Printing from DOS Versions of PROCON's Software Systems under Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista

• Ensure that a Laser printer (with PCL emulation) is connected to the PC or network. (A parallel connection is necessary unless a network printer is used.)

• Install and run the PROCON DOS application.

• Go to "Master Menu" -> "Customization" -> "Printer Setup".
  Set "Device" to PRN. (DOS associates PRN with printer LPT1.
  Set "Laser Printer" to Yes.
  Set "Paper Size" appropriately to A4, Letter, etc.
  Set "Scalable Fonts" to Yes (probably correct).

• Press [F2] to save the changes.
  Reply Yes to the prompt "Print a Test Sheet".
  If the test page prints - and the font widths etc., look OK you have correctly setup the application and printer.
  If not . . .

• Check that the device "LPT1" maps to a physical printer.
  Open a command window (XP: "Start Menu" -> Run and type "CMD").
  Type
      COPY CON LPT1
   to copy keyboard input directly to the device.
  Type some text like
      This is a Test
  and hit [F6] to end the copy.
  The text will print if the device LPT1 maps to the printer.

• If the printer shows no sign of activity - and it is shared on a network - it may be because LPT1 has not been "connected" to the printer. Ask your network administrator to fix this or make the connection yourself. To do this:-

  • First check for an existing connection.
    From a command prompt, type:
       NET USE LPT1:
    If the connection exists you will get a response like this:
    ------------------------------------
    Local name LPT1
    Remote name \\10.129.210.71\HPLaserJ
    Resource type Print
    Status OK
    # Opens 0
    # Connections 1
    The command completed successfully.
    -----------------------------------
     and the failure to print is NOT due to a missing connection.

  • To "permanently" connect LPT1 to a shared printer, type:
      NET USE LPT1: "\\ComputerName\PrinterName" /persistent:yes
    substituting appropriate 'ComputerNames' and 'PrinterNames'.
    (The quotation marks are necessary if "\\ComputerName\PrinterName" contains any embedded spaces.)

  • To connect LPT1 to a different printer, first remove the existing connection. To do this, Type:
      NET USE LPT1: /delete

• If you do not get printer activity - and are NOT connected to a network - check the Properties of the default printer.
  To do this:
  Go to: "Start Menu" -> "Settings" -> "Control Panel" -> "Printers & Faxes" -> Current Default Printer
  Select Printer -> Properties -> Advanced
  If the option to "Spool . . ." is checked make sure that "Start printing immediately" is also checked.
  You can also try the alternative option to "Print directly to the printer".

Return to the applications " Printer Setup " screen and try setting " Scalable Fonts" to No.

If this solves the problem your printer does not provide scalable fonts in PCL mode. (See the text file LJ2FONTS.TXT for details on soft font packages that can greatly improve the flexibility of these printers.)

• Windows printing in general
• Printing from MS-DOS Programs
• Printing over a network
• Speeding up printing
• Solving device conflicts etc.

See: - Running MS-DOS Versions of PROBID, PROBILL, and PROPLAN under Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista.