Printing from dos programs in win 10

We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.

With win 10 the programs work fine but we cannot print. With
one computer we could only print one page. We would have to
restart the computer to print another page.

We have gone back to win 7. We really did not need win 10.

I tried this on 3 separate computers.

HS

On 25-7-2015 11:14, HS wrote:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.

With win 10 the programs work fine but we cannot print. With
one computer we could only print one page. We would have to
restart the computer to print another page.

We have gone back to win 7. We really did not need win 10.

I tried this on 3 separate computers.

HS



"Microsoft does not provide parallel drivers for 64-bit versions of
Windows."
(see:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85%29.aspx)

Are you working with 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 10?

Also check: "Using Compatibility Mode to Resolve Driver problems"
(
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...b-291300006293
)

On 25/07/2015 10:49 AM, Luuk wrote:
On 25-7-2015 11:14, HS wrote:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.

With win 10 the programs work fine but we cannot print. With
one computer we could only print one page. We would have to
restart the computer to print another page.

We have gone back to win 7. We really did not need win 10.

I tried this on 3 separate computers.

HS



"Microsoft does not provide parallel drivers for 64-bit versions of
Windows."
(see:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85%29.aspx)


Are you working with 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 10?


For the 2 dos programs we need 32 bit.

Windows 10 32 bit installs the software for the parallel port
with the upgrade.

I read somewhere that I should download the printer drivers from the
manufacturer and install it in "compatibilty mode". This is a little
bit of greek to me but will try on test system in the office.

HS

HS wrote on 7/25/2015 5:14 AM:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.

With win 10 the programs work fine but we cannot print. With
one computer we could only print one page. We would have to
restart the computer to print another page.

We have gone back to win 7. We really did not need win 10.

I tried this on 3 separate computers.

HS


Have you tried something like installing a PDF printer?
CutePDF or PDF creator http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

It's a bit tedious, but print to a pdf then load the pdf in adobe reader and print it as you normally would. One of
these print drivers might even print itself bypassing adobe.

But like you say, if you don't really need 10, then it's a no brainer. But some day will come and this bridge will
have to be crossed.

Then there's the 3rd option. I have a 35mm film scanner that has no driver updates past windows xp. So I keep a dual
boot copy of windows xp around just for that. I'm still trying to scan and digitize all this celluloid.

On Sat, 25 Jul 2015 16:49:01 +0200, Luuk wrote:

On 25-7-2015 11:14, HS wrote:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional and printing was no
issue as long as we use parallel ports.

With win 10 the programs work fine but we cannot print. With one
computer we could only print one page. We would have to restart the
computer to print another page.

We have gone back to win 7. We really did not need win 10.

I tried this on 3 separate computers.

HS



"Microsoft does not provide parallel drivers for 64-bit versions of
Windows."
(see:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ware/ff543952%
28v=vs.85%29.aspx)

Are you working with 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 10?

Also check: "Using Compatibility Mode to Resolve Driver problems"
(
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...insider_wintp-
insider_devices/how-to-install-and-update-drivers-in-windows-10/
a97bbbd1-9973-4d66-9a5b-291300006293
)

I'm using a 21 year old HP Laserjet 4P parallel port printer with Windows
10 Pro 64bit. The computer is fitted with a StarTech PCIe parallel port
card. I had to obtain the driver for the port from the StarTech web site,
but Microsoft supplied the driver for the old Laserjet printer. I guess
card and printer are 32bit.

On 26/07/2015 9:57 AM, Gary Heston wrote:
In article ,
Luuk wrote:
On 25-7-2015 11:14, HS wrote:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.
[ ... ]

Then again, perhaps there's a $11 hardware solution:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...t &Submit=ENE

Search for "usb to parallel printer adapter" for more options.

Hardware always beats software for efficiency.


Gary


All my computer have Parralel port either built in the motherboard
or with an addition of a PCI card.

There is one suggestion I read on the internet. It is to download
the printer driver and install it in compatility mode.

I will have to do some reading in how this is done.

Any suggestions?

HS

On 26/07/2015 10:38 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
HS wrote:

Any suggestions?

Aa long as Windows sees the LPT1: port, why does it matter if Windows
does or doesn't have a driver for the printer? Surely you just need to
direct (or re-direct) the output of the DOS program to the port, if it's
plain ASCII no problems, if the program knew the right escape sequences
for the printer before, no problem it still should.




This is what happened with one computer.

We print one page at a time in the lab. ( A very small volume.)

The first page will print fine. We cannot print the another page
unless we reboot the system.

It appears the software is failing to send some code to the printer
that the the page has ended.

We had no such problem with windows 7


It is an extremely old dos program - Professional Write version 2

http://vetusware.com/download/PFS%20...e%20_/?id=4902

I have written about 25 macros about 25 years ago which makes the form
entry a steal.

HS

In article ,
Luuk wrote:
On 25-7-2015 11:14, HS wrote:
We have 2 old dos programs in my office.

With win 7 32 bit these programs were functional
and printing was no issue as long as we use parallel ports.
[ ... ]

Then again, perhaps there's a $11 hardware solution:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...t &Submit=ENE

Search for "usb to parallel printer adapter" for more options.

Hardware always beats software for efficiency.


Gary

HS wrote:

Any suggestions?

Aa long as Windows sees the LPT1: port, why does it matter if Windows
does or doesn't have a driver for the printer? Surely you just need to
direct (or re-direct) the output of the DOS program to the port, if it's
plain ASCII no problems, if the program knew the right escape sequences
for the printer before, no problem it still should.

HS wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

As long as Windows sees the LPT1: port, why does it matter if Windows
does or doesn't have a driver for the printer? Surely you just need to
direct (or re-direct) the output of the DOS program to the port

This is what happened with one computer.

We print one page at a time in the lab. ( A very small volume.)
The first page will print fine. We cannot print the another page
unless we reboot the system.

What did the "Generic/Text Only" driver make of the printer, could it
send more than one page? I'm assuming this driver still exists with
Win10, as I no longer have a Win10 VM.