vista printer set up for peer to peer networks

I was not sure where else to post this message. I've been searching the
internet for a solution, seriously, for about the last two weeks straight. I
just hope this will help others out.

Disclaimer: This is written for admins that kind of know what they are doing.

Here is what we have:
A peer to peer network.
Windows 2000 Server with print drivers/shares on it.
Mixed desktops, running WinXP Home + Pro, WinVista Home + Biz.
We do not have a Domain or Active Directory.
We are using TCP/IP and WINS.

I have been searching to find out a solution to a shared printer issue with
the Vista machines.

Problem:
If the user turns their computer off or reboots, the shared printers no
longer work. The mapped network drives cannot connect.

I was getting the "invalid user ID and password" issue whenever I was
installing printers to the Vista machines. Other people on the net have
solutions to this that seem to work. But each time I tried to install a
printer using the Vista add printer wizard, even when using the method to
create a Local Port, I was still getting the same error... the Invalid User
ID and Password.

It sounds like an authentication issue with the server. And as it turns out
it was.

So, I could not add the new printer using the 'Local Port' method that you
can find around the net.

My work-around was to create an icon on the Vista desktops and point it to
the server; ie \\servername\. Now I bet you think that was a crazy
work-around. I know I did. And I know my users thought the same thing.
Each time they logged on, they had to click the icon, enter a valid user ID
and password, using the Administrator???s account to access the server. Once
done, the drives would map and the printers would map. But the whole concept
was crazy. Because I was giving everyone the Administrator password and
users had to take these extra steps manually each day to make things work
right.

The solution was really quite easy:
(I am sure this only applies when using Win2Kserver and peer to peer
networked computers, while each user???s machines are set to use passwords to
log on.)
Here goes...
In the Windows 2000 Server, where the printers are shared, right click on
Computer and go to Computer Management. There you will need to add each user
ID and password. Yes, even though they will not be logging into the server.

These seems to be used by Vista to authenticate and connect. The Vista
machines will use their current user profile info, to connect to the
Win2Kserver. So the user ID and the password needs to match what the user
uses to log onto their workstation.

If this helps out anybody else, then great.

PS> I can???t wait to get our new Domain controller set up and running. This
is guaranteed not at issue if you have a proper Domain.