DOS programs not printing in XP

[Spanielsoftee]

We are in the process of upgrading all of our
departmental computers from '98 to XP. We have
several DOS programs that we all still use. We
have made them compatible with XP, EXCEPT they
will not communicate with any of our printers.
No one can print to our laser or forms (dot
matrix) printers. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[bcastner]

Printing from DOS with Windows 2000 or XP

In Windows 9x, there was a button in the printer properties to "capture printer port". Windows 2000 and XP don't have this button, so to print from a program running a Command Prompt window or an emulated DOS environment you may have to use a subterfuge,. There are three cases:

1. the printer is a Local Printer and the print device is connected directly to a parallel port (e.g. LPT1).

In this case, you should not have to anything to be able to print from a Command Prompt, from an emulated DOS prompt (command.com) or a DOS (16 bit) program.

2. the printer is a Local Printer and the print device is connected to a USB or some other kind of port (e.g. a Standard TCP/IP port).

In this case, you need to either:

pool the port the printer is on with the LPT1 port; or

create a share for the printer and map the printer to an emulated local port that DOS know about (e.g. LPT1). Do steps 1 through 7 below

3. the printer is a Network Printer or is a Local Printer on a port with a UNC name

In this case, map the printer to an emulated local port that DOS know about (e.g. LPT1). Do only steps 6 through 7 below.

Here's the detailed steps:

(Create a share for the local printer.)

1. Open the printer's Property Page
2. Select the Sharing tab
3. Select the Share this printer radio button
4. In the Share name: box, key the name you want to use as the printer's share name. The default is the same as the printer's name, but you may want to change it so that it is short and doesn't have any embedded spaces. This will make it easier later.
5. Click OK

(Map the printer share to an emulated local port. If you also have a Local Printer on your parallel port, use a different emulated local port (e.g. LPT2). In step 7, use this other port's name (e.g. lpt2) instead of lpt1.)

6. Open a Command Prompt (Start, (All) Programs, Accessories)

7. net use lpt1: \\computername\printersharename /persistent:yes and press Enter

for computername, use the name of your computer
for printersharename, use the share name you keyed in step 4

The /persistent:yes parameter makes the mapping of the printer to the emulated lpt1 port persistent, so you don't have to issue this command every time you logon.

 

[wimpy]

Another idea, go to dosprn.com and download dosprn v1.72.It will allow you to print to network printers also. It is shareware I believe.

 

[Spanielsoftee]

Thanks for your suggestions. This program is a real
headache. It is actually four programs, pulling from
one huge database. It is old and no longer has
support available. It is very unstable since data
is always added, but nothing can be deleted without
messing up something else. It will be phased out
eventually, but until our new Windows based programs
have all of the bugs worked out, which doesn't look
promising, we will continue to use the dinosaur. I
tried the remapping the network drive and it told me
it was successful, but nothing would print. One of
our tech's spent some time rewriting some of the
printer drivers. They have never been updated, but
still worked with Windows '98. XP won't hear of it.
We had some success this afternoon, although the forms
are a little out of whack. If we hit on a solution, I'll
post it, but I think there are too many people using
this program with different operating systems and our
printers are a little confused (like me!).