Contents for Print Manager Help

Print Manager provides a way to view and control the printing of your documents.

To learn how to use Help, press F1.

Introduction

What Is Print Manager?

How To...

Activate Print Manager

Display Printing Messages

Give Print Manager Priority

Install and Configure a Printer

Print on a Network

Print Your Documents

View Printing Information

Commands

Options Menu Commands

View Menu Commands


Introduction
What Is Print Manager?

Print Manager is a Windows** application that manages printing. When you print a document from a Windows** application, the application passes the printer, font, and file information for the document to Print Manager. Print Manager then controls the printing of your document while you continue working with your other Windows** applications. If errors occur while printing, Print Manager notifies you of the problem.

Using Print Manager, you can print your documents on a local or network printer. A local printer is connected directly to your computer. If you are using a network, you can connect to a network printer and then print your documents there. In addition, you can view network printer information for any network print queue you specify.

You can print several documents at the same time or in succession. Each document you print is first placed in the print queue, a list displaying information about documents sent to the printer. You can use the queue to view printing information or to change the type of information displayed and the order in which your documents are printed.

To learn about a specific printing task, use the Contents button, and then choose the Help topic you want.


Activating Print Manager

You activate Print Manager by using Control Panel. When Print Manager is activated, you can send several documents to your printer and continue using other applications while your documents are printing.

If Print Manager is not activated, you can print only one document at a time. Also, you cannot perform other tasks until your document is finished printing.

To activate Print Manager

1	In the Main group window, choose the Control Panel icon.

2	In the Control Panel window, choose the Printers icon.

3	In the Printers dialog box, select the Use Print Manager check box.

4	Choose the Close button.


Installing and Configuring a Printer

There are several steps to installing and configuring a printer to use with WIN-OS/2. First, you must install a printer driver that controls your printer. For information about installing a printer driver, see Installing a Printer Driver.

If you have already installed a printer driver, you can complete these remaining steps. It might be easier if you follow these steps in order, but it is not necessary.

Assign a port to the printer.

Change the Timeouts settings.

Select settings for your printer.

Choose the default printer.

Connect to a network printer.

If you are not using a network or will only be printing to a local printer, you can skip the last step.

Note:	Do not change any settings for a printer that you are currently using. If you do, the documents you sent to the printer will disappear from the Print Manager window. Also, your documents may not print correctly.


Installing a Printer Driver

You can install a printer driver provided with WIN-OS/2 or a Windows** printer driver supplied by your printer manufacturer or computer dealer.

To install a printer driver

1	From the Options menu, choose Printer Setup.

2	In the Printers dialog box, choose the Add button.

If you have not yet installed a printer, Print Manager chooses the Add button for you.

3	In the List Of Printers box, select the printer you want to install.

If your printer is not listed or does not emulate a printer that WIN-OS/2 supports, but you have a printer driver for it, select Install Unlisted Or Updated Printer.

4	Choose the Install button.

The following two steps do not apply if the printer you are installing uses the same printer driver as another printer already installed on your system.

5	Insert in drive A the disk containing the printer driver, or type a drive letter and directory path in the text box. (If you are a non-U.S. customer, the printer driver you need may be on the Additional Non-U.S. Printer Drivers disk).

You can also use the Browse button to find and select the drive and directory where the printer driver is located. When you are finished using the Browse dialog box, choose the OK button to return to the Install Printer dialog box.

6	In the Install Printer dialog box, choose the OK button.

If you are installing a driver not included with WIN-OS/2, a dialog box appears, listing several printers. Select the printer you want, and then choose the Install button.

7	If Print Manager prompts you for font files, insert the disk that contains the files. Then choose the OK button.

The printer name appears in the list of installed printers.

8	Go to the next step to assign a port to the printer.

Next Step

Assigning a Printer Port


Assigning a Printer Port

Each printer you install is assigned to the port LPT1. If your printer is connected to a different port, you need to change the port assignment before you can print.

