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This page contains information on printing and faxing from WPDOS under Windows. Other information on running WPDOS under Windows may be found on this site's Windows page. To print from WPDOS to USB printers under Windows, see the note on USB printing.
Important warning! Read this now! Before attempting to fix any problems in printing from WPDOS to your Windows printer, be absolutely certain that you can print from Windows applications to your printer. If you are not absolutely certain that you can print from Windows applications, press Ctrl-P now and print this page. If it does not print correctly, install the Windows software for your printer; then make absolutely certain that you can print from Windows applications; and test whether you can now print correctly from WPDOS. If your WPDOS printing problems persist, return to this page.
Don't be clueless! The advice on this page applies to WordPerfect for DOS only! Do not use the advice on this page to solve problems with WordPerfect for Windows (which is what Clueless Visitor No. 46 tried to do)! You will only make the problems worse! (One of a series of Don't be clueless! warnings.)
If you experience lockups, crashes, or long delays or when printing from WPDOS under Windows, or if WPDOS documents print with an extra first and last page containing a line or two of nonsense characters or nothing at all, or if bits of text are missing from your printouts, these problems are all the result of bugs in the Windows printing system. They are easy to fix by using one or more of the solutions listed below, starting with the first:
(1a) If you use Windows 95, 98, or Me: Go to the Windows Start menu, choose Settings/Printers, select your default printer, and press Alt-Enter to bring up the Properties dialog. (You can also reach the Properties dialog by right-clicking on the printer's name and choosing Properties from the pop-up menu). Choose the Details tab, then Port Settings; this will open the "Configure LPT Port" dialog, where you should clear the check box next to "Spool MS-DOS print jobs." (You may also need to clear the check box next to "Check port state before printing," but do this only if you still cannot print after clearing the check box next to "Spool MS-DOS print jobs.") Press OK to close this dialog, then OK to close the printer properties dialog.
You do not need to make these changes with any printer other than your default printer; and you do not need to make this change with any fax drivers, PDF writers, or other devices that may be on your system along with the printer drivers.
(1b) If you use Windows 2000 or XP, and printing does not start until you close WPDOS: Go to the Windows Start menu; from there, depending on your system, choose either Settings/Printers, or Settings/Printers and Faxes, or choose Control Panel and find the Printers or Printers and Faxes menu. Find your default printer on the list (it will have a small check mark on its icon). Right-click on its name. Choose Properties. Go to the Advanced tab. Under "Spool print documents ..." select the option "Start printing immediately." Press OK and close the list of printers. If this does not help, return to the same Advanced tab, and select "Print directly to the printer."
(2) If you have made the change specified in item (1a) or (1b), and Windows continues to display an error message or dialog box when you try to print from WPDOS, your system may have a conflict with HP's Toolbox utility. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del (under Windows NT, 2000, or XP, use Ctrl-Alt-Del, then Task Manager), and look for Hppropty on the list of running programs; if it is present, choose End Task to shut down the Toolbox. If this change allows to print without errors from WPDOS, you should disable the Toolbox permanently by deleting or renaming HPPROPTY.EXE in the C:\Windows\System folder (or use Start/Find or Start/Search to find HPPROPTY.EXE if it is in a different folder).
(3) In WPDOS 6.x, the Print/Fax menu includes, under Output Options, an option to "Print Job Graphically." If the box next to this option is checked, remove the checkmark.
(4) Under Windows NT, 2000, and XP, in order to print from WPDOS, you must not turn on WordPerfect's "Print to Hardware Port" option. (Of course is it perfectly all right to print to the ports LPT1, etc; but you must not turn on the additional option labeled "Print to Hardware Port.") To make sure that you do not have this option turned on, follow these steps: in WPDOS 5.1, under Shift-F7/Select Printer/Edit, set the Print to Hardware Port option to No (note that this option does not exist in the earliest versions of WPDOS 5.1, so if you do not see it, you do not need to worry about it); in WPDOS 6.x, under Shift-F7/Select/Edit/Port, make sure there is no checkmark next to Print to Hardware Port. Windows NT, 2000, and XP do not allow programs direct access to printer or communication ports, and block any attempt to print to the port, so you must turn off this option if you want to print from WPDOS.
(5) If you use Windows 2000 or XP, and you have a printer connected to your computer through a parallel cable, and you can print from Windows applications, but not from DOS applications, you may need to change a setting in the Windows control panel. Use the Start Menu, then (depending on your system) either Settings/Control Panel or Control Panel; if you do not see System on the list, use the option in the upper left of the window to switch to Classic View. Open the System control panel, go to the Hardware tab, click on Device Manager, and find Ports on the list; click on the plus sign next to the word "Ports" to expand the list; double-click on "ECP printer port (LPT1)", go to the Port Settings tab, and, if there is no checkmark in the box next to "Enable legacy plug and play," add a checkmark and click OK. Then close the Device Manager and the System control panel. (Information provided by Len Weber.)
(6) In WPDOS, use Shift-F7, then Initialize Printer. This command should help to clear your printer's memory of any commands left over from Windows print jobs that may be getting in the way of your WPDOS print jobs.
