terry wrote:

Let me go on record as expressing my hatred for WINDOWS 8!  after my laptop crashed last week I bought a new one with 8 preloaded. then my wireless router crapped out. I must say it has been a nighmare, it prolly took me 10 hours of work to get my wireless printer to connect with my laptop and router.
I have owned Microsoft stock since the late 80s and I must say I'm about to part with ALL aspects of Microsoft!!! GRRRRRRRR!!
sorry for the rant, but with out my computer guess what????  NO FYI!!! 

I don't see what Windows 8 has to do with your Wireless printer and your Wireless router.  Its getting blamed for something that it has nothing to do with.  If your wireless router crapped out,  then all wireless settings are GONE which include the Network name, Network SSID, network password, network encryption, network connectivity to the internet, and network connectivity between computers in the house, and network SHARING of peripherals such as your wireless network printer.  so whatever settings were stored on the wireless printer will all need to be changed.  

Whenever a router is replaced, you basically are setting up a wireless network again from scratch.  If your wireless router was a separate device from your internet device such as a modem, then you have to just configure the router first by hard wiring a pc ( NOT YOUR NEW LAPTOP) to the router to set up the wireless settings, then you can go wireless.  IF your wireless router is also your modem device, then it first has to be provisioned to your internet service provider before they will let that device on THIER network.  After its provisioned by the ISP, then YOU have the responsibility of setting up the wireless network. 

The router comes with a disc and you have to install the software on ONE pc or laptop that is physically hard wired to a port on the router with an ethernet wire.  The router will have a wizard that guides you thru setting up the wireless router by first creating a name for your wireless network,  creating an admin account, creating a password for the admin account to have access to the router, Security level and type:  A ( password or no password), B  (security type like wep, aes or wpa) and C  ( encryption or no encryption).  If you don't set up a network password then anyone can connect to your router and get free internet.  So you want to setup a network password aka ssid or network key, The security type can be weak like wep or strong such as wpa2.  Encryption hides the data that travels thru the air.   Also set up optional filters such as mac address filters which will only let the mac addresses added to router to gain access to your network.  Ip configuration options such as how to assign ip addresses to devices on your network: DHCP or Manually Configured,  An IP scope Range for DHCP so that your router will hand out IP addresses in that range to all wired and wireless devices trying to connect to the router,  YOu probably set up a static IP for the wireless printer, so that would need to be changed on the wireless printer.

Then after your wireless router is all set up, then you can go wireless with your laptop but not your new laptop since it probably hasn't been set up yet. An different laptop to check out the wireless connection signal as either strong or weak which could be due to distance between laptop and router, or wireless obstacles between router and laptop, or wireless interference between router and laptop.  This also applies to router and wireless printer. 

So far does any of this sound like its Windows 8 Fault?? 

Now you have to set up the wireless printer.  It should have a STATIC Ip address, subnet mask, and gateway,  and it needs to connect to the new wireless network in your home, aka the new wireless router.  So the wireless printer needs to be reconfigured before you can have devices like your laptop will be able to find it on the network. Technically,  an IP address shoule be RESERVED for the wireless printer. YOu have to do this on the router.  Or you may have IP CONFLICT issues if the router hands out an IP address to a device that is already being used by the wireless printer.

THEN you have to set up your new laptop.  WIRE it to the router first. I'm sure when you first got the laptop, you have to first create a name for the laptop, then an admin account with password and then a non admin account with password and choose whether it will be an admin account or just a standard user account.  The laptops location: home or work.   The windows 8 laptop will also need to be registered to microsoft which is going to fail if you are not wired to the router.  

then comes the  laptops wireless configuration settings:  Setting up the laptop to always connect to your preferred wireless network, and set up that connection with the correct network name, network key, and security access level that matches the router; wep, aes, wpa2 personal, wpa2 business, etc.  The wireless services has to be set to automatically start ( wireless zero configuration utility).  The wireless card needs to be turned on.,  Some laptops have a button to slide to turn on the wireless, or have a function key to press to turn on the wireless, or has a lit icon on the laptop that you press to turn the wireless card on.  If the wireless card is not on, then it will not find ANY wireless networks.  Then once the wireless card is on, and the wireless connection is set to match the settings on the router,  and its withing distance of the router, with no wireless interference, you should be able to wirelessly access the router and the internet.  then you have to tell the windows 8 laptop if you are in a HOME environment or if you are a WORK environment so that it can set security on the laptop.