Note:	Do not change the port assignment for your printer if you are currently printing documents to it. If you do so, your documents will disappear from the Print Manager queue. Your documents will still print, but you will not be able to perform Print Manager tasks, such as pausing and resuming printing or viewing status information, for those documents.

To assign a printer to a port

1	If you are not already in the Printers dialog box, choose the Printer Setup command from the Options menu.

2	Choose the Connect button.

3	In the Ports list, select the port you want to assign to the printer.

If you select a COM port, you might need to change the communications settings.

4	If you want to change communications settings, choose the Settings button, complete the Settings dialog box, and then choose the OK button.

5	Go on to the next step to change the Timeouts settings. Or choose the OK button in the Connect dialog box, and then the Close button in the Printers dialog box.

For help with the Connect or Settings dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.

Next Step

Changing the Timeouts Settings


Changing the Timeouts Settings

You can use the Timeouts settings to adjust the amount of time WIN-OS/2 waits before sending you a message about printing problems. Changing the Timeouts settings is optional.

To change the Timeouts settings

1	If you are not already in the Connect dialog box, choose the Printer Setup command from the Options menu, and then choose the Connect button.

2	Specify the Timeouts settings you want.

3	Choose the OK button.

4	Go on to the next step or choose the Close button in the Printers dialog box.

For help with the Connect dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.

Next Step

Selecting Printer Settings


Selecting Printer Settings

Many printers have specific settings (such as page orientation, paper size, and graphics resolution) that you can specify to get the printing results you want.

To specify printer settings

1	If you are not already in the Printers dialog box, choose the Printer Setup command from the Options menu.

2	Select the printer you want to use.

3	Choose the Setup button.

4	Select the settings you want.

5	To select additional settings that are specific to your printer driver, choose the Options button, set the options as needed, and then choose the OK button.

6	Choose the OK button again.

7	Go on to the next step or choose the Close button in the Printers dialog box.

For help with the dialog boxes, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog boxes. For information about which settings to use, see the documentation that comes with your printer.

Next Step

Choosing the Default Printer


Choosing the Default Printer

Windows** applications use the default printer unless you specify otherwise in your application.

To choose the default printer

1	If you are not already in the Printers dialog box, choose the Printer Setup command from the Options menu.

2	From the Installed Printers list, select the printer you want to use as the default printer.

3	Choose the Set As Default Printer button.

4	Choose the Close button.

For help with the Printers dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.

You have now completed the installation process. If the printer you just installed is a network printer, you need to connect to it before you can print. If you have not already connected to the printer, see Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers.


Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers

Before you can print to a network printer, you need to connect to it. The way you do this depends on the network you are using. For more information, use the Help feature for your network.

To connect to a network printer

1	From the Options menu, choose Network Connections.

2	In the New Connection area, specify the network path and the port (and the password, if required). Make sure that the port you select matches the port assigned to the printer.

Some networks support the Browse and Previous buttons. Use these buttons to browse all the network printers or to reconnect to a printer.

3	Choose the Connect button.

The printer appears in the Current Printer Connections list.

4	Choose the Close button.

To disconnect from a network printer

1	From the Options menu, choose Network Connections.

2	In the list of Current Printer Connections, select the printer you want to disconnect from.

3	Choose the Disconnect button.

4	Choose the Close button.

For help with the Network dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.


Printing Your Documents

To print a document from an application, you can:

Use the application's Print command.

Drag the document's file icon from File Manager into the Print Manager window or onto the Print Manager icon (the minimized Print Manager window).

While you are printing a document, the Print Manager icon appears at the bottom of your screen. This means that Print Manager is managing the printing of your document.

See Also

Pausing and Resuming Printing

Canceling Printing

Changing the Print Order

Selecting Printer Settings


Canceling Printing

You may not be able to cancel the printing of a file from a network print queue if your network software does not support this feature.

To cancel printing of a single document

1	In the Print Manager window, select the print job you want to cancel.

2	Choose the Delete button.

Or press ALT+D.

