How to set rules to allow the shareing of a printer on my network.
Welcome, jrr!
You’ll need to set up a Zone to define the IP range for your network in CFP (Security/Tasks/Add A Zone), then run the Network Wizard (Security/Tasks/Defined a New Trusted Network) to set that up with rules to allow traffic across that trusted network.
Your Zone should include the IP addresses of any connected computer, and the shared printer.
You’ll also need to set an Application Rule (Application Monitor) to allow your print spooler executable to connect to the network, so it can send the printjob out to the printer.
That’s a quick overview of the process. If you have specific questions from here, just ask, and someone will be glad to answer…
LM
I have CFP on my laptop. I want to print using another printer on my wireless network. How do I set up CFP to do this without fatally weakening my laptop firewall?
Thank you
Ken Cohen
And thanks again for the excellent program!
Ken,
See my response to jrr, as far as a general/quick overview of the process for print-sharing. I’ve seen folks define the network just fine, but not allow the print spooler, and get nowhere fast. 
Since you’re on a WiFi, take a look at this: https://forums.comodo.com/index.php/topic,6167.msg45481.html#msg45481; this tutorial by pandlouk is copied into a locked compilation topic, so there’s only info (no responses, questions to confuse things, and there’s other handy stuff in there as well…). The bold red text next to his name links back to the original topic where there’s more info from answer to other questions, etc. That should help some with WiFi security, especially since you need to create a Trusted Network.
Ideally, in a home setting (I presume this applies to your scenario), you want to create static IP addresses for each PC, the router, the printer. Keep them sequential, such as:
Router/Gateway: 192.168.1.1
PC1: 192.168.1.2
PC2: 192.168.1.3
Printer: 192.168.1.4
Laptop: 192.168.1.5
Then your Zone would be something like:
Zone: Home
192.168.1.1 thru 192.168.1.5
You would then use that to Define the Trusted Network. This is more secure than having the entire subnet included.
Also, if you don’t want to share/communicate between the computers, you could set it as such:
Router/Gateway: 192.168.1.1
Printer: 192.168.1.2
You could add the PCs or not, at that point, but your Zone would only include the Router & Printer.
As you dig into it, ask any questions you need clarified, details explained, etc. We’ll be glad to help you.
LM
Thank you!
I now have a trusted zone, and can print from laptop through router to desktop with connected printer.
Is it possible for me to configure the CFP to permit the laptop to talk to the printer without allowing the rest of the desktop into the conversation?
Ken Cohen
Sure. That would be this part. You could also probably leave the router IP out of it, and just use the printer IP to create the Zone, then use the Zone for the Trusted Network. Adding the router as part of the trusted network just ensures that you won’t have difficulty contacting your DHCP/DNS server (provided that your router provides that service; they frequently do).
To find out for sure what you’ve got, go to Start/Run, type in “cmd”
At the DOS prompt, type, “ipconfig /all”
It will give you the results, showing your router/gateway, dns server, dhcp server, your ip, etc. You may see that both your ISP and your router have addresses as the dns server.
LM
Does a printer attatched to a computer have its own address? Can I change the addressess (?IP’s) of the various computers in the network so that my laptop and the computer have consecutive addresses, or can I excluse addresses that fall between?
I’m sorry, but some simple processes here seem like a foreign language to me that’s been transliterated but not translated.
thanks again for your software and your time.
Ken C.
To do this you will need to go into XP’s Network Connections properties/settings, to configure the IP addresses as Static (ie, Fixed) rather than Dynamic (ie, Obtained Automatically). This is also where you will make sure you have MS’s File & Print Sharing installed and active.
The only time I used a networked printer, it was installed to a Shared/network drive on one computer; thus the IP address in question would be that computer’s. However, many printers these days have the capability to connect via network cable directly to a Hub/Switch or Router, thus defining their own IP address on the network.
With CFP’s Network Monitor, Zones and Trusted Network, you can define any single IP address as a Zone & Trusted Network, for inclusion to the Network Monitor rules. I would personally prefer to do this to allow only the unlimited traffic where I need it, rather than across the board.
LM