OT: Printing from Windows 7 via SMC Barricade router?

Yes, it is old. But _all_ other PCs are able to print through that at _all_ times. It worked well under NT, Win2k and still does under XP. But Windows 7 fails it. So it is a problem of Windows 7.

Right above this response you gave I told you to type in net help use.

There, you can find how to construct calls to IP addresses as well.

It's easy to remove, if you know what you are doing. will remove every trace of it from your computer, if you use it at the highest level. I've used in on close to 100 computers to help people clean up their mistakes.

NET USE is something I already tried with the assigned name (HP Laser Jet 5L) and it had no effect. So unless there's another secret incantation regarding the share name I have to conclude that it does not work.

How about doing the way most others do...

Plug the printer directly into a PC, install the printer's software there if needed and then share it amount other PC's on the network.. At least you don't need to worry about the SMC printer server port any more and you'll get to use your printer.

P.S. If there is software for the printer, you may need to install that same software on each PC, even though it's going through your network to get to it.

Jamie

Then the printer will no longer be available to other PCs when this one is turned off. Which it always is when I am not in the office.

You can but it's more for convenience. It relieves non-techie users from having to enter printer file formats and stuff like that. But you can also enter all that by hand which, for example, you have to do on Linux boxes because the software won't run there. It also will not run on Windows 7.

Does it ever? I don't think there has been one instance when windows troubleshooter has solved a problem for me.

Oh, and I hate those messages that tell me to report it to my system administrator. I am my system administrator, so now what?

Sylvia.

These days, you can get a fanless computer brick with a 32 bit light weight OS in it. Many of them come with parallel ports if that is what you need. Install the print drivers or just connect the printer to that and connect to your network, leave it on. You don't even need a screen or key board on it.

I have a pile of fanless bricks with XP pro on them which have 4 serial ports, a parallel port, USB, PS2 port, 160G HD, 2G ram, two network ports and I got them for free..

So I think you can come up with something reasonable and still use W7.

Jamie.

SWMBO would be a bit peeved if yet another box clutters the already extremely full office here. Especially because it's only needed because MS couldn't get it right with the Windows 7 printer handling.

If I really have to do it I'll buy only of those LAN to parallel port pods. Smaller than a pack of cigarettes and around $50. They contain a print server which Windwos 7 will hopefully recognize.

Same here. It's just eye candy, useless fluff.

Oh yeah. Lots of nonsensical blurbs, beeps and other annoyances with Windows these days. No matter how it's tossed and turned, Windows XP is better than Windows 7. My favorite was NT4. That was very quiet regarding such annoyances and it had the robustness of a Sherman tank.

It is trying to get you to talk to yourself. First sign of madness!

I have never found the Dullard any use at fault diagnosis either.

The blue screen crash analysis tool from the URL I posted earlier and Dr Watson can be handy if something is really causing trouble.

I really don't understand why you have taken against Win7 to such a great extent. It is considerably more stable than XP and will run most legacy code in its compatibility mode.

BTW You have made a rod for your own back going with the x64 version since that does reduce the range of legacy native drivers available for ancient hardware considerably. Win7 x32 drivers exist for some old kit.

Regards, Martin Brown

Because many of the usual fault diagnostics are dumb. For example, what does it take to find out whether printer data goes out onto the LAN or not? Or whether the printer answers? It certainly is not rocket science. Instead, the answer was to the effect of "cannot find anything wrong".

^^^^

"Most" is the problem. It can't handle one of my network printers, it can't handle my camera and Mathcad 15 installed with about a dozen DLL incompatibilty warnings. I had to click them all off but I bet they'll haunt me some day. According to discussions on the web that seems to be the only way to force-feed Mathcad 15 into a Windows 7 machine, short of shelling out a large sum of money for a new version and support taxes. XP did not have those kinds of issues. _All_ my legacy stuff installed properly and most of all swiftly.

The other gripe is time. I spent almost 30h to get this new machine to work. Transferring from Win2k to XP took all of 2h. Admittedly a lesser number of programs but not by much, maybe 30% less.

Oh, and now the text on my screen looks fuzzy. This is with a screaming gamer graphics card whereas the old XP box produced crispy clear text using a simple integrated Intel graphics on the motherboard.

