DOS Printing to USB or Shared Printers on Windows XP


In some case still today there are people who are required to use old DOS-based systems for their business. Not necessarily by choice but still be the case. When it comes to printing from these system it is simple in that DOS simply pushes the print straight on to the static port whether it be Parallel or Serial. However USB doesn't work in DOS.

 If this post, or any of my other posts, have been helpful to you please leave a comment. Also consider making a donation.

This is how I have setup printing to USB (or network) printers from DOS-based systems. Here I create a virtual printer port pointing to a network shared printer (even locally connected).

Sharing a Printer in Windows XP

  1. Open the printer's Property Page
  2. Select the Sharing tab
  3. Select the Share this printer radio button
    In the Share name box, enter in a share name for the printer. Something short and simple is preferable. If you are using a HP LaserJet 1020, maybe your share name could be HPLJ1020.
  4. Once you have your printer shared, click OK


Note: Also make sure that File and Print Sharing is except through any software firewalls including Windows Firewall

Mapping the Printer in DOS / Windows XP Command Prompt

Note: 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 LPT11.
  1. Open a Command Prompt (Start > Run > cmd)
  2. Type :
    net use LPTx: \\computername\printersharename  /persistent:yes
  3. Then press Enter.
Note: Where x is in LTPx:, replace with prefered port number. E.g. LPT1.

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


Note: The /persistent:yes  parameter makes the mapping of the printer to the emulated LPTx port persistent, so you don't have to issue this command every time you logon or otherwise create a batch script.

Now in the DOS application, printing to the mapped printer LPT port should print to your assigned printer.

Reference: http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/printfromdos.htm

Comments

  1. postcard printingMay 2, 2012 at 3:22 PM

    A very good idea of sharing a printer in window xp as by sharing a such devices we can protect our precious money.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 13, 2013 at 4:31 PM

    If printer link in via USB port this command can't perform : (

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mueeid SoomroDecember 19, 2016 at 10:51 PM

    Thus, one could have a large range of printing option without visiting here and there. This saves not only time but money as well. parkplaceprinting

    ReplyDelete
  4. MarryDecember 22, 2016 at 8:27 PM

    For instance, you have printing prerequisite of around 200 cards for your business. With electronic innovation going to your guide, you guarantee an effective occupation as well as keep up consistency over the cards. http://www.printingreviewed.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Repair Windows 7 after removing a Linux partition (Dual Boot)

Image
I have seen the appear alot in the forums of people are running a dual boot scenario on their computers, dual-booting Windows with Linux, and no longer want the Linux system. Simply removing the paritions causes Windows to longer boot. In this article I explain how you can fix this problem.

In this article, I will show you how to repair Windows 7 after removing Ubuntu 11.10. Although, this will work regardless of the distribution of Linux you are using.




When you remove the Linux partition(s) you essentially remove the boot loader and screw up the master boot record. This need to be repaired for Windows to work again.

Contents
Removing the Linux PartitionsRepairing Windows Boot LoaderRemoving the Linux Partitions

Boot to Windows 7 and open Computer Management. Do this by either right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage, or simple search for Computer Management from the Start Menu. Once open, select Disk Management.



Here you will see the layout of the Hard Drive. Right-click and del…
Read more

Office 365 ScanPST to fix corrupted Outlook files

Image
In Office 365, which uses the Click-to-Run technology, Office program files are now in a new location.


When you experience issues with Outlook, often you would use the ScanPST.exe tool to repair PST and OST files with Outlook.

This tool can now be found in the following location:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\ScanPST.exe
This should apply for both 32-bit and 64-bit installations of Office 365.

Update:

 Microsoft has published a Knowledge Base article list the locations of the ScanPST utility depending on your installation of Office 365. Whether you're using 32 or 64 bit versions.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/272227


Read more

Switching/Moving from Evernote to Microsoft OneNote

Image
Update 4 (25-Apr-2016): Microsoft now provide their own tool for migrating you data from Evernote to Microsoft OneNote. See here: https://www.onenote.com/import-evernote-to-onenote

Update 3 (13-Apr-2014): A lot of people in the comments noted a recent issue with the software prompting for both Evernote and LinkedIn passwords unnecessarily. I won't be updating this post any further due to it's age and no longer recommending the conversion software.

Update 2: Microsoft have released a native client for Mac OS X. Also OneNote for Windows is detached from the Office suite and available for free.

Update: A lot of people had issues with this post in that it either they had issues or it did work at all. Problem here is that newer versions of OneNote may have issues with this process. There may be other issues that I am unable to test for.

When doing this guide, keep in mind that it will attempt to export to a new OneNote file. Each notebook in Evernote will become a new OneNote file. So…
Read more