3	Choose the OK button to confirm the cancellation.

If you cancel the printing of a file that is printing in graphics mode, you may have to reset the printer by turning it off and on again.

To cancel printing of all your documents

Quit Print Manager.

See Also

Pausing and Resuming Printing


Pausing and Resuming Printing

You can temporarily interrupt and then resume the printing of all files sent to a particular printer. If your network supports it, you can also interrupt and resume the printing of a single file.

To interrupt printing temporarily

1	In the Print Manager window, select the local printer.

Or, if you are using a network printer, select the document that you want to pause.

2	Choose the Pause button.

Or press ALT+P.

The status of the selected print job changes to indicate that printing has paused.

To resume printing

1	Select the file whose printer has been paused.

2	Choose the Resume button.

Or press ALT+R.

The status of the selected print job changes to indicate that printing has resumed.

See Also

Canceling Printing


Changing the Print Order

When using a local printer, you can change the order of files that are not currently printing. You cannot change the print order of the first file in the list, or of files printing on a network printer.

However, when you turn off the Print Net Jobs Direct option in the Network Options dialog box, your network printer is treated as a local printer. In this case, you can reorder documents that are not currently printing in a network queue.

To change the print order of a document

Drag the document icon up or down in the print list, or select the icon and press CTRL+UP ARROW or CTRL+DOWN ARROW.


Giving Print Manager Priority

You can change how much of your computer's processor time is allocated to Print Manager by setting a priority level for Print Manager. The priority you set determines how quickly your documents print and how efficiently your other applications run while Print Manager is running.

To change the Print Manager priority

From the Options menu, choose Low Priority, Medium Priority, or High Priority.

Using these commands, you can distribute processor time in the following ways.

Use	To

Low Priority	Give Print Manager less processor time, causing your other applications to run faster. This may slow down Print Manager.

Medium Priority	Give equal processor time to Print Manager and other applications.

High Priority	Give Print Manager more processor time. This may speed up Print Manager but cause your other applications to run slower.


Viewing Printing Information

You can view information about a document in the print queue, including the time and date you sent the document to the printer and its file size.

To display the time and date or file size

From the View menu, choose Time/Date Sent or Print File Size.

A check mark next to these commands means that the command is in effect.


Displaying Printing Messages

You can control the way Print Manager displays messages. You can have Print Manager display messages immediately, ignore messages if Print Manager is running as an icon or is inactive, or have the Print Manager icon or title bar flash to notify you of messages.

Note:	WIN-OS/2 may display additional printing messages that are not generated by Print Manager, such as the message that appears when the printer is offline. You cannot control how these messages are displayed.

To display messages immediately

From the Options menu, choose Alert Always.

To ignore messages

From the Options menu, choose Ignore If Inactive.

In this case, you must restore the Print Manager icon or make Print Manager active to see messages.

To be notified of messages

From the Options menu, choose Flash If Inactive.

The Print Manager icon or title bar flashes when there is a message. Flashing continues until you make Print Manager active or restore the icon to a window.


Printing on a Network

Print Manager offers several options to assist you when printing to a network printer.

The level of support you receive for network printing tasks depends on your network software. If your software does not support a particular feature, the corresponding command appears dimmed.

WIN-OS/2 supports these network printing tasks:

Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers

Updating the Status of a Network Printer

Viewing Network Print Queues

Printing Directly to a Network Printer


Updating the Status of a Network Printer

When Print Manager is running in a window, you receive regular updates of the status of the network printer and the documents you are printing. You can reduce network traffic by turning off the automatic update feature.

You can also update the network-queue status manually.

To turn off automatic updating of the network-queue status

1	From the Options menu, choose Network Settings.

2	Clear the Update Network Display check box.

3	Choose the OK button.

The network print queue is treated as a local print queue when this option is turned off.

To manually update the network-queue status

From the View menu, choose Refresh.

