Windows 95/98 Printing Questions and Answers

• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows 98

SUMMARY

This article contains questions and answers about printing in Windows 95/98.

MORE INFORMATION

1. Q. I cannot find a driver for my printer. Do Windows 3.1 printer drivers work in Windows 95/98?
   
   A. Yes. Windows 3.1 printer drivers should work in Windows 95, although they cannot take advantage of all the printing enhance- ments in Windows 95/98.
   
   You may be able to obtain a Windows 95/98 printer driver from the printer's manufacturer. Please contact the printer's 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, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, 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, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q128345
   TITLE : Troubleshooting Printing Problems in Windows 95




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 by clearing the Check Port State Before Printing check box. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Printers.
   
   
   
   2. Use the right mouse button to click the printer you want to use, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
   
   
   
   3. On the Details tab, click Port Settings, then click the Check Port State Before Printing check box to clear it.
   
   
   
   4. Click OK.
   
   
   
   The BIOS in some computers incorrectly reports the printer port as being busy or not available. By default, Windows checks for these errors. Clearing the Check Port State Before Printing check box causes Windows to ignore these messages.
   
   If you continue to have this problem, use LPT1.DOS as the printer port. To add this port, use the following steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Printers.
   
   
   
   2. Use the right mouse button to click the printer you want to use, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
   
   
   
   3. On the Details tab, click Add Port.
   
   
   
   4. Click the Other option button, click Local Port, and 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. Try the following steps to troubleshoot the problem:
   
   
   1. Print to a local printer.
   
   
   
   2. Print to a file, then copy the file to the print server. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Printers.
   
   
   
   2. Use the right mouse button to click the printer you want to use, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
   
   
   
   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. When you are prompted, enter a filename for the print job.
   
   
   
   6. Click the Start button, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
   
   
   
   7. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following line and then press ENTER
      
      copy <path><filename> <printer port>
      
      where <path> is the path to the file you created in step E, <filename> is the name of the file you created in step E, and <printer port> is the port for the network printer. For example, if you created a file named Prntest in the root directory of drive C and the network printer is connected using the LPT1 port, type the following command: copy c:\prnttest lpt1
   
   
   



5. Capture a printer port for the network printer rather than using a universal naming convention (UNC) connection. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click Printers.
   
   
   
   2. Use the right mouse button to click the printer you want to use, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
   
   
   
   3. On the Details tab, click the Capture Printer Port button.
   
   
   
   4. In the Device box, click the port you want to capture. In the Path box, enter the path for the network printer you want to use. Use the syntax "\\<PrinterServerName>\<PrinterShare>" (without quotation marks) for the network printer path.
      
      NOTE: If you want this connection to be available each time you start Windows, click the Reconnect At Logon check box to select it.
   
   
   



6. Try to print the document from another computer on the network.



7. If you still cannot print to the network printer, perform standard network troubleshooting steps, such as:
   
   
   • Try to browse the print server.
   
   
   
   • Remove and reinstall your network components.
   
   
   
   • If there are any spaces in the UNC name, remove them.
   
   
   



8. Q. The output from my color InkJet printer seems better in Windows 3.1 than in Windows 95/98. Why?
   
   A. Even though the universal printer driver's quality of error diffusion and color image support has improved in Windows 95/98, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) printer driver may be better tuned for a specific printer. If you experience problems with Epson InkJet printers, use Epson's Windows 3.1 printer drivers. If you experience problems with Canon InkJet printers, use the Windows 95/98 printer drivers.



9. 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, as well as many of the newer Hewlett-Packard DeskJet printers.



10. 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.



11. 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.



12. Q. Does Windows support LaserMaster printers that use the Winspool.drv driver?
    
    A. Windows does not support the use of the Winspool.drv driver. You may be able to print to LaserMaster devices 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, please contact LaserMaster.
    
    NOTE: LaserMaster devices are add-on computer I/O cards that attach to Hewlett-Packard Series II and series III printers.

Additional query words: win95q&a win95faq w95tlc desk ink jet hp

Keywords          : kbprint win95 win98 
Version           : WINDOWS:95,98
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo 

Last Reviewed: January 21, 1999