According to the sales guys Windows 7 Professional 64-bit has a 32-bit engine in it and I dutifully installed all older SW in the 32-bit program file area.

But you have the pro version don't you? If so you can put picky things like Mathcad into its own XP environment with a little bit more work.

Most real cameras just look like mass storage devices and so should be pretty generic. Webcams are so cheap that you can just buy another.

Not sure why you have had so much trouble. The network printer fault seems to be more to do with the way the ageing Barricade router lacks drivers than anything else. It might be worth connecting the printer directly to your new PC for a quick test to see if it is recognised as a local printer. There is a slight chance that once the drivers are in like that things might behave a bit better over the network. Also try browsing to its IP address and see if you can see it that way.

FWIW I do recall having some issues making my Dell 1320cn talk to Win7 over the network at first but I can't recall how I fixed it in the end.

Are you sure you have matched the native resolution of display and graphics?

What you describe sounds like an aliasing fault where the display is interpolating a signal it cannot accommodate in screen native resolution. The modern digital display should be tack sharp.

Double check settings for display and graphics card.

It does but there are subtle differences. If your goal was maximum backwards compatibility and minimum legacy hassle I'd have recommended Win7 32 (even though that puts a hard ceiling on your max ram).

I suggest you investigate the XP compatibility features as they may well do what you want but will require some investment in time to do it.

Regards, Martin Brown

Supposedly that does not help with Mathcad. I researched that pretty good beforehand.

Which is on the way. It is still sad that one has to throw out perfectly functional old hardware just because of what I consider programmer incompetence.

Age has got nothing to do with it. It's a plain TCP/IP printer port which every OS could so far address. Except for Windows 7. This is not rocket science, it's simple.

I don't have a USB-LPT pod for that. I bet it would work but then it won't be reachable when this PC is off.

I have the correct driver. also drive half a dozen generic ones that would otherwise work.

I can ping but the printer will not respond unless it sees the usual HP incantations.

Sometimes I have the feel this could require a 2lbs mallet :-)

Yes, 100%.

Rendering in the NVidia Setup demo is crisp and sharp so it is guaranteed not a hardware problem or a settings problem. Windows 7 is screwed up.

I will after I get the basic stuff working reliably enough. Which has turned into a major chore.

OK. ISTR what it was. Make sure the IP address is right in Printer Properties : Configure Std TCP/IP Port Monitor

It is quite easy to end up with a dumb as a rock config flaw where the IP address has moved and isn't where your printer actually resides!

I have Protocol (*) LPR Port 515 Queue name lp [/] LPR byte counting enabled [ ] SNMP Status enabled

ISTR that by default SNMP is enabled and it didn't print at all it just went through the motions of turning over the print engine.

The intention was more to prove that the drivers have installed OK.

Pity. My Dell is more catholic and responds with an ink status page.

Double check it. Also any antialiassing settings.

Strange - I have never seen a screen blur problem with any Win7 box.

Regards, Martin Brown

What printer is this about. If Windows 7 doesn't have drivers for your printer, it won't work as a network printer either. The printing applications in Windows 7 need the drivers, not so much Windows itself.

I bought Win 7 Pro for the extra XP compatibility. The VM XP mode is Hideous to the point of unusable - very slow, buggy, crap display. I don't use it now. An old XP machine is way better than the modern VM version.

They run about $300.

Far better to use it as a nice HTPC in the room with the printer and have the printer ALSO be one of the things that computer serves to the household. Then, the screen for the display can be a nice fractal art aesthetic.

As to the parallel port... that statement is untrue.

Most have USB and DVI(or VGA) and HDMI interfaces. Some have memory card slots. Some have firewire or eSATA. Few, if any, aside from the industrial slow as mollases, triple overpriced dogs have them.

Most printers have USB these days though, and if it doesn't, we are back in luddite land again.

It would also have saved you to simply buy a new print server at this point. Unless your personal time and mental health are worthless. They can be very cheap, and delivered, run ready.

At that point, I would buy a new one. Get it going, the HACK open and DIG that thing apart (software wise)and see if you can't dd-wrt it or something. Spend your time thanking yourself for buying the new one and getting the network share functional, and you also now have a new learning tool to toy with.

I saw $18 or less. Google USB to LAN

If it is RS-422 only, then it and you and the printer are a dinosaur and this thread is a troll.