(7) If WPDOS seems to stop printing old documents for no apparent reason, try this solution, which has worked in at least one instance: with WPDOS 5.1, go to Shift-F1/Initial Settings, and, under "Format Retrieved Documents for Default Printer," change Yes to No; with WPDOS 6.x, go to Shift-F1/Environment, and remove the checkmark next to "Format Document for Default Printer on Open."
(8) If no error message appears in Windows, but WPDOS does not print (and displays an error message saying that the printer is not accepting characters), then you may need to disable the HP LaserJet Director utility installed with the Windows drivers for the HP LaserJet 1200, 1220, 3200, and 3300 series. See this page on HP's web site with instructions for disabling the utility.
(9) If Windows 95, 98, or Me continues to display a "Device Conflict" message when you try to print from WPDOS, and you have an HP LaserJet 4, 5, or 6 series printer, download the enhanced Hewlett Packard driver for these printer models. After downloading the driver program, run the program to extract its files into its default directory (C:\LJ388). Go to the Start Menu, choose Settings/Printers, and delete the existing printer driver for your HP LaserJet 4, 5, or 6. Then click on Add Printer, click Next, then Next again, then Have Disk... and use the Browse button to find the C:\LJ388 directory. When "oem95.inf" appears the File name field, click OK, then OK again, then choose your printer model from the list. Follow the prompts until the new printer driver is installed. Make sure the new printer is selected as your default printer by right-clicking on its name and selecting Set as Default from the pop-up menu. You should now be able to print from WPDOS without seeing a "Device Conflict" message.
(10) In some Windows Me systems, WPDOS may not print properly until you enable expanded memory.
If your new Windows XP computer has a parallel port, and you have connected a parallel cable and printer that are known to work correctly, but your new computer does not allow you to print, then go to the XP Control Panel, then System, then open the Device Manager tab. Scroll down to Ports; click on the plus sign icon next to Ports; right-click on the entry that says "Parallel Port", go to the Port Settings tab, and add a checkmark next to Enable Legacy Plug and Play Detection; make sure that the port number is listed as LPT1. Restart your computer. You may now be able to print.
If this change does not help, then some other problem may be preventing your computer from printing, and I do not know what that problem might be.
WPDOS, like all other DOS applications, cannot print directly to a printer that is connected to your computer by a USB port instead of to a traditional parallel (LPT) or serial (COM) port, but you can use USB or wireless printers with WPDOS through one of the three methods described below. Important:
These methods work only if you already have a WPDOS printer driver for your printer and you have already installed the Windows printer driver for your USB or wireless printer and successfully printed to it from a Windows application (e.g. your web browser). You will probably need one of this site's WPDOS 5.1 printer drivers or WPDOS 6.x printer drivers for HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet, HP OfficeJet, or HP PhotoSmart printers, Lexmark laser printers, some laser and inkjet printers from Canon, Brother, and a few other manufacturers, or for any PostScript printer.
Very important paragraph, which you must read: These methods will not make it possible for you to print from WPDOS to printers that have no compatible WPDOS printer drivers; examples of such printers are most Dell, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark inkjet printers and all printers described by their manufacturers as "GDI printers" or "Windows-only" printers (many inexpensive HP and non-HP laser printers are Windows-only printers). If you want to print from WPDOS to a printer that has no compatible WPDOS printer driver, use this site's methods of printing from WPDOS to any Windows-supported printer, which work with printers connected to your computer by any type of connection, including parallel, serial, USB, and networks.
Very important note: These methods will only work if your USB or wireless printer already works perfectly with Windows applications such as Notepad or Word or your web browser. Do not even think about using these methods until you have already printed successfully to your USB or wireless printer from a Windows program! Please do not send e-mails asking me if there is a way to make these methods work outside of Windows, or if they will work when no Windows printer driver is installed for your printer. Instead, please carefully reread the first sentence of this paragraph until you understand it in full. Remember, these methods work only when you run WPDOS inside Microsoft Windows; you cannot print to a USB or wireless printer under plain DOS (in other words, when DOS runs but Windows is not running). And please don't ask if these methods will work with the ancient Windows 3.11 system; they will not.
Moderately interesting note: If you are willing to pay for software instead of using the free solutions recommended on this page, you can print from WPDOS to a USB or network printer with DOS2USB or Printfil; as with the other methods on this page, these programs will work properly if and only if a WPDOS printer driver already exists for your printer; you must set up DOS2USB to work in "DMP" mode (DMP means Dot Matrix Printing, but works with laser printers also), or you must set up Printfil to use "RAW" mode. I will not help you set up these programs; pay the registration fee and ask the program's authors for help.
Frequently-asked question:
Q. Why must I go to all this trouble? The Internet is filled with programs with names like DOSPRINT that obviously do the same thing with so much less trouble. Why don't you recommend those programs?
A. With the exception of DOS2USB and PRINTFIL, most such programs work only with plain text, not with the printer codes that WP uses to send font and other formatting information to a printer. If you are willing to use the limited font support of the "Standard Printer" driver in WPDOS, then please go ahead and try one of those programs. (I have never tried them, and I have no plans to try them.)