For help with the Network Options dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.


Viewing Network Print Queues

Depending on your network software, you may be able to view all the documents printing on the network printer you are using, and on other network printers. (You must connect to another network printer before you can print to it.)

To view the entire print queue

1	In Print Manager, select the information line for the network printer.

2	From the View menu, choose Selected Net Queue.

The dialog box that appears varies, depending on the network software you are using. For more information, use the Help feature in the dialog box.

To view the queue for another network printer

From the View menu, choose Other Net Queue.

The dialog box that appears varies, depending on the network software you are using. For more information, use the Help feature in the dialog box.

See Also

Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers


Printing Directly to a Network Printer

You may be able to speed up printing by sending documents directly to the network printer. You can do this by bypassing Print Manager.

If you bypass Print Manager, you can still view network queues and manage printing on a local printer.

To bypass Print Manager

1	From the Options menu, choose Network Settings.

2	Select the Print Net Jobs Direct check box.

3	Choose the OK button.

For help with the Printers or Network Settings dialog boxes, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog boxes.

See Also

Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers


Options Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

Low Priority

Assigns a lower priority to printing, causing more of your computer's processor time to be used for running applications. Choosing this command causes Print Manager to run slower, but may speed up your applications.

Medium Priority

Assigns a medium priority to printing, causing your computer's processor time to be shared as equally as possible between Print Manager and other applications that are running.

High Priority

Assigns a higher priority to printing, causing more of your computer's processor time to be used for printing files. Choosing this command speeds up Print Manager, but may slow down your other applications.

Alert Always

Always displays a message if a situation occurs that requires your attention while printing (for example, if you are using a manual-feed printer and need to insert a new sheet of paper). The message appears even if Print Manager is not the active application.

Flash If Inactive

Causes the Print Manager icon or title bar to flash when Print Manager is inactive and has a message.

Ignore If Inactive

Ignores messages if the Print Manager window is inactive or running as an icon.

Network Settings

Controls interaction between Print Manager and a network printer. For example, you can specify whether you want Print Manager to ignore the status of network queues, or whether you want to bypass Print Manager when printing to a network printer.

Network Connections

Connects to and disconnects from a network printer.

Printer Setup

Installs a printer and sets printing options.


View Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

Time/Date Sent

Specifies whether the print queue should display the time and date that files are sent to the printer.

Print File Size

Specifies whether the print queue should display the size of files that are sent to the printer.

Refresh

Updates the list of files sent to the network printer you are using. Print Manager periodically updates the status of network printers. The Refresh command immediately updates the status for all files you have sent.

Selected Net Queue

Displays a list of all the files in the queue of the network printer you are connected to.

Other Net Queue

Displays a list of the files in the queue of a network printer you are not connected to.

Exit

Quits Print Manager.


Low Priority

The Low Priority command gives printing a lower priority, causing more of your computer's processor time to be used for running applications. Choosing this command causes Print Manager to slow down.

See Also

Giving Print Manager Priority


Medium Priority

The Medium Priority command specifies a medium priority for printing, causing your computer's processor time to be shared as equally as possible between Print Manager and other applications that are running.

See Also

Giving Print Manager Priority


High Priority

The High Priority command gives printing a higher priority, causing more of your computer's processor time to be used for printing files. Choosing this command speeds up Print Manager, but may slow down your other applications.

See Also

Giving Print Manager Priority


Alert Always

The Alert Always command tells Print Manager to always display a message if a situation occurs that requires your attention while printing (for example, if you are using a manual-feed printer and need to insert a new sheet of paper).

See Also

Displaying Printing Messages


Flash If Inactive

The Flash If Inactive command causes the Print Manager icon or title bar to flash, and may cause your computer to beep, when Print Manager is inactive and a situation occurs requiring your attention. Print Manager displays a message notifying you of the situation.

See Also

Displaying Printing Messages


Ignore If Inactive

The Ignore If Inactive command causes Print Manager to ignore messages if the Print Manager window is inactive or running as an icon.

