Problem connecting mac to xp to wirelessly print

hey all!
my mom wants me to get her macbook to connect to our xp laptop which has our epson stylus cx3800 connected to it. so i was able to get the workgroup setup and the mac connected to it. so i print a simple document that i made in Pages which "this is a test" printed on it. when it comes out of the printer all i see is a bunch of code looking text. it prints one whole page and one line on another page ... but it doesnt print what i wrote. ive tried searching google over and over again but all i keep getting are articles about getting a mac to print on an xp or an xp to print on a mac and so on and so forth. im kinda at a loss right now and don't know what to do lol cause shes the first one in the house with a mac ... i dont even own one yet so im trying to learn about it all also. is there anything im missing? or anything anyone can help me out with that would be great
thanks!

-AVenger

By default, when you connect to a shared printer on another system, the driver selected is "Generic Postscript". Most printers are not going to work with such a driver, so you'll need to change it to use one that works with that particular model of printer.

This is where things get complicated as most vendor-supplied drivers are not network aware if the printer doesn't have its own network capability. Fortunately, Mac OS X comes bundled with a package of drivers referred to as "Gutenprint" and Gutenprint happens to include a Stylus CX3800 series driver.

So, go into System Preferences => Print & Fax => Select the printer you added from the other computer and then click "Options & Supplies". Click the Driver tab. Where it says "Print Using:", switch the field to Select Printer Software. Scroll through the list until you come upon "Epson Stylus CX3800 - CUPS + Gutenprint 5.2.6". That should do the trick.

If you don't see that entry, you can update your Gutenprint software here:

Gutenprint for Mac OS X

okay thank you for your reply ... im about to head off to work but ill be back in 5 hours or so... so ill try that when i get back ... and let you know if it works or not ... thanks again!

- AVenger

okay so i got back home to find moms mac and the printer turned off. she said that her internet was out which was probably due to some of the settings i changed but now it's working fine. but for some reason i dont know ... i cant print anything anymore at all. not with any settings i had previously or with the new settings. i have our xp laptop setup in our office connected by an extended usb cable connected to the printers usb connected to the printer lol then moms mac out in the living room only on wireless ethernet. im replying on her mac now and the internet is working fine ... she is part of the workgroup also so idk whats wrong... any advice?

-AVenger

Sounds like you've now got an issue with sharing. I would try disabling sharing on the printer and re-enabling. You should also check the firewall settings on the host computer to make sure that file/print sharing is allowed to pass through.

Another option to avoid more headaches - either buy a USB Print Server or trash that printer altogether and pick up one of the new wireless printers.