If you have not yet bought a new printer, buy one that works with a parallel cable so that you can print more easily from WPDOS. If you already have a printer, and can choose whether to use the USB or parallel cable, always use the parallel cable. If you have no choice, and you must use the USB cable or connect the printer wirelessly, follow the instructions in this section.
Note: If your printer is already set up under Windows to print from a USB port, but the printer can work with a parallel cable, you will find it much easier to print from WPDOS if you reinstall your printer for use with the parallel port. The procedure for switching ports on HP DeskJet printers is described in a set of instructions posted on HP's support site.
Note: If your USB-connected printer is on your network, but not connected to your own computer, then you need not worry about switching to a parallel cable, and you can print to the printer using one or more of the techniques listed on this site's networking page. If your USB-connected printer is connected to your own computer and you are running Windows 2000 or XP and your computer is always connected to a network, you should use the first of the two methods described below.
Remember that you must be able to print to your USB-connected or wireless-connected printer from a Windows program (such as your web browser) before these methods will work. That means that you must install the Windows printer driver for your printer and print a test page to make sure that the printer works correctly with Windows.
(Method A - the "net use" method) A simple method for Windows 2000 and XP only (not for Windows Vista): This method works with any Windows 2000 or XP computer, but because it relies on the networking features in Windows, you must either (1) have a system that is always connected to a network (which can be an Ethernet or wireless network, or an always-on cable or DSL connection), or (2) install the "Microsoft Loopback Adapter" software which tricks your computer into using its networking features even if it is not actually on a network. You can install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter software by following instructions elsewhere on this page.
If you are not certain whether or not your computer is always connected to a network, first perform the steps listed below to see if they work correctly on your system. If they work correctly, then you do not need to install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter; if they do not work, then install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter software and perform the steps listed below.
If your computer is always connected to a network, or after you have installed the Microsoft Loopback Adapter, perform all the following steps:
Depending on your Windows configuration, use Start/Control Panel (or Start/Settings/Control Panel), and choose Performance and Maintenance, then System (or go directly to System), then to the Computer Name tab, and write down the "Full computer name" (not the Computer description or Workgroup or any other name). Click Cancel and close the Control Panel. For example, your computer might be named Roscoe. (If your network administrator hasn't forbidden you to change the name, you can use this dialog box to change the existing name to any name you like.)
Then use Start/Control Panel/Printers and Faxes (or Start/Settings/Printers and Faxes, or Start/Settings/Printers) and right-click on the name of your USB or wireless printer. Select Sharing from the pop-up menu. If your USB or wireless printer does not already have a sharename, give it one (with no spaces or quotation marks, and preferably only a few letters long, like dj990). Click OK and exit the Sharing tab and printer list (if it is visible).
Use Start/Run and enter CMD, then click OK or press Enter. A DOS-like command window will open. At the prompt, enter a command that looks like this (replace Roscoe with the full name of your computer and replace dj990 with the sharename of your printer!!):
net use lpt1 \\Roscoe\dj990 /persistent:yes
Note: If, for some reason you find that you are unable to use this method to print after you reboot your computer, you might try using this version of the command instead in which the name of your computer is replaced with 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1 is the standard numerical "address" of your own computer, or, in technospeak, your "localhost"):
net use lpt1 \\127.0.0.1\dj990 /persistent:yes
(If, and only if, you already have a printer connected to your parallel port, use lpt2 instead of lpt1 in the command.) Press Enter at the end of the command, and close the window. You may now print from WPDOS and the output will go to your USB or wireless printer. If, and only if, you used lpt2 instead of lpt1 in the command, then, before printing from WPDOS, use Shift-F7/Select/Edit and change the Port from LPT1 to LPT2. (If you want to use a colon after lpt1 so that it looks like lpt1: that is perfectly all right, but the presence or absence of the colon makes no practical difference.)
Note: If, after giving this command, you see an error message (typically something about error code 66), then remove the sharename of your printer and disable sharing for the printer; press OK. Then repeat the procedure of assigning a sharename to the printer and try the command again.
If, after installing this procedure, you cannot print to LPT1 from WordPerfect for DOS, change the "net use" command to include LPT2 or LPT3 instead, and change the printer port in WPDOS to LPT2 or LPT3.
Note: If a physical parallel port exists on your computer, you must be an "administrative" user of Windows to assign LPT1 with this command; you probably are an administrative user if you are working with your own computer, but if you are not, use LPT2 instead of LPT1 as described above.
Note: If Windows responds to this command with an "Error
66" message, then you may be using firewall software that blocks printer
sharing. A post by "Jonathan" on an advice site offers this procedure for use
with the Norton Personal Firewall (similar methods may be used for other
firewalls; I have not tested this procedure with any firewall at all):
"Jonathan"
writes: You need to allow for printer sharing over 127.0.0.1. For Norton
Personal Firewall (part of Norton Internet Security), open the configuration
window for the firewall. In the "Networking" tab, first choose the proper
settings (Home, Away, Office, or Default). Click the "Trusted" tab below, then
"Add...". In the window that comes up, make sure "Individually" is selected, and
enter "127.0.0.1" as the host to allow. Click "OK" in this window, and "OK"
again to leave the Firewall configuration. If you want to allow sharing under
different locations, change "Settings for:" in the pull-down menu to and repeat
the steps to add 127.0.0.1 as a trusted host.