Then you can add your wireless printer to your printers list.  

Then after you add the printer to your pc, then you have to reconfigure all the othe computers and or laptops in the house to the new wireless network router. 

Windows 7 and windows 8 are the EASIEST in configuring wireless networks, and finding wireless devices to share.  Windows 8 is designed more for touch screens which most new tablets have.  And its designed to behave more like a PHONE operating system than a PC operating system, like the android or IPHONE with all the scrolling features that you can do with  your finger rather than a mouse.  ANd if you have missed the new commercials.  Windows now has thier own phone to compete with the samsungs galaxies and iphones.
 

Last edited by MarkinSC (5/11/2013 6:10 AM)

Rudi wrote:

For the most part me able to recognise and repair every thing odern technology complicates everday life.
 Give me the old days when you could look into an engine bay and see a flat head Ford, a battery and be able to reapir all the parts.
 In todays age, everything is throwaway, such as sensors, gizmos, doodads,modules, electronic circuit boards are the norm.

If you can remember the days of "looking under a hood at a flathead Ford" lets face it...you're OLD!
I remember the one I had, how it would always run hot when you wound out first and second until it quite gaining speed.........wait!!! guess that makes me a OLD guy too!

Mark mark mark, you need To go back and read my post I didn't blame the router on windows 8. I was just expressing my displeasure with it. I was able to use my printer for about a week until my router crapped out then after I replaced my router, I plugged my wireless printer in to the USB and it wouldn't  even recognize there was anything there. It was a PITA

terry wrote:

Mark mark mark, you need To go back and read my post I didn't blame the router on windows 8. I was just expressing my displeasure with it. I was able to use my printer for about a week until my router crapped out then after I replaced my router, I plugged my wireless printer in to the USB and it wouldn't  even recognize there was anything there. It was a PITA

Did you install the driver for the wireless printer on your laptop first before you connected the printer via the usb cable??? It won't see it without the proper driver. 

T,  wireless printers are supposed to be hooked up directly to the router via an ethernet wire, so that everyone can print to it, and NOT VIA a USB cable to a single laptop. Wireless printers are supposed to be NETWORK printers.  All pc's on your wireless network would add a  network printer, via a TCP IP port,  and then print to it thru the router.     If you connect a wireless printer to a pc via USB then you are creating a LOCAL printer on your laptop alone, and not a NETWORK printer for all to use.  When you add a LOCAL printer directly to  a laptop then the laptop needs to have the drivers installed first before its hooked up or it won't see it.  The drivers should be on a cd that came with the printer and hopefully its made for windows 8.  AFter the drivers are installed, then you connect the printer via a usb cable and it will automatically load the drivers for the printer and add the printer to your printers list in control panel as a LOCAL printer. BUT, This kind of defeats the purpose of a wireless printer.    If you want others to then print to this printer, then you have to first SHARE the printer by right clicking it, and then select share this printer, and create a share name for the printer, then you must have the same user accounts with passwords created on the pc that has the printer connected via usb cable.  In other words, if your kids have a pc upstairs in thier bedroom, and they are logged into thier pc with a user account called JUNIOR,  then you must also have an account called JUNIOR on YOUR laptop with the printer.  YOu must also have simple file sharing enabled to even share a printer.  Your laptop would need to be on and running for others to print to it since now your laptop is acting like a print server.  This is the LONG Way of sharing resources like a printer. The easy way of sharing resources like your wireless printer is connecting it to the router via an ethernet cable, manually assigning an ip address, subnet mask and gateway to it, and then adding a network printer to each pc on your network at home via a tcp ip port.

Did you install the drivers first before connecting the wireless printer to your laptop via the usb cable>????   Thats probably why it didnt see it.  How is windows 8 laptop supposed to "drive" the printer without the printer software drivers?  Also if you picked the 64 bit version of windows 8, it might need a 64 bit version of the driver for your wireless printer which may not have been made yet.  Not much support for the 64 bit version of windows 7 or 8 has been developed by peripheral hardware vendors.

on a side note. Happy birthday to the Mrs.