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This page includes basic advice for using WPDOS 5.1 or 6.x on a Windows network that uses Microsoft Networking under Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, or XP. Your network can use any protocol supported by Windows networking (NETBEUI, TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, etc.), and WPDOS will use the network in exactly the same way. The page also includes information on printing to Netware print queues.
For information on printing to a networked printer, see a separate page on printing to USB, networked, and wireless printers.
For information on networking DOS computers with Windows networks, see the page on the DOS Client for Microsoft Networks at the World of Windows Networking site.
Warning: I have not tested any of the instructions in this section. I am simply repeating information that I have learned from WPDOS documentation and from expert users, notably Brian Hancock.
Printing to Netware from WPDOS under Windows NT, 2000, or XP: Use this elegant and ingenious method devised by Brian Hancock. It requires a Netware queue with no more than eight letters in its name; if your existing queue has a name longer than eight letters, create an additional queue with a shorter name, and specify that it is serviced by the same printer as the existing queue.
Next, add your queue to the list of ports in Windows; you will need to do
this on each workstation that has a copy of WPDOS. Run Windows Regedit.exe and
navigate to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Ports
You will see entries for various standard ports, e.g.
LPT1 and
COM1. Add a New string value with the Queue name followed by a colon,
e.g. HP5_Q1:
Add similar entries for any other queues. (If you need to do this on multiple machines, use the Export function in Regedit.exe to export the Ports key with its various values, then edit the resulting .reg file with Notepad or any other text editor; when editing, remove the entries for everything other than the new values so that only the new values will be added when you merge the .reg file with the registry on other machines; save the resulting file; store it on a floppy disk, thumb drive, or any other removable or network drive and double-click on it from any workstation to import it into the registry of that machine.) After editing Regedit.exe or merging data via a .reg file, restart Windows.
Start WPDOS with the /NT=1 switch, use Shift-F7, Select, Edit, Port; then, in WPDOS 5.1 select Other, or in WPDOS 6.x select Filename, and Network Port, and specify the name of the queue that you created earlier, complete with the colon at the end of the name, e.g. HP5_Q1: When WPDOS 5.1 asks if this is a network queue, answer No, even though it really is a network queue. (Why? No one knows, but it works.)
One unexpected effect is that WPDOS now adds a blank page to the end of any print job. You may be able to set up your printer (using the printer's own software or control panel) to suppress the ejection or printing of blank pages. (If someone finds a way around this problem, please send feedback.)
This method has been tested under WPDOS 5.1 by Brian Hancock. I have inferred what seems to be the correct method for WPDOS 6.x, but I cannot be certain that these methods are correct. Please send feedback if you can improve on these instructions.
Printing to Netware from WPDOS under DOS or Windows 3.x, 95, 98, or Me: Use the procedure described in the WPDOS manual, more or less like the following.
If you can print to a remote Netware printer from standard Windows applications, you should be able to print to the remote printer using WPDOS. If you did not choose the network installation option when installing WPDOS, reinstall it now, and select "1 - Novell NetWare" as the network type. After reinstalling, start WPDOS with this startup switch, which tells WP to configure itself for Netware: /NT=1
After launching WPDOS with the /NT=1 startup switch, use Shift-F7, Select, Edit, Port; then, in WPDOS 5.1 select Other, or in WPDOS 6.x select Network Port, and specify the name of the Netware printer queue (WPDOS 5.1 will ask you whether the filename is a printer queue and whether you want to suppress the top of the form, an option useful only with dot-matrix printers).
WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x can list, open, and save any files on a remote network drive or folder that is mapped to a drive letter on your system. You must, of course, have adequate access rights to the remote drive or folder to be able to list, open, or save files. To map a remote network folder under Windows, open an Explorer window and choose Tools/Map Network Drive.
WPDOS 6.x can open files on remote network drives using Universal Naming Conventions (UNC) names, for example, \\orem\source\wp.txt. However, WPDOS 6.x cannot save files using UNC names. If you open a file with a UNC name, you can only save it to a local folder, or to a remote folder that has been mapped to use a drive letter. Also, WPDOS 6.x cannot display lists of files in a folder with a UNC name. You need to know the full UNC name of the file you are opening before you can open it, and you will need to type in the UNC name by hand in the File/Open dialog.
WPDOS 5.1 cannot use UNC names to list, open, or save files. You must map remote network drives to drive letters.
Note: I do not know of any good reason to run WPDOS from a network server with modern computers that have more than enough disk space to hold separate copies of WPDOS on every client computer. The information in this section is provided only in case you absolutely need it.
In order to run WPDOS from a network server over a Microsoft Windows network, you will probably need to choose the option for network installation when installing; if you do need to choose this option, select "4 - IBM LAN Network" as the network type.
If you are prompted for the location of WP.FIL when you launch WPDOS from a network server, modify the properties of the Windows shortcut from which you launch WPDOS. On the Program tab, the "Working" or "Start in" field should have the name of the network directory that contains the main WPDOS program file. (You will almost certainly need to use a "mapped" network drivename, with a drive letter and a colon, followed by the name of the directory; a network-style path that begins //servername/directoryname probably will not work.)
If you encounter other error messages, especially after moving WP to a different drive or server, you may need to edit the WP{WP}.ENV file originally created by the WP Network installation program. The WP{WP}.ENV file may be found in your main WP program directory; it includes two lines:
/nt=(network type)
/ps=(drive/directory path)
as in
/nt=4
/ps=f:\appl\wp51\user_set
Here /nt (network type) is a number (4 is used for Windows networks) and /ps (personal setup) points to the directory where the personal setup files are stored. If you change the location of the main WP files or user setting files, edit the WP{WP}.ENV file to reflect the changes.