If you find that Windows does not preserve the assignment of LPTn to your shared printer after you reboot, then you will need to recreate it at the start of each Windows session. You can do this by creating a batch file that runs the "net use" command when Windows starts up. Do this by following this procedure:
First, run the Windows text editor called Notepad (Start/Run... and enter "Notepad" without quotation marks). Type in the "net use" command shown above (but of course you must replace Roscoe with the full name of your computer and replace dj990 with the actual sharename of your printer). Use Notepad's File/Save As menu; in the "Save in" field at the top, navigate to "Desktop" (the top item in the list); then, in the "File name" field toward the bottom, enter the following, with the quotation marks!!!! "NetUseLpt.bat"(remember to include the quotation marks!!!). Close Notepad. You should see an icon named NetUseLpt.bat on your desktop. Right-click on the Start button at the lower left of the screen; choose Open (the first item on the menu); in the window that opens, navigate to the Programs folder, then to Startup folder. Drag the NetUseLpt.bat icon into the Startup folder window. Restart Windows.
Note: If you ever need to undo the assignment of lpt1 to your USB or wireless printer, so that you can use a printer connected by a printer cable to the parallel port on your computer, reverse the earlier net use command by entering this command (remember that you may need to replace lpt1 with lpt2 or lpt3 if your original "net use" command used either of those port numbers):
net use lpt1 /delete
(Method B - the "PrintFile method") A slower and more complicated method for any Windows version (including Vista), whether or not your computer is connected to a network: The all-Windows-versions solution to the print-to-USB or wireless printer problem is a superb freeware program called PrintFile, by Peter Lerup. Follow the instructions below to set up WPDOS and PrintFile so that you can print to a USB- or wireless-connected printer. When you use this method, WPDOS "prints" to a temporary disk file instead of directly to your printer; this file is stored for a few seconds in a special spooler folder on your disk; PrintFile then transfers the file from the spooler folder to your printer; and, after the file has been sent to the printer, PrintFile deletes the temporary file from your disk.
PrintFile will not work with WPDOS unless you follow all the numbered steps in the instructions below. Do not simply install PrintFile and expect it to work without further setup.
Detailed instructions follow. Expert users may want to modify these instructions, but I strongly urge you to start by following the instructions exactly.
(1) Download and install PrintFile. You should probably create a Start menu item and a desktop shortcut, but you do not need to associate any file types with the program.
(2) Run PrintFile and click the Settings button. In the PrintFile Settings dialog, in the Current Settings field at the top, replace "Default Settings" with "USB Settings" or Wireless Settings" (without the quotation marks). Under General, add a checkmark next to "Enable spooler function," and remove the checkmark (if any) next to "Show printer selection dialog." I recommend that you add a checkmark next to "Show icon on the taskbar." Under Printer, I strongly recommend that you select the specific printer you want to use, instead of "Use default".
(3) Still in the PrintFile Settings window, click the Shortcut... button. In the Create PrintFile Shortcut dialog, choose the Desktop type; the Storage directory defaults to a subdirectory named Shortcuts, within the PrintFile directory, and need not be changed. Click OK to close the Create PrintFile Shortcut dialog; press Esc to close the PrintFile Settings dialog, and Exit the main PrintFile dialog. Find the "PrintFile - USB Settings" shortcut that has now been created on your desktop; you will return to it later.
(4) Create a new folder to use as a spool directory for your WPDOS print files. I suggest creating a folder named C:\WPSPOOL. The name of the folder must not be longer than eight characters. You should not use this directory for anything other than print spooling, because any files you place in the directory may be deleted by PrintFile's spooler function. This directory must not be the PrintFile Storage directory that you used in step (3).
Note: If you also use this site's methods for printing to any Windows printer or for faxing from WPDOS to Windows fax software, you may use the same spool directory with each method.
(5) Right-click on the "PrintFile - USB Settings" or "PrintFile - Wireless settings" desktop shortcut that you created in step (3), and select Properties. Click at the end of the existing line in the Target field. Type a space after the quotation mark at the end of the existing line, not inside the existing quotation marks, and then add the following string:
/s:C:\WPSPOOL\output.prn
Remember to insert a space before (to the left of) this string, and be extremely careful when typing the string itself: do not add any quotation marks, and please note that the string begins with a forward slash, followed immediately (no space) by the letter s and a colon, followed immediately (no space) by the directory name and filename (using backward slashes). The pathname in green (C:\WPSPOOL) should match the folder that you created in step (4). Click OK to close the Properties dialog but do not launch the shortcut.
Note for experts only: You can use *.prn or *.* (or any other file specification) instead of output.prn. You may want to write macros that use more than one filename for the output file that is specified in step (6).
