When printing from Vigilant in any Windows environment the printer must be captured to a printer port, i.e. LPT1:, LPT2:, or LPT3:. In previous versions of Windows, such as 95 or 98, this was a simple task performed in the printer properties. In Windows 2000, the capture printer port option is no longer available. This is not a concern if you are printing to a local printer (i.e. the printer is physically attached to the back of your computer) but over a network it does become an issue. DOS must be tricked into thinking that the printer is attached to the computer directly, so the signal is rerouted to the captured port. That being said, it is still possible to print from Vigilant through Windows 2000, it just requires a command to be inserted in the AUTOEXEC.BAT for each Window 2000 workstation you wish to print from. The command line is:
NET USE LPT?: "\\COMPUTER NAME\PRINTER NAME"
The "?" after LPT will be replaced in your command by the port number you wish to assign. For example, your command might be LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 depending on what number is available. Remember, Vigilant's DOS version can only support LPT1-3 on a Microsoft Network.
The words COMPUTER NAME and PRINTER NAME will be replaced by the names of your computer and printer on your network. You can get this information from Windows 2000. Please have your network administrator or dealer show you how to find this information through 'Network Places'.
Here is an example of the command you would insert if you chose LPT2:, and your computer name was Sales One and the printer name was 'hp.'
NET USE LPT2: "\\Sales One\hp"
If you wished to insert a second printer, the command would be something like this: (in this example, the printer is named 'Epson' and is attached to the same computer)
NET USE LPT3: "\\Sales One\Epson"
If the command is typed accurately and the computer and printer names are correct, there will be no problems printing.
