is it possible to hook up a printer to a switch, directly? in other words, to bypass the whole "printer sharing" thing, because the only computer that the printer is close enough to to connect to is off for the most part, now, since I'm not using it
You need a Print Server to do that, unless it has one built in (which is uncommon... plus you'd know, as it'd have an ethernet port in it).
I have a spare HP Jetdirect 175x print server. As far as I am aware it will work with any usb device, but I havent checked that out yet. I currently have my HP deskjet networked via a 175x with no problems. The cheapest option though would be to turn the print sharing pc back on - use it as a mp3 server, print server, and seti/UD cruncher