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- DOCUMENT:Q103938 21-SEP-1993 [W_NT]
- TITLE :Redirection of LPT Port Not Possible in Printer Properties
- PRODUCT :Windows NT
- PROD/VER:3.10
- OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
- KEYWORDS:
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The information in this article applies to:
-
- - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
- - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- SUMMARY
- =======
-
- If you create a printer using the Create Printer command on the
- Printer menu in Windows NT Print Manager, you will be able to set the
- printer port you want to print to. If you select one of the LPTx
- ports, you will not be able to redirect the printer output to a shared
- printer on the network.
-
- This design implementation of Windows NT is different from that of the
- MS-DOS-based versions of Windows 3.x, in which a port can be
- redirected to a shared network printer even though a printer is
- "connected" to an LPT port.
-
- To print to a shared printer on the network in Windows NT, the Print
- To entry in the Printer Properties dialog box of the Print Manager
- must display the UNC network name of the shared printer, such as the
- following:
-
- \\<computer name>\<printer name>
-
- MORE INFORMATION
- ================
-
- If you connect to an LPT port in Print Manager with no physical
- printer connected to your computer, you will not be able to print to
- the connected shared printer on the network from Windows NT-based
- applications or from virtual MS-DOS machines (VDMs). However, you can
- still open a command prompt and explicitly redirect the printer port
- using the NET USE command, for example:
-
- net use lptx: \\<computer name>\<printer name>
-
- This redirection will be applied to all new MS-DOS windows (VDMs) that
- are opened after that, but you will still be unable to print in
- Windows-based applications until the Print To selection is changed to
- the UNC network name of the printer. This name is near the bottom of
- the list of possible printer port connections in the Printer
- Properties dialog box.
-
- Steps to Reproduce the Behavior
- -------------------------------
-
- 1. Physically connect a printer to a Windows for Workgroups computer.
-
- 2. Ensure that a Windows NT computer can access shared directories on
- the Windows for Workgroups computer over a domain or workgroup to
- which both computers are connected.
-
- 3. Designate the printer on the Windows for Workgroups computer as a
- shared printer.
-
- 4. Ensure that no other printers are connected either directly or
- indirectly to the Windows NT computer.
-
- 5. In Windows NT Print Manager, choose Create Printer from the Printer
- menu.
-
- 6. Make the appropriate entries for the printer physically connected
- to the Windows for Workgroups computer, but make sure that the value
- for the Print To option remains at LPT1.
-
- You will not be able to print from Windows-based applications or
- MS-DOS-based applications until you change the Print To value to the
- network UNC name of the shared printer. You will be able to print from
- the MS-DOS-based applications only if you make an explicit connection
- in a single VDM using the NET USE command to redirect the LPT1 port to
- the shared printer.
-
- Additional reference words: 3.10 printing parallel-port redir can't print
- KBCategory:
- KBSubCategory: prt
-
- =============================================================================
-
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-
- Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.