(6) Now run WPDOS and edit your printer settings so that the printer output will be directed to a file on your disk. The procedure is slightly different in different WPDOS versions. In WPDOS 6.x, use Shift-F7/Select/Edit, and in the Edit Printer Setup screen, select Port, then Filename, and enter the pathname C:\WPSPOOL\OUTPUT.PRN. In WPDOS 5.1, use Shift-F7/Select Printer/Edit, and in the Select Printer: Edit screen, select Port, choose Other, and enter the pathname C:\WPSPOOL\OUTPUT.PRN. With either version, the directory in the pathname in green (C:\WPSPOOL) should be the folder you created in step (4).
(7) Launch the "PrintFile - USB Settings" or "PrintFile - Wireless Settings" shortcut that you modified in step (5). The PrintFile icon should appear in your system tray. Leave the PrintFile program running in the system tray; do not exit or close down PrintFile.
(8) Return to WPDOS and "print" a document. After a few seconds (perhaps as long as a minute under Windows XP), the document should print from your USB or wireless printer. If you are running WPDOS in full-screen mode, you do not need to reduce WPDOS to a window, nor do you need to return to the Windows desktop; the entire spooling and printing process occurs in the background.
(9) If all goes well, make a copy of the "PrintFile - USB Settings" or "PrintFile - Wireless Settings" shortcut that you modified in step (5) and add the copy to your Startup group so that it will run whenever you boot into Windows.
Note: If you have a DOS program that (unlike WPDOS) is unable to print to a file, you can print from it to a USB or wireless printer by combining Tom Kihlken's utility Prn2file.com with PrintFile. Download the self-extracting archive Prn2file.exe; unpack Prn2file.com into a temporary directory, and follow the instructions in the Prn2file.txt file to set up the program. Use Prn2file to redirect printer output to the same filename specified in step (6) above, and let PrintFile re-redirect the output to your USB or wireless printer in the same way it redirects WPDOS output in the steps listed above. If you run Prn2file.com from Autoexec.bat under Windows 95 or 98, it can be loaded into high memory with the LH command; or it may be run from a batch file in a DOS window under any Windows version. (Under Windows NT, 2000, and XP, Prn2file will work properly only if your DOS program can be set up to print to a port that does not really exist on your system, such as LPT2 or LPT3; if your DOS program can be set up to use one of these port names, add the /P2 or /P3 switch to Prn2file to capture output to the nonexistent port so that it can be re-redirected by PrintFile. This nonexistent-port workaround is not needed under Windows 95, 98, or Me.)
Note: If you want to print to a USB printer from
TrueType for WordPerfect or PrimeType for WordPerfect, and your
printer is compatible with one of the printers supported by those programs,
follow these instructions:
Using a text editor, edit the TTWP.CFG or PTWP.CFG file found in
your WordPerfect directory. Find the line that begins Port1=
and edit
it to read something like this: Port1=LPT1,C:\WPSPOOL\OUTPUT.PRN
and
save the file. If you do not already have a C:\WPSPOOL directory, create it.
Run WPDOS, select the TT HP LaserJet II printer driver and set
it to print to LPT1. Print a file; you will find a file named Output.prn in your
C:\WPSPOOL directory. Now follow the instructions above for redirecting the
Output.prn file with the PrintFile utility.
(Method C) A simple method for Windows 98 and Windows Me on systems with a network card installed: This method works with any Windows 98 (and probably any Windows Me) computer that has a network card installed in the computer and installed in Windows. (My thanks to José Gabriel Moya Yangüela for this suggestion.)
This is a summary description of what you need to do after installing a network card in your computer and installing its Windows software. If you do not know how to perform these steps, send me feedback and I will try to fill in the details.
Open a DOS window (use Start/Run and enter Command) and enter the command IPCONFIG. The results will give you an IP address, Subnet mask, and Default gateway. Leave the DOS window open so you can see these addresses.
Use Start/Settings/Control Panel/Network, select the entry that says TCP/IP-->Name of your network adapter, and choose Properties; on the IP address tab, select Specify an IP address, and enter the IP address and Subnet mask that you see listed in the DOS window under IPConfig. Write down the IP address for future reference; it will look something like 100.200.10.23, but with entirely different numbers from the ones used in the example!!!
Also in the Network control panel, click Add, and install the Client "Client for Microsoft Networks" and the Service "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" if it is not already installed; click on the File and Print Sharing button and make certain that the checkbox is checked next to "I want to be able to allow others to print to my printers." Click OK until you are prompted to restart your computer, and restart your computer.
After restarting, use Start/Control Panel/Printers to find your USB printer; right-click on its name, choose Sharing, and on the Sharing tab, choose "Share as" and assign your printer a name that is no longer than eight letters long, such as "HPDJ".
Use Start/Run and enter Command, then click OK or press Enter. A DOS-like command window will open. At the prompt, enter a command that looks like this (replace 192.168.11.97 with the IP address that you wrote down earlier, and replace HPDJ with the sharename of your printer!!):
net use lpt1 \\192.168.11.97\HPDJ
(If, and only if, you already have a printer connected to your parallel port, use lpt2 instead of lpt1 in the command.) Press Enter at the end of the command, and close the window. You may now print from WPDOS and the output will go to your USB or wireless printer. If, and only if, you used lpt2 instead of lpt1 in the command, then, before printing from WPDOS, use Shift-F7/Select/Edit and change the Port from LPT1 to LPT2. (If you want to use a colon after lpt1 so that it looks like lpt1: that is perfectly all right, but the presence or absence of the colon makes no practical difference.)
