First, let's be certain that your printer works with another software application so that we can be sure that Fast-Flex Plus is the problem and not something else. Please do the following from Windows:

DOS Printing Test
1. Click on the Start button in the bottom left of the screen
2. Click on Programs
3. Click on MS-DOS Prompt
4. Type: EDIT
5. Press: Enter
6. Type: "This is a test!"
7. Click: File then click on Print (this should send it to the printer)
8. Click: File/Exit
9. Type: Exit

You should now be back to the Windows desktop, and a paper with "This is a test!" should be sitting on your printer.

If the printed page isn't there, then do the following:
1. From Windows Desktop, Click: My Computer
2. Click: Printers
3. Right-click on your printer
4. Click: Properties
5. Click: Details
6. In the box titled: "Print to the following port", select LPT1: (Printer Port)
7. Click: OK
8. Go back to Windows desktop
9. Redo the printing test, above

This should give you the printed page. If it doesn't, contact your hardware technician.

To test Fast-Flex Plus for DOS once the test passes, please be certain to select a report (from the Report Generator) that you know prints something to the screen. For example, the Employee (Participants) Listing. Once you see it on the screen, go to File/Select Output, choose printer, and then run the Employee Listing report again.

Fast-Flex Plus for DOS printing problems with Windows NT

A special command on computers running Windows NT is usually necessary in order to print to a network printer from Fast-Flex Plus for DOS , or any other DOS-based application such as "Edit". All other versions of Windows (3.x, '95, and '98) are able to print to LPT1: and other common printer ports.

We cannot give specific syntax for the capture command because it will depend on the type of printer and network you have. However, for a Novell network, a common syntax would be:

CAPTURE L=1 Q=networkprintername

This "Capture" command may not work on an NT network. However, there is a similar command for an NT network that should do the same trick. It's called "Net Use". If you go to a command prompt and type net use /? it will give you the correct syntax to use.

We have successfully used the following syntax:

net use lpt1: printername persistent:yes