Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

printer port problem

0 helpful
9 replies

by stargater

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
Windows 98 PC. Has a dot matrix printer installed. Dos program printing to it (this DOS program by passes the windows drivers and prints directly to the port). Installed a HP840C printer driver onto this PC - now when I print from my DOS program - the printer prints very slowly.

9 replies

by mckaytech

You haven't told us much about your setup (i.e. are the dot matrix and the HP840C both parallel, sharing a port, serial/parallel, etc.) but I would guess that the HP driver has installed itself between the hardware and the DOS program so the DOS program has to wait for the HP driver to time out after each sequence and that is the slowness you're seeing.

My experience with solving these kinds of problems has not been very good but I would certainly try a few options like installing a second LPT2 card (if both are parallel)and making sure different interrupts are being used, etc.

paul

by stargater

Paul, thank you for responding. To tell you more about the setup. The HP840C printer is not attached to this PC - it was set up on this PC but then the port was changed to another PC on the network. I've tried installing another LPT card but it still prints slow. I've also tried uninstalling the HP printer but it does not remove whatever it set up. Only solution I've come up with so far is to format the hard disk and set up windows again - not really what I want to do.

by jmatt

Press Delete ( del ) on boot up , now this part can vary depending on
your version .
Go to Intergrated Peripherals & then Onboard Parallel Mode , using
the arrow key .
Make a note of the existing entry .
Use the Page Down button to try thenext entry .
Press Esc .
Save & Exit , Y , press Enter .
If it is still not right , repeat above , again & again .
If you find a entry that works , make sure you make a note of it .
Eventually you get back to where you started . John .

by stargater

Thanks for your reply. But I've already tried this. None of the entries in the BIOS settings makes any difference.

by mckaytech

Before you re-format and start over, you might want to just wander through the registry and see if there are any HP840C registry keys you can delete. Also, look in the WIN.INI, and SYSTEM.INI and registry for any lines that might start a printer driver program and if you find them, delete them.

HP printer drivers typically install a port monitor program and I think that is probably what is causing the problem. If you can find where it starts, you may save yourself a complete rebuild.

paul

by stargater

Paul, thanks again for replay. I deleted everything in the WIN.INI file that related to HP printers. Nothing in the SYSTEM.INI file. Deleted everything in the registry that had HP in it. No luck. The port monitor program that you mention - is it possible that it is a different name - nothing to do with HP ??????

by kenone

Go To Device Manager - make sure the port type is just Printer Port (LPT) not ECP printer port - if it is change it back to LPT port

by stargater

Hi, already tried this. But since I posted this question, one of our tech people finally solved it. In the printer settings (its an OKI 3320), there is an option "Bi-Direction" which was Disabled, changed this to enable and the printer speeded up. This option was not on the older OKI printers but has appeared on the newer models.

Thanks for all the help.

This discussion is closed to new replies.