Common Windows 95 or Windows 98 printing questions and answers

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1. Q. I cannot find a driver for my printer. Do Microsoft Windows 3.1 printer drivers work in Windows 95 and windows 98?
   
   A. Yes. Windows 3.1 printer drivers should work in Windows 95 and Windows 98; however, they cannot use all of the printing enhancements in Windows 95 and Windows 98.
   
   You may be able to obtain a Windows 95 or Windows 98 printer driver from the printer manufacturer. Contact the printer manufacturer about a possible printer driver upgrade.
2. Q. I cannot print in Windows. What should I do?
   
   A. Windows includes a Print Troubleshooter tool. Before you perform any troubleshooting steps, try the Print Troubleshooter tool. To use the Print Troubleshooter tool:
   1. Click Start, then click Help.
   2. On the Contents tab, double-click the Troubleshooting topic.
   3. Double-click the If You Have Trouble Printing topic.
   For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   128345 How to troubleshoot printing problems in Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Millennium Edition

3. Q. I can print from MS-DOS-based programs but not from Windows-based programs. How can I fix this?
   
   A. You may be able to resolve this problem if you click to clear the Check Port State Before Printing check box. To do this:
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
   2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.
   3. Click Port Settings on the Details tab, and then click to clear the Check Port State Before Printing check box.
   4. Click OK.
   The basic input/output system (BIOS) in some computers incorrectly reports the printer port as being busy or not available. By default, Windows checks for these errors. When you click to clear the Check Port State Before Printing check box, Windows ignores these messages.
   
   If you continue to have problems, use LPT1.DOS as the printer port. To add this port:
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, then click Printers.
   2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.
   3. On the Details tab, click Add Port.
   4. Click Other, click Local Port, and then click OK.
   5. In the Enter A Port Name box, type LPT1.DOS, and then click OK.
4. Q. I cannot print to a network printer. What can I do?
   
   A. Use the following steps to troubleshoot the problem:
   1. Print to a local printer.
   2. Print to a file, and then copy the file to the print server. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Settings, then click Printers.
      2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.
      3. Click the Details tab.
      4. In the Print To The Following Port box, click File, and then click OK.
      5. Print a document from any program. Type a file name for the print job when you are prompted to do so.
      6. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
      7. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following command (where path is the path to the file that you created in step e, file_name is the name of the file that you created in step e, and printer_port is the port for the network printer), and then press ENTER:

         copy pathfile_nameprinter_port

         For example, if you created a file named Prntest in the root folder of drive C and the network printer is connected by using the LPT1 port, type the following command:

         copy c:\prnttest lpt1

   3. Capture a printer port for the network printer rather than using a universal naming convention (UNC) connection. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
      2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.
      3. Click Capture Printer Port on the Details tab.
      4. In the Device box, click the port that you want to capture.
      5. In the Path box, type the path for the network printer that you want to use by using the following format for the network printer path:

         \\PrinterServerName\PrinterShare

         NOTE: If you want this connection to be available each time that you start Windows, click to select the Reconnect At Logon check box.
   4. Try to print the document from another computer on the network.
   5. If you still cannot print to the network printer, perform standard network troubleshooting steps, such as:
      1. Try to browse the print server.
      2. Remove and then reinstall your network components.
      3. If there are any spaces in the UNC name, remove them.
5. Q. The output from my color InkJet printer seems better in Windows 3.1 than in Windows 95 or Windows 98. Why?
   
   A. Even though the universal printer driver quality of error diffusion and color-image support has improved in Windows 95 and Windows 98, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) printer driver may be better for a specific printer. If you experience problems with Epson InkJet printers, use the Epson Windows 3.1 printer drivers. If you experience problems with Canon InkJet printers, use the Windows 95 or Windows 98 printer drivers.
6. Q. Does Windows have printer drivers for Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 600, 660C, 660Cse, 850, or 855C printers?
   
   A.Windows 95 does not include drivers for these Hewlett-Packard DeskJet printers. Use the Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 550C printer driver until Hewlett-Packard releases drivers for these printers.
   
   Windows 98 includes drivers for these printers, as well as many of the newer Hewlett-Packard DeskJet printers.
7. Q. Why can I not print to my Hewlett-Packard JetDirect printer from MS-DOS-based programs?
   
   A. If you install the JetDirect services in Direct mode, you cannot capture a printer port. If you cannot capture a printer port, you cannot print from MS-DOS-based programs.
8. Q. Why can I not print to my QMS Jetscript printer in Windows?
   
   A. Windows does not support QMS Jetscript printers. You may be able to use your QMS Jetscript printer by printing to the LPT1.DOS port.
9. Q. Does Windows support LaserMaster printers that use the Winspool.drv driver?
   
   Note JetDirect is no longer supported by HP. For additional information, visit the following Web site:

   http://www.hp.com

   
   A. Windows does not support the use of the Winspool.drv driver. You may be able to print to LaserMaster devices by using the appropriate Hewlett-Packard printer driver. In general, if the LaserMaster device requires fonts to be downloaded at an MS-DOS level, it will not work in Windows. Later versions of LaserMaster PostScript printers may work with Windows. For additional information, contact LaserMaster.
   
   Note LaserMaster devices are add-on computer input/output (I/O) cards that attach to Hewlett-Packard Series II and series III printers.

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