I Need help in XP Printing with DOS program

[M. B.]

I am currently running Windows XP SP1. There is an old DOS-based program
that I still use for certain accounting activities. The problem is that my
printer on this machine (local) is now connected to an ETHERNET router.
The DOS-based program is still trying to print to LPT1.

Is there any way I can get a print-out with my setup? I need to somehow
redirect the LPT1 output so it goes to my IP 192.168.0.11 (thats where the
printer resides).

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[frodo]

in the printer folder, right click the printer in question and choose
properties. See if there is a choice in there anywhere to "capture
printer port" for DOS programs. Some drivers do support this, tho it is
becomming less common.

Also, check in Help and Support. I found this KB artical: KB314499

when connected to the internet, type KB314499 into the search box and hit
enter.

 

[M. B.]

Thanks for your help!

However, how do I find out the NAME of the print server and the SHARENAME of
the printer share for my setup? This is in relationship to what the KB
sais:
Method 1
Use the net.exe command to establish a persistent connection. To do this,
use the following syntax at a command prompt
net use lptx \\printserver\sharename /persistent:yes

where x is the number of the printer port that you want to map, where
printserver is the print server sharing the printer, and where sharename is
the name of the printer share.

For example, to map LPT2 to a printer shared as Laser1 on a print server
named Pserver, follow these steps:
1.. Click Start, and then click Run.
2.. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
3.. Type net use lpt2 \\pserver\laser1 /persistent:yes, and then press
ENTER.
4.. To quit the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER
Thanks,
Michael

 

[M. B.]

Thanks for you reply. It is cetainly what I am looking for but:

Well, I now know that my computer name is: violin1.workgroup
and the printer is: brother

so, I tried the following:

net use lpt1: \\violin1.workgroup\brother

but I get an "System Error 66". I also tried using lpt2 with, and without
the semicolon afterwards, but still getting this error.

Any advice?

 

[roger]

Hi M. B.,

Perhaps this can help:
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm

Good luck

 

[roger]

M.B.

(Courtesy of MS MVP Cari)

"To make a printer available to other network users, simply click the
Sharing tab, select Share This Printer, and provide a share name.
Windows XP permits spaces and other characters in printer names, but
if you’re going to share with users of other operating systems, you
should observe the following restrictions:

-- Use only letters and numbers; don’t use spaces, punctuation, or
special characters.
-- The entire Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name, including the
requisite backslashes and your computer name, should be 31 or fewer
characters. For example, assume that your computer name is YELLOWSTONE
(11 characters). When you add slashes, the length becomes 14
characters, meaning that the share name should be 17
characters or less. This results in a UNC name something like
\\YELLOWSTONE\HPLASERJET4000

You could try using a smaller computer name without the dot.

Then use the commands

net use lpt1: /delete (ignore error messages if they appear).
net use lpt1: \\PCName\Name_of_printer /persistent:YES

Good luck

 

[M. B.]

THANKS - IT WORKED!

I didn't have the Sharing on - stupid me!

 

[roger]

Thank you for your feedback, M. B.
Glad the problem was solved.