DOS Programs Using Parallel Ports on a D620 on XP ?

Question

Hi,   I have a Latitude D620 on XP sp2,  I have to use some old legacy DOS programs once in a while. I used to be able to print on the network printer from these programs with my previous HP Laptop (which had a parallel port) using the following DOS statement: NET USE LPT1:\SERVER\HP4200 for example.   With my D620, no Parallel port, so the NET use on LPT1 always returns an UNAVAILABLE status.   No problem!, I will buy the Docking Station (which has a parallel port), however even after trying different BIOS LPT1 settings, I always receive the UNAVAILABLE status.   Anybody would have ideas?   Yes I really do have to use these softwares, because their Windows equivalents give me (experience has proven) unreliable calculation results!   Thanks   ym

dg1261 · Answer

Just to be sure, I'll assume there's a space after the "lpt1:" in your command tail, right?

I don't think it makes any difference if the D620 has a physical port or not. You should be able to map lpt1--or even lpt2 or lpt3--even with no physical parallel ports. (At least, I've never had any trouble with that.)

You've checked for all the usual suspects? Sharing is still enabled for the printer? The name is still spelled correctly? Both the D620 and the server are online and able to communicate with each other (e.g., can you share folders)? Is there any firewall on either machine that may be blocking traffic? (Stuff like Norton Internet Security is notorious for causing such problems.)

bryves · Answer

dg1261,

you were right on the account of the "usual suspect" since the name of the shared printer from the server had been changed. Now my LPT1: Net Use has an OK status.

What is baffling is that when I try to print from this DOS Sizing program, the program exits very quickly. I can hear some saying: "Ah!, it is the software that croaks!", the disturbing fact is that the same Net Use thing used to work pretty good last year with my HP Laptop on XP...

Anybody aware of where I can look to see what is happening, it could be pif setting related...

I cannot see anything askew in the Application Event Viewer, however I have something wrong in my system log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10009
Date:  2007-12-06
Time:  15:36:01
User:  YVESD620\Michy
Computer: YVESD620
Description:
DCOM was unable to communicate with the computer MICHY using any of the configured protocols.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

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DOS Programs Using Parallel Ports on a D620 on XP ?

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