DOS Printing Under XP

[Tom Buggy]

I realize that this is perhaps a worn out subject, but I
have a wrinkle that I can find addressed after much
searching. The system is XP Home and the printer is a HP
LaserJet 1200. When I installed XP (over Me) an instance
of the printer was set up on the DOT4 port. I used the
Add Printer Wizard to create another instance on the LPT1
port required by a DOS application.

I can't print anything from DOS on either printer setup,
either when both are installed or when I delete one of
them. This is true both with the DOS application and
from commands in a Command Prompt box (e.g. TYPE filename

PRN). I've tried all kinds of different drivers,

including the latest PCL 6 from HP, and with sharing
turned on and off.

According to the often-referenced bsanders printfromdos
article, in the case of a Local Printer with the print
device connected directly to a parallel port (which is
what I believe I have), "you should not have to do
anything to print from a Command Prompt .... or a DOS
program." Why can't I?

 

[Tom Buggy]

"Search Until You Die" works! Hunting and pecking
through the HP website produced a Business Support
Document titled: "HP Color LaserJet and LaserJet
Printers - Cannot Print or Problems Printing in Windows
XP (Parallel Connection)" The article says: go to Device
Manager and click on the Port Settings tab; Change the
setting from "never use an interrupt" to "use any
interrupt" and put a check in the "enable legacy PnP"
box. Voila - DOS printing works!!

This article was NOT directly found via a search on "DOS
Printing XP" and HP, unlike Microsoft, does not use
document numbers on all its articles. If you search on
the HP website for "c00215430" you'll find the article.

I guess my next question is whether or not the
recommended action has other implications in XP. If not,
I suggest that Microsoft provide a similar article,
and/or reference the HP article, and provide a workable
search for it. If there are other implications, I'll
appreciate a Microsoft response to this post.

 

[Guest]

I should have added that after you go to Device Manager
you must expand the Ports entry, right-click the LPT1
port, and select Properties.

 

[Bruce Sanderson]

Even though the printer is on a physical parallel port, if it is on a port
with a name other than lpt1, you have case 2, not case 1
(http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm).

Having said that, my experience with "DOT4" ports is very limited, and I
don't have an HP LaserJet 1200 to experiment with, so there may be something
quircky here that I don't know about.

 

[Tom Buggy]

Bruce,
The printer I added (in addition to the printer placed on
the DOT4 port by XP) is physically attached to LPT1 and
the port name is LPT1. That tells me I'm in "Case 1" of
your article. In any case, see my previous reply post
for how I resolved the situation. Perhaps the material
will be of use to you for your article.

 

[Tom Buggy]

Oops - problem is not solved!

When I made the Port Setting changes yesterday I was able
to print from DOS to the LPT1 printer. After shutting
down the computer last night and starting it up again
this morning, I CAN'T print from DOS! The settings for
the LPT1 port are the same as I left them yesterday per
the HP article. What's up and what to do next - ?

 

[Tom Buggy]

Further Experimentation:

I changed the LPT1 Port Settings back to the
original "never use an interrupt" and unchecked
the "legacy PnP" box. A reset was invoked by the
system. I could then not print from DOS (as expected).
I then changed the Port Settings per the HP article. A
reset was not invoked by the system. I could then print
from DOS. I did another reset and could not print from
DOS. I repeated the above and could print from DOS.

What in the world is going on? Obviously, the changed
Port Settings do not take effect when a reset is done,
even though these changed settings remain in place in
Device Manager - ???

 

[Guest]

Oh Boy - my apologies to all who have tried to help. THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED
and I (or rather an installed program) caused it!

I had a program called Click to Convert that installed its own "printer"
(so-called). I had removed the program but could not delete its printer
until I discovered there were print jobs in its queue. Once I cancelled the
jobs and deleted this printer, I could print from DOS.

Furthermore, I can print from DOS WITHOUT the Port Settings changes and with
EITHER the printer on LPT1 or the one on DOT4 as the Default Printer.

I've wasted several days on this. Hopefully, I haven't led anyone down a
blind and bad path.