See Also

Displaying Printing Messages


Network Settings

The Network Settings command specifies how Print Manager interacts with a network printer.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 Update Network Display

 Print Net Jobs Direct

See Also

Updating the Status of a Network Printer

Printing Directly to a Network Printer


Printer Setup

By using the Printer Setup command, you can install and remove printers, change printing settings, and select the printer you want to use as the default printer.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 Default Printer	 Installed Printers

 Connect Button	 Setup Button

 Remove Button	 Add Button

When you choose the Add button, the Printers dialog box expands, displaying these additional options:

 List of Printers	 Install Button

See Also

Installing and Configuring a Printer

Selecting Printer Settings


Install Drivers
Install Driver

This dialog box prompts you for the disk or the drive and directory where driver information or a driver file for your printer is located.

Type the appropriate drive letter and directory path in the box. If the driver file or information is located on a floppy disk, insert the disk in drive A, and then choose the OK button.

If you are not sure where the driver file or information is located (for example, if you want to use a driver that is located on a network drive and you are not sure which directory it is in), choose the Browse button to locate and select the drive and directory.


Connect

Use this dialog box to assign a port to the selected printer, to specify timeout options and communications settings, and to connect to a network printer.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 Ports	 Device Not Selected

 Transmission Retry	 Settings Button

 Network Button	 Fast Printing Direct to Port

See Also

Assigning a Printer Port

Changing the Timeouts Settings


Port Settings

Use this dialog box to specify the communications settings for the selected serial (COM) ports.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 Baud Rate	 Data Bits

 Parity	 Stop Bits

 Flow Control	 Advanced Button


Advanced Port Settings

Use this dialog box to specify the I/O addresses and the interrupt request line (IRQ) for the selected port.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 Base I/O Port Address

 Interrupt Request Line (IRQ)

The changes you make in this dialog box do not take effect until you restart WIN-OS/2. When you choose the OK button, a dialog box appears, asking whether you want to restart WIN-OS/2.

To restart WIN-OS/2, choose the Restart Now button.

To stay in your current WIN-OS/2 session, choose the Don't Restart Now button.


Network Connections

Use this dialog box to connect to and disconnect from a network printer.

Choose one of the following buttons for information about the dialog box:

 New Connection	 Current Printer Connections

 Connect Button	 Previous Button

 Browse Button	 Disconnect Button

See Also

Connecting to and Disconnecting from Network Printers


Previous Network Connections

Use this dialog box to reconnect to a network printer, or to delete information about a previous network printer connection.

Select the path for the printer you want to reconnect to, and then choose the Select button.

The path for the printer appears in the Network Path box in the Network Connections dialog box.

To delete information about a previous network printer connection, select the path for the printer, and then choose the Delete button.


Install Unlisted or Updated Printer

This dialog box lists additional printers on the supplemental printer disk.

Select the printer you want to install. Choose the Install button to install the printer, and then choose the Close button to return to the Printers dialog box.


Browse

Use this dialog box to find and select the drive and directory where the printer driver is located.

Open the Drives list, and then select the drive that contains the printer-driver file. The Directories list displays the directories on the selected drive.

Open the Directories list, and then select the directory that contains the printer-driver file.


Time/Date Sent

The Time/Date command specifies whether the print queue displays the time and date that documents are sent to the printer.

See Also

Viewing Printing Information


Print File Size

The Print File Size command specifies whether the print queue displays the size of the documents that are sent to the printer.

See Also

Viewing Printing Information


Refresh

The Refresh command updates the list of documents sent to the selected network printer.

Print Manager periodically updates the status of network printers. Choosing Refresh updates the status immediately.

See Also

Updating the Status of a Network Printer


Selected Net Queue

The Selected Net Queue command shows a list of all the documents sent to the selected network printer.

When you are finished viewing the list, choose the Close button.