Note: If Windows responds to this command with an "Error
66" message, then you may be using firewall software that blocks printer
sharing. A post by "Jonathan" on an advice site offers this procedure for use
with the Norton Personal Firewall (similar methods may be used for other
firewalls; I have not tested this procedure with any firewall at all):
"Jonathan"
writes: You need to allow for printer sharing over 127.0.0.1. For Norton
Personal Firewall (part of Norton Internet Security), open the configuration
window for the firewall. In the "Networking" tab, first choose the proper
settings (Home, Away, Office, or Default). Click the "Trusted" tab below, then
"Add...". In the window that comes up, make sure "Individually" is selected, and
enter "127.0.0.1" as the host to allow. Click "OK" in this window, and "OK"
again to leave the Firewall configuration. If you want to allow sharing under
different locations, change "Settings for:" in the pull-down menu to and repeat
the steps to add 127.0.0.1 as a trusted host.
This command will work only during the current Windows session, so you must reassign LPTn to your shared printer each time you reboot. You can do this by creating a batch file that runs the "net use" command when Windows starts up. Do this by following this procedure:
First, run the Windows text editor called Notepad (Start/Run... and enter "Notepad" without quotation marks). Type in the "net use" command shown above (but of course you must replace 192.168.11.97 with the actual IP address of your computer and replace HPDJ with the sharename of your printer). Use Notepad's File/Save As menu; in the "Save in" field at the top, navigate to "Desktop" (the top item in the list); then, in the "File name" field toward the bottom, enter the following, with the quotation marks!!!! "NetUseLpt.bat"(remember to include the quotation marks!!!). Close Notepad. You should see an icon named NetUseLpt.bat on your desktop. Right-click on the Start button at the lower left of the screen; choose Open (the first item on the menu); in the window that opens, navigate to the Programs folder, then to Startup folder. Drag the NetUseLpt.bat icon into the Startup folder window. Restart Windows.
Note: If you need to undo the assignment of lpt1 to your USB or wireless printer, so that you can use a printer connected by a printer cable to the parallel port on your computer, simply delete the NetUseLpt.bat file and reboot, or, if you need to undo the assignment during the current Windows session, reverse the earlier net use command by entering this command:
net use lpt1 /delete
If no WPDOS driver exists for your printer, or if the only available drivers support only a limited number of fonts, or fail to print complete pages, try the various methods (described on a separate page) that allow you to print to any printer supported by Windows.
WordPerfect 6.x can use the same TrueType fonts used by your Windows system, including the OpenType fonts (with a .TTF file extension) that are included with Windows XP. With many TrueType fonts, especially the Microsoft fonts that ship with Windows 98 and all later versions, WordPerfect can use hundreds of characters, including full Cyrillic, Greek, and Eastern European alphabets. (If you want to use the euro symbol included in most recent Windows fonts, see the instructions elsewhere on this site for using the euro symbol in TrueType fonts.)
Before installing Windows fonts in WPDOS, I strongly recommend that you create a special directory (perhaps named C:\TT) and use it to store the fonts that you want to install in WP. You may already have a storage directory for TrueType fonts; if so continue to use it. Unless you are severely limited in disk space, do not install fonts into WPDOS directly from the Windows font directory (probably named C:\Windows\Fonts or C:\WinNT\Fonts); instead, copy fonts from the Windows font directory into your special storage directory, and install them in WPDOS from there.
Run WPDOS 6.x, choose Ctrl-F8/Shift-F1, then Install Fonts. The WordPerfect Font Installer (WPFI) will open. Choose TrueType from the list of font formats.
At this point, one of two things will happen, either (1) or (2):
(1) If you have not previously installed TrueType fonts into WPDOS, the Location of Files dialog will appear. Choose TTF Files and enter the full path of your special TrueType directory or, if you decided not to create this special directory, enter the full path of Windows font directory. (Help! What does a "full path" mean?) Select and install the fonts of your choice. (If you installed fonts directly from the Windows font directory, instead of from a special storage directory, there is a small chance that you may need to exit and restart WPDOS, or perhaps even Windows, before the fonts will be usable.
(2) If you have previously installed TrueType fonts in WP (probably from your existing TrueType font directory), a list of those fonts will appear; press Home,* to clear all the selections. Under Directories for Files, enter the name of the Windows font directory. Select and install the fonts you want to use in WP. WP will prompt you to choose between copying the font files to the existing font directory used by WP or leave the fonts where they are. Choose the option to copy the files to the existing WP font directory; if you do not, the files in the Windows font directory may be changed by another program, but WP will assume that the earlier versions are still installed and errors may occur.
If, for any reason, when you choose Ctrl-F8/Shift-F1, the Install Fonts option is grayed out and unavailable, you can open a DOS prompt (Help! How do I open a DOS prompt?), go to the directory containing WPDOS printer files, run WPFI.EXE, and install the fonts in the same manner described above. In WP itself, check the expected location of TrueType font files in Shift-F1/Location of Files/Graphic Font Data Files. The Install Fonts option will be unavailable if you launch WordPerfect with the /DL option, which disables WP's program launcher.
