NT -Buying on the Internet? Reliable?

[zeros]

Looking for an old printer (HP4 Plus) that can print from a DOS program. They had the printer I'm looking for on Ebay but how do you know if its even working? Little gunshy. Any comments?

[JohnH]

I frequently buy things on ebay. Look at the seller's volume rating and feedback. If they don't have a large number of transactions, you need to be more careful. Read some of their recent feedback and see how their customers rate them. A negative feedback entry doesn't mean they are an unreliable seller, but you can get a good feel for their overall reliability. Also, carefully read their return policy & guarantee. Whatever you do, confine your transactions to eBay's official channels.

[ATSMAN]

Looking for an old printer (HP4 Plus) that can print from a DOS program. They had the printer I'm looking for on Ebay but how do you know if its even working? Little gunshy. Any comments?

If you need to print from a software that only prints to LPT1 but you have a USB printer try this command:

At the RUN command line type this command:

Net Use Lpt1: \\computer-name\Printer /persistent:yes

[FEDUKE404]

Fighting those DOS software printing wars

Although I can't answer your question re eBay issues, I do have a comment or two re DOS printing.

Within the past month I've been trying to print some old stuff from a DOS program on a Win 98 system. (Ever heard of PFS First Choice??. . .it was immensely popular and in the early 90's often came as "pre-loaded" software.)

Anyway, back to the topic: I found an old printer (HP DeskJet 500) upstairs, and tried to connect it to the Win 98 system. (Original DeskJet printer had long ago gone to the promised land - $10 part would necessitate a $100+ repair bill.) No go. . .cable with the 500 printer had to be a two-way cable. Onward to next step.

Why not install not-new but working Epson CX3810 to Win 98 computer for printing? Sounded like a good idea, found 32-bit drivers, and off to the battle. Took a while for printer to become functional (Epson help folks had some very creative "suggestions") but finally Epson printer was connected and running.

So, time to print some DOS stuff? WRONG. . . It seems a Win printer is inherently pretty dumb although with the right software input it can print all kinds of graphics/fonts/colors/etc. A true DOS program basically tells the printer to print using its own limited internal capabilities (think of a few fonts plus regular/small same plus underlines/boldface/italics). Long story short - - - no matter what I tried, the MS DOS program would not print.

(I did find a potential. . .but expensive. . .solution here -->>> http://www.printfil.com/article/prin...y-printers.htm )

After spending way too much time on the problem, I finally just said "Uncle!" and started printing to file from the DOS program, and then reopening/massaging that file on my current MS Word (64-bit) software on my Win 7 system. I have not yet decided if I should look around for my ancient IBM PC with two 5.25 inch floppies. . .but at least the old printer should work. . . And then somewhere in the attic there is that TRS-80 with a serial port and a ribbon print cartridge. . .

Of course, it appears your HP 4 Plus is a laserjet printer so all of my ramblings may have been irrelevant. Alas, it was a slow afternoon.

BUT. . .if anyone can figure out how I can run/print PFS First Choice MSDOS software, I will be eternally grateful.

FE

[ATSMAN]

Although I can't answer your question re eBay issues, I do have a comment or two re DOS printing.

Within the past month I've been trying to print some old stuff from a DOS program on a Win 98 system. (Ever heard of PFS First Choice??. . .it was immensely popular and in the early 90's often came as "pre-loaded" software.)

Anyway, back to the topic: I found an old printer (HP DeskJet 500) upstairs, and tried to connect it to the Win 98 system. (Original DeskJet printer had long ago gone to the promised land - $10 part would necessitate a $100+ repair bill.) No go. . .cable with the 500 printer had to be a two-way cable. Onward to next step.

Why not install not-new but working Epson CX3810 to Win 98 computer for printing? Sounded like a good idea, found 32-bit drivers, and off to the battle. Took a while for printer to become functional (Epson help folks had some very creative "suggestions") but finally Epson printer was connected and running.

So, time to print some DOS stuff? WRONG. . . It seems a Win printer is inherently pretty dumb although with the right software input it can print all kinds of graphics/fonts/colors/etc. A true DOS program basically tells the printer to print using its own limited internal capabilities (think of a few fonts plus regular/small same plus underlines/boldface/italics). Long story short - - - no matter what I tried, the MS DOS program would not print.

(I did find a potential. . .but expensive. . .solution here -->>> http://www.printfil.com/article/prin...y-printers.htm )

After spending way too much time on the problem, I finally just said "Uncle!" and started printing to file from the DOS program, and then reopening/massaging that file on my current MS Word (64-bit) software on my Win 7 system. I have not yet decided if I should look around for my ancient IBM PC with two 5.25 inch floppies. . .but at least the old printer should work. . . And then somewhere in the attic there is that TRS-80 with a serial port and a ribbon print cartridge. . .

Of course, it appears your HP 4 Plus is a laserjet printer so all of my ramblings may have been irrelevant. Alas, it was a slow afternoon.

BUT. . .if anyone can figure out how I can run/print PFS First Choice MSDOS software, I will be eternally grateful.

FE

Yes I had PFS first choice and I loved it. It was much easier than Wordstar. Those old DOS programs came with their own printer drivers and you had to choose from a menu the printer that you were using.

Windows takes care of the printer driver functions so the software does not have to supply its own printer driver.

So try this. I am just going from memory here. I believe in PFS you could print to a print file (PRN format) or a ASCII text document. Save your document to PRN or ASCII txt file and then use Word or other current WP software to open the file. Obviously you will lose all the formatting and you will have to re do that but at least you will get the contents.

[FEDUKE404]

Dealing with PFS First Choice and DOS software

Yes I had PFS first choice and I loved it. It was much easier than Wordstar. Those old DOS programs came with their own printer drivers and you had to choose from a menu the printer that you were using.

Windows takes care of the printer driver functions so the software does not have to supply its own printer driver.

So try this. I am just going from memory here. I believe in PFS you could print to a print file (PRN format) or a ASCII text document. Save your document to PRN or ASCII txt file and then use Word or other current WP software to open the file. Obviously you will lose all the formatting and you will have to re do that but at least you will get the contents.

Thanks, ATSMAN.

Your suggestion is basically what I was/am doing, namely printing/saving to a "print file" and then reopening with something like MS Word. The "old" computer now has no operating printer attached, so I do have to slide the saved data file over to the newer computer for massaging with newer MS Word software and the Epson (Windows) printer.(I did the same thing for the Win 98 system with First Choice. But, for all intents and purposes, I've not been able to "print" directly from First Choice since prior to the Win 98 system. . .I don't even remember what I had at the time. Perhaps even Gateway or IBM "PC" ??)

While you obviously can't save everything, there are some tricks you have to put in place for such things as alignment of columned reports and page breaks. I've found printing to 66 lines and later setting top/bottom margins to 0.25" generally works and preserves the page numbering etc. (You can also add comments or bold/italics/colors and save.) To do otherwise can generate a lot of unnecessary busy work within the word processor. For landscape (wide) reports with multiple columns, I'm still working on the default width and height settings. Since most of my reports should be "simple," I might dodge that bullet for some time.

It's awkward, but doable. My greatest concern is when the Win 98 computer, with a MS/DOS function, no longer operates. I've not found any satisfactory/workable solution to running the DOS software on newer machines. (I did find a Yahoo group, "PFSFC," that is dedicated to First Choice. . .but the group appears quite dormant.)

To give you an example of my First Choice projects: I'm trying to calculate/sort/print cost basis records for my investments (think "uncovered" versus "covered" issues), and some of my funds have existed since the mid-1980s with regular (monthly!) dividend reinvestments. You can do the math for how many potential entries there are to track. . .

Oh well. Thanks very much for your input!

FE

[ATSMAN]

Thanks, ATSMAN.

Your suggestion is basically what I was/am doing, namely printing/saving to a "print file" and then reopening with something like MS Word. The "old" computer now has no operating printer attached, so I do have to slide the saved data file over to the newer computer for massaging with newer MS Word software and the Epson (Windows) printer.(I did the same thing for the Win 98 system with First Choice. But, for all intents and purposes, I've not been able to "print" directly from First Choice since prior to the Win 98 system. . .I don't even remember what I had at the time. Perhaps even Gateway or IBM "PC" ??)

While you obviously can't save everything, there are some tricks you have to put in place for such things as alignment of columned reports and page breaks. I've found printing to 66 lines and later setting top/bottom margins to 0.25" generally works and preserves the page numbering etc. (You can also add comments or bold/italics/colors and save.) To do otherwise can generate a lot of unnecessary busy work within the word processor. For landscape (wide) reports with multiple columns, I'm still working on the default width and height settings. Since most of my reports should be "simple," I might dodge that bullet for some time.

It's awkward, but doable. My greatest concern is when the Win 98 computer, with a MS/DOS function, no longer operates. I've not found any satisfactory/workable solution to running the DOS software on newer machines. (I did find a Yahoo group, "PFSFC," that is dedicated to First Choice. . .but the group appears quite dormant.)

To give you an example of my First Choice projects: I'm trying to calculate/sort/print cost basis records for my investments (think "uncovered" versus "covered" issues), and some of my funds have existed since the mid-1980s with regular (monthly!) dividend reinvestments. You can do the math for how many potential entries there are to track. . .

Oh well. Thanks very much for your input!

FE

Now that you mention that your old computer has no operating system and you really want to run the DOS program, have you tried http://www.freedos.org/

My uncle still has Lotus 123 tracking his finances on a old DOS machine with amber screen! He hates the mouse!

[taxea]

HP may be a more reliable source for a refurbished printer. You can also check Amazon open box items.

[geekgirldany]

Just check out the seller before buying the printer. I threw away two HP Laserjet 4 about two or three years ago. They were really good machines. I got them from the Goodwill where I live, when they first opened. Seemed that many of the larger companies were using it to get rid of office equipment and furniture. I bought computers, printers, servers, desks all for super super cheap. Compaq Server with Win 2000 for $10 bucks sure I will get it. I stopped going when Goodwill got the hint and started pricing items much higher that $5 computer was now $150 to $200 if it worked and they could get Windows to come up. That stack 20 comic books for $6 bucks.... oh now they are $6 each

You might check out some thrift stores you never know what you will find. I believe many now however will not take electronics.

[ATSMAN]

My son always took a power inverter (produces 120V AC from car battery) whenever he purchased electronic/electrical stuff at garage sales, Craigslist etc. to test the stuff before he paid cash!
I still have my Epson FX80 printer. Though I have not powered up in a decade!