220-1101 Question 320
Single answerPrinter shareA small office has a USB laser printer connected to a Windows 10 desktop at the front desk. The printer works locally on that desktop, but three other Windows PCs on the same network need to print to it. The office does not have a dedicated print server. Which action should the technician take first to allow the other PCs to access the printer?
- A
Enable printer sharing on the front-desk Windows 10 computer and share the locally installed printer
- B
Assign a static IP address directly to the USB printer from the printer’s control panel
- C
Install the printer as a local printer separately on each remote PC using LPT1
- D
Replace the USB connection with Bluetooth so nearby PCs can pair to the printer
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best first step is to share the printer from the Windows 10 computer to which it is physically connected. In a small office without a dedicated print server, a workstation can host a shared printer for other users on the local network. On Windows, this typically involves confirming that Network Discovery and File and Printer Sharing are enabled, then opening the printer’s properties and enabling the Share this printer option. Other PCs can then add the shared printer by browsing the network or connecting to the UNC path of the host system and printer share. This aligns with common Windows administration practices for shared printers and with CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives covering printer configuration and sharing.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A USB printer attached to a Windows workstation can be made available to other computers by enabling File and Printer Sharing and sharing the installed printer from the host PC. In this scenario, the front-desk computer effectively acts as the print host because there is no dedicated print server. Remote users can then connect to the shared printer over the network.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. A USB printer does not normally receive a network address unless it has built-in network hardware such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi. A standard USB-only printer cannot be assigned a static IP from a control panel as if it were a network printer. This choice reflects confusion between locally attached printers and network-capable printers.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Installing the printer as a local printer on each remote PC using LPT1 would not provide access to the USB printer connected to another computer. LPT1 refers to a local parallel port and is not the correct method for connecting to a printer shared over the network. Someone might choose this if they confuse local port installation with network printer access.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Bluetooth is not the appropriate solution for sharing a front-desk USB office printer with multiple PCs on a standard office LAN. Bluetooth also has range and pairing limitations and does not replace normal Windows printer sharing for this scenario. This option is plausible only if someone mistakes short-range device pairing for network printer sharing.