See Also

Viewing Network Print Queues


Other Net Queue

The Other Net Queue command displays a list of documents sent to a network printer that you are not connected to.

The Other Net Queue dialog box includes the following options:

Queue List

This area shows a list of documents sent to the network printer you specify.

When you are done viewing the list, choose the Close button.

Network Queue

Type the path for the network printer you want to view, and then choose the View button.

See Also

Viewing Network Print Queues


Exit

Quits Print Manager.

If you choose this command and documents remain in the print queue, a message appears asking whether you want to cancel printing. Choose the OK button to confirm that you want to cancel printing and quit Print Manager.


Contents

Starts Help and displays the topics in Print Manager Help.


Search for Help On

Opens the Search dialog box for Print Manager Help. You can look up information by using keywords in this dialog box.


How to Use Help

Describes how to use Help.


About Print Manager

Displays version, mode, and copyright information about WIN-OS/2.


Control Menu

The Control menu contains the following commands:

Restore

Restores the window to its former size after it has been maximized or minimized.

Move

Enables you to use the keyboard to move the window to another position.

Size

Enables you to use the keyboard to change the size of the window.

Minimize

Reduces the window to an icon.

Maximize

Enlarges the window to its maximum size.

Close

Quits Print Manager, or closes the window or dialog box.

Switch To

Opens Task List, which you can use to switch between running applications and rearrange their windows and icons on your desktop.


Update Network Display

Use this option to specify whether to display the current status of network queues.

Clear the Update Network Display check box to have Print Manager ignore the status of network queues.


Print Net Jobs Direct

Printing directly to networks is generally faster than printing with Print Manager. If you select this option, you can still view network queues.

When this option is not selected, all documents sent to a network printer are tracked as if they were sent to a local printer (a printer that is connected directly to your computer).

Select the Print Net Jobs Direct check box to print directly to networks and bypass Print Manager.


Installed Printers

This area displays a list of the installed printers.

Select a printer from the list to change its printing settings or port assignment, or to specify it as the default printer.

Use the Add button to display the list of printers you can install.


Default Printer

This area shows the default printer (the printer to which your documents are sent when you print from an application).

To specify the default printer, double-click the printer in the Installed Printers list that you want to use as the default printer.

Or select the printer, and then choose the Set As Default Printer button.


Connect Button

Choose the Connect button to display the Connect dialog box.

Use the Connect dialog box to assign a printer to a port, specify timeout options and communications settings, and connect to a network printer.


Setup Button

Choose the Setup button to display a dialog box for setting printing options.

Because the printing options are specific to each printer driver, the options in the Settings dialog box vary, depending on the selected printer. WIN-OS/2 uses the settings that should work for your printer most of the time.

If you want to change the settings and need more information about the options, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.


Remove Button

Choose the Remove button to remove the selected printer from the Installed Printers list.

The printer-driver file is not deleted from the disk, since other printers might use the same printer driver. Also, any font files that are used by the printer driver are not deleted, because another printer driver might use the same fonts.


Add Button

Choose the Add button to install a printer.

Choosing this button displays the list of printers supported by WIN-OS/2.


List of Printers

This option shows a list of the printers supported by WIN-OS/2. It appears when you choose the Add button in the Printers dialog box.

Select the printer you want from the list.

If your printer is not listed, check your printer manual to see if your printer emulates one of the printers that WIN-OS/2 supports. If so, you can use one of the printer drivers supplied with WIN-OS/2 to support your unlisted printer.

If WIN-OS/2 does not include a driver that supports your printer and you have a printer driver for the printer, select Install Unlisted Or Updated Printer from the List Of Printers box.


Install Button

This button appears when you choose the Add button in the Printers dialog button.

Choose the Install button to install the selected printer.

If the printer-driver file is not already on your hard disk, a dialog box appears, prompting you to insert the disk that contains the printer-driver file for the printer you want to install.


Ports

This option lists the ports that you can assign to your printer. Next to each port is information about whether it is a local port, assigned to a network printer path, or present on your system.

