I need to add an additional parallel port for a zip drive on a IBM 300PL computer running Windows NT 4.0. We have a software key on the existing port, which does not alow the zip drive to operate properly. I have installed many of these with no problems under windows 95/98, but the port is not recognized in windows NT. Is there something I'm missing, or a trick to getting NT to recognize the port?
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Usually when a second printer port won't work it is because something else has used its interrupt. If you are using a legacy NIC, this is your prime suspect. Sound cards also try to grab this interrupt.
To test whether or not your port is actually being seen, try hanging your printer on it and installing the driver.
Your question sounds as if you have already plugged in the card and are waiting for NT to discover it. That would be the procedure under Win9x, but NT doesn't do PnP. You have to Add/Remove Hardware in Control Panel. For a second parallel port (LPT2) the standard settings are IRQ 5 @ 378h or 278h. The 378h address is also an optional setting for LPT1, so if this produces a conflict, use 278h. Good luck...
The Add/Remove hardware feature is not available under Windows NT4.0, in ether the workstation or server versions. This is why I am having the problem.
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Adding a LPT port in windows NT 4.0