Re: Printing XyWrite

[BrennerNY@xxxxxxxx]

>>The HP Laserjet 1020 looked as though it would be a suitable replacement.  And, >>indeed, it will print email, Excel, Word, Family Tree, The New York Times' >>crossword, etc.  But it won't print XyWrite!  Note that the computer and printer are >>connected by USB cable (in contrast to the former LPT1).  But when I tell XyWrite >>to print a file that is on the screen, XyWrite says "printer error" and declines further cooperation.

This problem has been solved. It was most recently addressed, on and off-list, by Patricia Godfrey. I haven't yet implemented the solution myself -- I expect I'll have to do it with my next printer -- but she has done it very recently. Here are a couple of her messages about how to trick Xywrite into working with a USB-connected printer. The second contains references to archived material about it:

>>Let me repeat, with XP, you CAN print to printer over a USB cable from
Xy. You do it using the Net USE command (or using "Capture Printer port"
through the Windows GUI), thus tricking Xy--and all DOS apps--into
"thinking" that USB port is a parallel one. 

>>First you install the printer under Windows. Then you 
right click on it under Printers (which used to be part 
of control panel, but may have been moved somewhere 
else in XP; Grrr...), choose Sharing, check off Shared, 
and give it a name. Remember the name you gave it, 
exactly (spaces, maybe even caps and lowercase). Also 
be sure you know the name of your new computer. If you 
don't, open a DOS prompt and type
net view
       >>Hit return. A screen should display the name of your 
PC, preceded by two backslashes (e.g., mine says 
\\Bethany).
       >>Now create a batch file, which you should run before 
you run Xy (or include this line in any batch file by 
which you launch Xy), consisting of this one command:
NET USE LPT1 \\computername\sharename /PERSISTENT:YES
substituting the name of your PC (revealed by net view) 
for "computername" and the name you assigned when you 
declared the printer shared for "sharename".
       >>Within Xy, load whichever driver you decide to use, 
specifying lPT1. You can find more detailed discussion 
of all this in the following posts:
 9/7/2003: Robert Holmgren's on USB printer and OED
11/07/2003: Robert Holmgren's on Re Trouble
11/19/2003: mine Re Trouble
3/17/2005: Harry on Getting an LPT4 on XP
May 2006: long thread beginning with E. van Ness's post 
configure Xywrite for USB printer?, where I also 
reprise Robert's directions for PostGhost.
-- 
Patricia M. Godfrey
PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx