Printing on WINDOWS 2000 and XP to a USB or Wireless Printer!

Printing - PRO-BELT requires that the printer emulate or be compatible with PCL printer control language. Most office printer are PCL compatible. However, most "photo" printers are not. PRO-BELT can print on network printers, USB printers, parallel port printers or com port printers that are PCL compatible.

The procedure present here is to be used for printing in Windows 2000 and XP to a USB or wireless printer connected to a computer that is NOT connected to a network. Windows closes the network when a computer is unplugged from the network or the computer is a stand-alone system. Click the follow link for instructions for printing on a Windows 2000 or XP network.

Printing on WINDOWS NT, 2000 and XP Network Printers!

A stand-alone computer must have the Microsoft Loopback Adapter installed, the Firewall configured and the PRO-BELT Batch File modified in order to print to a USB or wireless printer.

Step No. 1 - Observe Windows present IP configuration.

Step No. 2 - Install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter.

Step No. 2 - Confirm the Microsoft Loopback Adapter has been installed in Windows IP configuration.

Step No. 3 - Configure the Firewall to allow communication with the new Microsoft Loopback Adapter.

For Norton Internet Security proceed as follows. Check the manual for other types of firewalls.

Step No. 4 - Make the USB or Wireless Printer a "Shared Printer"

1. Go to Start - Control Panel - Printers. Right click on the USB or wireless printer and select the Properties tab.

2. Select the Sharing tab. The printer will already be set as a Shared printer in network applications.

Select the "Share This Printer" radio button. In the "Share Name" box enter the name you want to use as the printer's share name.  The default is the same as the printer's name, but you may want to change it so that it is short and doesn't have any embedded spaces, if necessary.  This will make it easier later as required below. Write down this name.

The "Share Name" for the printer must be no more than 8 characters for all MS-DOS programs. Do not use spaces, punctuation, or special characters. It must be a combination of any numbers and/or letter, upper or lower case.

Click Apply and Click OK.

Step No. 5 - Locate your computer name.

1. Windows has a name for your computer that was given at some time in the past. This step should proceed with caution if your computer name is being used in a larger network. Changing the name effect other people in the system.

2. Go to Start - Control Panel - System. Click on the Computer Name tab. Write down the Full Computer Name. Note! This is not the "Computer Description." You can change or edit the name by clicking on the Change Name button and proceeding. Click OK as required for a name change. Click Cancel to keep the default name.

Step No. 6 - Place a NET USE printer redirect command in the PRO-BELT batch file.

1. Right click on the PRO-BELT icon and select properties to see the location of the batch file. Write down the drive and PRO-BELT folder names.. 

2. Launch the NotePad program. Go to Start - Programs - Accessories. Use the NotePad program in Windows to modify the PROBELT.BAT file in the English version and/or the MPROBELT.BAT file in the Metric version in the PRO-BELT folder..

3. Place this NET USE printer redirect command in the first line of the PROBELT.BAT and/or MPROBELT.BAT file.

NET  USE  LPT1:  \\Computer\Printer  /PERSISTENT:NO

This should all be on the same line. On network systems the Server name is used instead of the Computer name.

Where: Computer is changed to the name of your computer as determined above.
Where: Printer is changed to the name of your shared printer connected to the USB or wireless port. The name should not have any embedded spaces and must have no more than 8 characters.
Where: /PERSISTENT:NO tells Windows to end the redirect command after a restart.

Important: The printer must be capable of printing in HP PCL printer language. Some new, low cost printers that are only capable of printing in postscript mode will not work. All Hewlett Packard printer have the HP PCL capability, but the PCL drivers must be installed. See you HP printer instruction book or Install CD for instructions. Install the PCL drivers if the printer fails to print at the completion of this setup.

The batch file will redirects output on LPT1 to the shared printer connected to a USB or wireless port.

4. Double click the PRO-BELT icon on the desktop to launch the program. To check the status you must press ALT-ENTER at the same time while PRO-BELT is full screen to minimize for switching to Windows. Open a Command Prompt Window by going to Start - Run - CMD - OK and type NET USE. Press Enter. You must see the following in order to confirm redirect of the printing from LTP1 to the desired printer.

