other computers on your network to see the printer in the first place and the computer that the printer is connected to must be on in order for the other computer to print.

I am going to walk you through a series of steps to share your printer out so other computer on your network print without having to be directly connected to your printer.

Sharing Your Printer

These first steps are done on the computer that the printer is going to stay connected to.

1. Once you have your computer started click Start then Control Panel.

2. Locate the icon/option labeled Network Setup Wizard and open that.

3. Once the Welcome to the Network Setup Wizard window comes up click Next.

4. Before you continue… Just click Next again.

5. Select a connection method. Select This computer connect directly to the Internet through a residential gateway or through another computer on my network then click Next.

6. Give this computer a description and name.  Located the Computer name box and type in a unique name for your computer that you will recognize then click Next.

7. Name your network.  The Workgroup name should default to MSHOME you should leave that the alone then click Next.

8. File and printer sharing.  Make sure that Turn on file and printer sharing is selected then click Next.

9. Ready to apply network settings… click Next.

10. You’re almost done… Select Just finish the wizard; I don’t need to run the wizard on other computers then click Next.

11. Completing the Network Setup Wizard.  Click Finish.

You may now be asked to reboot your computer, is so, do it then continue with the next steps.

12. Click Start then Control Panel once again.

13. Locate Printer and Faxes and open it.

14. Locate you printer click it once to highlight it then click File and choose Sharing…

15. Select Share this printer and give your printer a name that you will recognize then press Apply and OK.

Adding The Shared Printer To Your Other Computers

Before following these next steps you will need to run through Steps 1-11 under the Sharing Your Printer section on the computers that are NOT directly connected to the printer so that they are part of the same network and all communicate with each other.

These next steps will walk you through adding the printer you just shared out on the other computer that are NOT directly connected to the printer.  First you must run through Steps.  Make sure that the computer that IS directly connect to the printer is turned on.

1. Click Start then Control Panel.

2. Located Printers and Faxes and open it.

3. Double click Add Printer.

4. Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard.  Click Next.

5. Local or Network Printer.  Select A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer then click Next.

6. Specify a Printer.  Select Browse for a printer then click Next.

7. Browse for Printer. Click on MSHOME then find the name of the printer you shared out and click it once to highlight it then click Next.

8. Default Printer. If you would like the printer you are adding to become you default printer then choose Yes other wise choose No then click Next.

9. Completing the Add Printer Wizard. Just click Finish.

That’s all.  It does seems like a lot but once you have done it many time over and over like myself you find that it actually is pretty easy and there is really no reason that everyone should be able to share out there printer.  The wizards are there to help then they work so use them.

I hope this helps some people out and maybe even saves on some headaches trying to figure it out on your own.

My uncle brought to my attention that lots of people don’t like to enter Credit Card information online for fear of it being stored on a server that could be compromised.

He has an 1st Gen iPhone and just updated to version 2.0.1 and wanted to download some free application on the iTunes Store but it was asking for him to enter a credit card before he could download anything.  So I did some searching online and found some instructions on how to sign up for a iTunes account without having to enter any credit card information.

1. First you need to generate a redemption code from http://www.tunecore.com/freealbum
   
2. Open iTunes.
3. Click iTunes Store under the STORE Section in the left column of iTunes.
4. Once the iTunes Store Homepage loads you will need to click Redeem on the far right side located under the QUICK LINKS Section.
   
5. Enter the code you generated in Step 1 into the box provided then click the Redeem Button.
   
6. iTunes will prompted to log into your account.  This is when you want to choose to create an account.
7. Follow through all the steps until you arrive at the Payment Method.
8. At the Payment Method fill out all the information and choose the new payment option of None at the bottom.

That’s it!

You will need to click Redeem again on the iTunes Store Homepage and enter the code you generated in Step 1 if you want to download a free album (not of your choosing).  I have been told this only works in the U.S. Store.

Now you have an iTunes Account without having to enter any personal credit card information!

Lately people have been disappointed (to put it lightly) with the fact that Twitter hasn’t re-enabled their IM and Tracking services. I had just started using it before they began having growth issues and now I miss the instant information at my fingertips.

While surfing around the Internet the other day I stumble upon a service called IM Feeds and it “delivers RSS updates to your Instant Messenger”.

So I decided to throw together this tutorial showing you how to use IM Feeds, Twitter (or any other service that provides RSS Feeds), and Twitter Search to regain tracking of information you are interested in.

1. Sign up for IM Feeds (currently in beta)

2. Goto Twitter Search & search for what you want to track. Add quotes around your search term if you want the whole term and not just the the individual words to be searched for.

3. Copy The RSS Feed To Use With IM Feeds

4. Take the copied RSS Feed and add it to your IM Feed Subscriptions

That’s it.

I have been using this since I found it and I have to say that it works farely well. The only thing that you loose in using a service like this is the fact that you don’t get instant notification as soon a message is posted but when IM Feeds checks for updates (I think about every 1-5mins) you will be sent the messages and you can continue to track the information that interests you while Twitter tracking and IM service is down.

I hope this is useful for some people. If you know of any other services that provide the same services please head over to my Friendfeed room and join the discussion.

http://friendfeed.com/rooms/jeffblais-com

I always have people asking me how to put music on their new iPod and since Apple has provided their own video tutorial I decided to provide a direct access to this video so that I can easily point people in the right direction and make adding music to their player as easy as possible.

Just follow the link below or click right on the image to watch the video.

Sync to your iPod

In this video I give you step by step instructions showing you how to enable POP access in Gmail and setup Outlook Express to work with you existing Gmail Account.