Changing Printer from LPT1 to USB

I have an accounting program (DOS but Windows capable) that only prints to an LPT port. Now that printers only have USB ports I can no longer print. Is there a program that will redirect my LPT1 output to the USB printer? Help please.

 

Might be worth a look here although its a dos command prog for Wordperfect but you may get a hint of what needs doing..
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/winprint.html

or a parallel to USB cable http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=381274&CatId=76

 

if you are unable to get it to work i got a HP printer you can have for around $10+ shipping it only has a LPT port and no usb
sorry toke but he cant use that because he needs his to print from the printer port not USB. i'm sorry i just dont want him to waste his money and i will throw in a 6foot cable

 

You got the answer there N5

 

Also, you can map the USB to a virtual LPT interface through Command. There is a keyboard article on microsoft.com that explains it. As for the USB to parrallel, that would be the cheaper router defiantely an painless.

 

Just to clarify - my old software can print to parallel (LPT 1, 2 or 3) or COM (1, 2, 3 or 4) ports or to a PRN device. I want it to print to my new USB printer. It of course knows nothing about USB since it was written long before USB came into existence.

I really prefer to get away from a parallel cable since all the printers are going USB. I would be very interested in mapping my LPT port or PRN to the USB port of my new printer. Where can I learn more about it?

 

This should help you out.

How to print to a network printer from an MS-DOS-based program in Windows XP
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 314499
Last Review : May 27, 2004
Revision : 1.0
This article was previously published under Q314499
For a Microsoft Windows 2000 version of this article, see 154498 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/154498/).
On This Page
INTRODUCTION
MORE INFORMATION
Method 1
Method 2
APPLIES TO

INTRODUCTION
This article describes how to print to a network printer from an MS-DOS-based program in Microsoft Windows XP.
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MORE INFORMATION
By default, most MS-DOS-based programs print directly to either the LPT1 port or to the LPT2 port. However, the output is not automatically routed across a redirector to a print share unless you use one of the following methods.
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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 that is 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 that is 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.
Note In Windows XP, non-administrative users cannot map an LPT port to a network printer path when the LPT port exists on the computer as a physical parallel port.

For additional information about how to map LPT ports as a regular user, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
313644 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313644/) Non-administrators cannot remap an LPT port to a network printer
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Method 2
Print directly to the printer share by using the following syntax at a command prompt
print /d:\\printserver\sharenamedrive:\path\filename
where printserver is the print server sharing the printer, where sharename is the name of the printer share, and where drive:, path, and filename make up the complete path of the document that you want to print.

For example, to print a document that is named letter.doc from the root directory of drive C to a printer shared as Laser1 on a print server that is 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 print /d:\\pserver\laser1 c:\letter.doc, and then press ENTER.

The following command-line message appears:
C:\letter.doc is currently being printed
4. To quit the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER.
Because Novell NetWare's CAPTURE command is not supported in Windows XP, use the following command to map the LPT port to a Novell NetWare print queue:
net use lptx \\server\queue
If the LPT port is redirected successfully, you receive the following message:
The command completed successfully.
To disconnect persistent LPTx connections, use the following syntax:
net use lptx /delete
Note When you try to use the CAPTURE command, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
CAPTURE-4.01-923: An unexpected error has occurred: 255 (00FF).
(SPOOL.C: [426])
For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
156429 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156429/) Supported 16-bit utilities and NetWare-aware applications
308028 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308028/) Resources for troubleshooting printing problems in Windows XP
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

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Keywords: kberrmsg kbhowto kbinfo kbprint kb3rdparty KB314499

 

Or you can use this nifty tool:

http://www.dosprn.com/

 

Theefool -
Thanks. I had downloaded it earlier and gave up. While it looks like a nifty program, the documentation is nearly non-existent and I couldn't figure out how to use the thing. I may play with it again at a later date though.

Brownizs -
Thanks to you too. I've been using the net command as described in your Method 1 and it seems to work. I'm thinking I should still be able to print to that same printer with Windows based software like Word and Excel and have these programs still see it as a USB device while my DOS program sees it as LPT2, no?

Also, your Method 2 wouldn't work because I'm not printing files. I'm printing directly from a DOS program.

Lastly, is there any way to ship PCL5 escape codes to the printer when it is in LPT2 mode? I'd really like to control some of the formatting.

 

The info was from a Microsoft KB article, so you have to look at it in the interest that it may not apply to everyone. When you map to a net printer, you have to Unshare afterwards (this is where a .bat file comes in handy).

As for passing PCL5 codes, that is a question in itself.

 

"313644 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313644/) Non-administrators cannot remap an LPT port to a network printer "


Will the command prompt return an error to that effect? We spent several hours, yesterday attempting Method 1, to no avail. We removed all non admin profiles, etc. We went so far as to physically unplug the lpt.

The only error we received was on the program side, when we tried to print. The error was just a string of numbers.

 

"Brownizs -
Thanks to you too. I've been using the net command as described in your Method 1 and it seems to work. I'm thinking I should still be able to print to that same printer with Windows based software like Word and Excel and have these programs still see it as a USB device while my DOS program sees it as LPT2, no?"

I'm also interested in this answer.

Thank you.

 

Would DOSPRN fix this?