Select the port you want to use.

See your printer manual if you are not sure which type of port to use.

If you use a serial (COM) port, you might need to change its communications settings. By default, WIN-OS/2 uses the communications settings that should work with most printers.


Device Not Selected

This option controls the amount of time (in seconds) that Print Manager continues to check the printer to see if it is online and ready to print.

Type the number of seconds in the Device Not Selected box.

If the printer is not ready to print after the specified amount of time has elapsed, a message will appear, notifying you that a printer is offline.


Transmission Retry

This option sets the amount of time (in seconds) that Print Manager waits before notifying you that your printer cannot accept any more print information.

The default setting is 45 seconds for non-PostScript printers and 90 seconds for a PostScript printer. For PostScript printers, you may want to increase the value for this option significantly, especially if you plan on printing documents that contain complicated graphics and several different fonts.

Type the number of seconds in the Transmission Retry box.

When the printer finishes processing the information it currently has, it clears its memory and is ready to accept more information. If this takes longer than the value specified for this option, Print Manager displays a message.


Fast Printing Direct to Port

Clear this check box if you are using printing software that uses the MS-DOS interrupts to control printing. Clearing this check box may slow down printing.

When this option is selected, WIN-OS/2 does not use the MS-DOS interrupts for printing. Instead, WIN-OS/2 bypasses MS-DOS and prints directly to your printer, causing your documents to print faster.


Settings Button

To specify communications settings for the serial (COM) port assigned to your printer, choose the Settings button, and then complete the Settings dialog box.


Network Button

To connect to or disconnect from a network printer, choose the Network button, and then complete the Network Connections dialog box.


Baud Rate

Open the list, and then select a rate for how fast you want information transferred through the port.


Data Bits

Open the list, and then select the number of data bits per character that you want sent through the port. Most characters are transmitted in 7 or 8 data bits.


Parity

Open the list, and then select a method for error checking.


Stop Bits

Open the list, and then select a number for the time between transmitted characters. Stop bits are not actual bits; they are the timing unit between bits.


Flow Control

Open the list, and then select a method for controlling the flow of data. Xon/Xoff is the standard for software handshaking. Select Hardware if your computer controls data flow.


Advanced Button

To specify advanced options for the selected port, choose the Advanced button, and then complete the Advanced Settings dialog box.


Base I/O Port Address

Use this option to change the base port address for the serial (COM) port you want to use. Use this option only if the printer connected to the serial port uses an address value that differs from the detected value displayed in the text box. See your printer manual for information on the base port address that your printer uses.

Open the list and select an I/O address, or type a value in the box.


Interrupt Request Line (IRQ)

Assigning unique interrupt request lines (IRQs) for each serial port enables you to use COM ports 1 and 3, as well as 2 and 4, simultaneously on a computer that usually does not support this capability.

Before assigning IRQ numbers to serial ports, determine which interrupts are used by the printers connected to the serial ports and which ones are not being used by other cards or boards installed in your computer. You may need to adjust your serial card to use interrupts. See the manual that comes with your serial card for more information.

Open the list and select an IRQ. Or type a value in the box.

You can specify a value between 2 and 15.


New Connection

Use this area to connect to a new network printer.

In the Network Path box, type the name of the server and share point for the network printer.

Open the Port list, and then select a port for the printer connection.

In the Password box, type a password, if required.

Choose the Connect Button.


Current Printer Connections

This area shows a list of the network printers you are currently connected to.


Connect Button

Choose the Connect button to connect to the printer specified in the Network Path box.

When you choose this button, the printer appears in the Current Printer Connections list.


Previous Button

To reconnect to a network printer, choose the Previous button, and then complete the Previous Network Connections dialog box.


Browse Button

Choose this button to browse the network for available printers.

Some networks do not support this option. If your network does not support this option, the Browse button is unavailable.


Disconnect Button

Choose this button to disconnect from the printer selected in the Current Printer Connections list.