OK  LPT1  \\Computer\Printer  Microsoft Windows Network.
The command completed successfully.

Step No. 7 - Test the printer

Alternate Parallel Port - Changing PRO-BELT to LPT2 or LPT3 instead of LPT1.

1. CAUTION. Each of the program in PRO-BELT operate as a separate program. The default printer port is selection 5 - LPT1 (DOS Device LPT1). After successfully testing one of the program, select each of the others and change the printer port, if required. Always select File - Save - Replace from the Main Menu to update the default selection.

2. To change the port to LPT2 launch PRO-BELT by double clicking on the desktop icon. Pick each of the programs in turn. Go to Commands - Worksheet - Global - Default - Printer - Interface. Highlight selection 6 - LPT2 (DOS Device LPT2). Press Enter.

3. Press ESC several time to reach the Main Menu again. Select File - Save - Replace to save the printer port selection.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact your company network administrator or technician. Inform the network technician that you want the software to use the Windows 2000 or XP "redirect" command (NET USE) to send the printing from LTP1 to the USB  or wireless printer.

Canceling the NET USE redirect command

You can restart the computer to cancel the NET USE redirect command or create a batch file with a desktop shortcut to easily cancel the redirect. Make the new cancel batch file as follows.

Confirm cancellation of the NET USE redirect command

Printing Problems of Page Orientation or Fancy Print Command

The PRO-BELT "Setup String" can be changed to resolve some of the printer problems. Correcting other problems may require changes to the printer "default" settings.

PRO-BELT Setup String:

The Setup String sends commands to the printer before the print job is started.

Step No. 1 - The Setup String can be changes by going to the Main Menu and selecting Commands - Worksheet - Global - Default - Printer - Setup. Change the Setup String and press enter. The common example settings are:

\027 This is the default setting. This uses a zero, not an "O".

\027\027(10U This setting add the extended character set for printing in "Fancy Mode."

Step No. 2 - Press Enter after changing the Setup String. Then press ESC to back out until the Main Menu appears.

Step No. 3 - Select Print - 1 Page - Fancy Text to test the printer.

Step No. 4 - If the printed page looks like those in the manual the Setup String is correct and must be saved as a new default setting. Select File - Save from the Main Menu. Save any file or the default data file. If the default data file appears press Enter and Replace to save the Setup String changes.

Step No. 5 - Each of the programs in both the English and Metric versions must be changed individually and the corresponding data files saved. Do this step to each of the programs to prevent printer problems in the future.

Step No. 6 - Record the Setup String that works properly and place a note in the manual.

Printer Page Orientation:

The PRO-BELT program should print in portrait mode on standard size paper. Some printers will print in the landscape mode instead or print from the wrong paper tray. These conditions must be changed in the printer default settings, not in PRO-BELT. Review the manual for your printer and change the default setting to print from the standard paper tray in portrait mode.

Please call our office for further assistance at 303 - 927 - 6937.

users technical support answers.

Printing  PRO-BELT Reports to an Adobe Acrobat PDF File.

Converting PRO-BELT Reports to a "Rich Text File" or Document.

Converting PRO-BELT Graphics Data Page to a Rich Text File or PDF.

Printing on a local printer attached to the computer!

Printing on Windows 2000 and XP to a USB or Wireless Printer!

Printing on WINDOWS NT, 2000 and XP Network Printers!

Printing on WINDOWS 95 and 98 Network Printers!

Printing PRO-BELT Graphs!

Hardlock key is not found by computer!

Shaft Mounted Reducer Torque Arm Reaction and Pulley Shaft Load.

Calculating Tangent Dimensions for Concave and Convex Vertical Curves.

Professional Designers & Engineers, Inc.

Kent R. Rieske, President
P. O. Box 11380
Boulder, CO 80301 USA

Tel: 303 - 927 - 6937
Fax: 303 - 953 - 9725

Mail Box
Send us your E-mail message.

PRO-BELT Home Page