Warning: WPDOS may become unstable if too many graphics fonts are installed. Add no more than four TrueType fonts at a time, and test the results before adding any more. WP stores graphics font information in the WP.DRS file, typically in the C:\WPC61DOS directory. Before adding new fonts to WP, make a backup of this file so that you can restore it in case of emergency.
WordPerfect 5.1+ and 6.x for DOS are designed to send faxes directly from within the WordPerfect program. Although this feature was designed to work under pure DOS, it can also be used under Windows in some but not all systems. To use the built-in WPDOS fax software Windows, WPDOS must be able to detect your modem and you will need to create a batch file that launches WPDOS with its fax features enabled.
If, however, you are unable to fax from WPDOS using the built-in WPDOS fax software, you can use this site's alternative method of printing from WPDOS to Windows fax software, which works under any Window system, and may produce better results than WPDOS's own fax software.
Important note: The scheduling feature in WPDOS's built-in fax software (which schedules faxes to be sent at a later time) stopped working at the start of the year 2000. All faxes are now sent immediately, no matter what date and time is specified in the scheduler.
The steps required to use WPDOS's built-in fax software under Windows are as follows:
(a) Let WPDOS recognize your modem
Note: Depending on your hardware configuration, it may or may not be possible to make WPDOS detect your modem under Windows NT, 2000, or XP. You may be able to use WPDOS's built-in fax software under Windows NT, 2000, or XP, but you may have better luck under Windows 95, 98, and Me.
The fax software supplied with WPDOS 5.1+ and 6.x can only detect modems that use the COM ports available on older computers (COM1 through COM4) and that use only the standard hardware settings for those ports. To test whether your modem uses a standard setting, open a DOS window, use the CD command to move to your WPDOS directory, enter the command setup to open the "WordPerfect CAS Setup Utility," press Enter, choose 2 (Hardware Driver Setup), and press F4 to let the setup utility automatically detect your modem settings.
If the utility successfully detects your modem, proceed through the rest of the setup menus, press F10 to save your settings, and proceed to step (b).
If, however, as is likely, the utility reports that it cannot detect a fax modem, you may be able to solve this problem through the third-party utility TurboCom VIP, by Pacific CommWare, but no longer available from the original vendor; you may be able to find a copy through eBay or other sites. (Note that TurboCom VIP runs only under Windows 95, 98, or Me, not under NT, 2000, or XP.) The program may not help with up-to-date computers that are loaded with USB and other recent hardware, but it probably will work on older machines. Install TurboCom VIP; when you create a virtual port, make sure to select a port numbered between COM1 and COM4, not any higher number, and accept the program's default settings; make sure that the program assigns an IRQ number to the virtual port. Restart Windows after installing TurboCom VIP. When Windows restarts, open a DOS window, return to your WPDOS directory, and, again, enter the command Setup to open the "WordPerfect CAS Setup Utility," press Enter, choose 2 (Hardware Driver Setup), and press F4 to let the setup utility automatically detect your modem settings. The utility should now detect your modem. (If it does not, change the settings in TurboCom VIP to a different COM number and try again.) Proceed through the remaining setup menus, press F10 to save your settings, and proceed to step (b).
With a very few, mostly older modems, highly expert users may be able to avoid using TurboCom VIP by forcing Windows to assign the standard settings to the modem by using Control Panel/System/Device Manager or your computer's BIOS settings. Only attempt this if you absolutely know what you are doing and have extensive experience with modem setups.
Technical note: If you decide to attempt to set your modem's hardware address in the Windows Control Panel, you should try to apply one of the standard hardware settings used by the old-style COM ports on older hardware modems; the standard hardware settings for those COM ports are as follows: COM1, IRQ 4, 3f8h; COM2, IRQ3, 2f8h; COM3, IRQ4, 3e8h; COM4, IRQ 3, 3f8h.
(b) Create a batch file that enables the fax features in WPDOS
Only after successfully completing step (a), create a batch file named WPFAX.BAT in your WP directory; this batch file should contain the following commands (replace <path> with the name of your WordPerfect directory, e.g. c:\wp62):
<path>\FAXDIR
<path>\FAXB
<path>\WP
<path>\FAXDIR /R
On the Windows desktop, create a new shortcut that runs WPFAX.BAT. (To create a shortcut on the desktop, right-click the desktop, select New/Shortcut, and follow the prompts.) Right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and set all the options as specified in the notes on customizing the WP window elsewhere on this page. (Important: in Windows 95 or 98, go to the Program tab, click on Advanced... and add a checkmark in the box next to "Prevent MS-DOS programs from detecting Windows"; in Windows Me, add this checkmark on the Program tab itself.) Use this new shortcut to run WordPerfect when you want to fax from the program. (Help! What's a shortcut?) You might also find useful information in Corel's fax troubleshooting advice. Under Windows 2000 or XP, you must study this site's instructions for creating a shortcut to a batch file that allows you to assign expanded memory to the batch file.
Note: On some systems, but not on others (for reasons that I cannot guess), WPDOS sometimes cannot complete the task of sending a fax from its built-in fax software. On one of the computers in my office, WPDOS faxes successfully when I boot to Windows NT or Windows 2000, but not when I boot to Windows 98 or Windows Me. On another computer in my office, WPDOS faxes successfully from both Windows 98 and Windows NT.
Some modern computers do not have the "parallel port" connector used by almost all earlier computers and printers. If your printer can be connected via a USB cable, and you are running Windows 2000 or XP, you can use the methods described elsewhere on this page. If your printer requires a parallel connection, or if you prefer the simplicity of a hardware-based parallel port, the following solutions are possible (but have not been extensively tested by me):
For desktop computers with an available add-in slot but no built-in parallel port: Buy an add-in card that adds a parallel port to your desktop computer. Warning: Cheap add-in parallel-port cards do not work in many modern computers. You are probably wasting your time and money if you buy any add-in parallel-port card other than the ones listed below.
For computers with an empty PCI connector, I strongly recommend the LAVA Computer Parallel PCI card (or a similar LAVA Computer card for compact computers that require "low-profile" cards). I have one of these cards installed a computer that lacks a built-in parallel port, and it works perfectly. After installing the driver from the supplied mini-CD, you should go to your computer's Device Manager and set the port be LPT1; it probably installs itself by default as LPT3. To do this, perform the following steps:
Note: If you cannot choose LPT1, and you must choose either LPT2 or LPT3 in the Port Settings menu, you must then run WordPerfect, press Shift-F7, select and edit your printer driver so the Port setting is LPT2 or LPT3, to match the setting you chose in the Port Settings menu.
You might also consider the StarTech 1-Port Ultra-Compatible Parallel PCI Card Adapter or a similar StarTech card for compact computers that require "low-profile" cards . (A less expensive standard-size model is also available).
A similar model, for modern computers with an empty PCI Express slot, is the StarTech 1-Port EPP/ECP PCI-Express Parallel Card.
Similar cards are readily available for very old computers that use old-style ISA cards instead of PCI cards; search eBay for "ISA parallel port" (no quotation marks) to find such cards.
For desktop and laptop computers with a USB port but no built-in parallel port: Buy a USB-to-parallel cable that will let you connect your USB port to the parallel cable on your printer. Many models are available; for example, this one, or that one, or others that you can find by searching for "usb parallel" on Amazon.com. You may (or may not) need to set up software that comes with the cable in order to use the USB port as the LPTn port expected by WordPerfect, but the setup should be easy. Some models include software that let you print to LPT3 from Windows, and you can easily set up WordPerfect to print to LPT3 on the Shift-F7/Select/Edit/Port menu. You may need to experiment to see whether WordPerfect prints correctly when the Port is set to LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3. Warning: You absolutely, positively must read the instructions that come with the cable! Do not expect the cable to work if you refuse to follow the instructions!
For laptop computers with an open PCMCIA slot: You might try a PCMCIA card with a parallel port attached; I have not tried these, but at least some models seem to work well, and may be easier to install than the USB-to-parallel cables described above. One possible model is this StarTech PCMCIA card.
When you need a second parallel port in addition to the one built into your computer: If (for example) you want to connect two laser printers to the same computer, you can use one of these cards to add a second parallel port to a computer that already has one. The added port will be named LPT2 or LPT3, and you can print through it from WPDOS by using Shift-F7/Select/Edit/Port, and selecting LPT2 or LPT3. You may need to experiment with LPT2 and LPT3 before you find the setting that works.
A method for faxing from WPDOS to any Windows fax software (such as WinFax) is provided on a separate page.
Various methods for creating Acrobat-compatible PDF files from WPDOS are provided on a separate page.
Advice on using WPDOS on Windows networks may be found on this site's networking page.
If, and only if, you need to install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter in order to use this site's method of printing to a USB printer under Windows 2000 or XP, follow these instructions.
If you have Windows 2000:
From the Start Menu, choose Settings, then Control Panel, then Add/Remove Hardware.
Click Next.
Select Add/Troubleshoot a device, then Next.
From the list of devices select the top item, Add a new device, and click Next.
Select "No, I want to select the hardware from a list."
Select Network adapters and click Next.
From the left column select Microsoft, on the right column choose Microsoft Loopback Adapter.
Click Next, then Next again, then Finish.
Now return to setting up this site's method of printing to USB printers.
If you have Windows XP:
From the Start Menu choose Control Panel (or Settings, then Control Panel)
If you do not see "Add Hardware" near the top of the list, go to the upper left of the Control Panel window and click on "Switch to Classic View."
Double-click on Add Hardware.
Click Next.
Select "Yes, I have already connected the hardware" and click Next.
In the list of devices, scroll to the bottom, select "Add a new hardware device" and click Next.
At the next screen, select "Install the hardware that I manually select from a list" and click Next.
In the list that appears next, scroll down and select Network Adapters, then click Next.
In the next screen, select Microsoft on the left (if it is not already selected) and Microsoft Loopback Adapter on the right, and click Next.
Click Next again, and then Finish.
Now return to setting up this site's method of printing to USB printers.