Originally Posted by pawoSD

I wasn't trying to be (that) mean. Dells.....I've had too much unpleasantness in dealing with them over the years.

I am sure you have the abilities to build a PC....with about 10-15 mins of reading about the assembly process I am quite sure you could build one. Modern PC's require very few components anyways since most of it is built into the motherboard.

You'd need: Case, Power Supply, DVD-Burner of choice, Motherboard, RAM, CPU, Hard Drive, Graphics Card (optional), CPU Cooler.....maybe some fans. Throw it all together in an hour or so....and...you're set.

Then you'd have a computer with all BIOS options open and available for configuring as you need them.

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Retired ferry boat captain.

I haven't yet purchased DOStoUSB or Printfil? Neither requires the StarTech card to my knowledge as that software doesn't require the parallel port. If you can print from Windows using the USB........supposedly, you can print from DOS.

I'd like some input from anyone who has tried either product.........??

I'd have already purchased a new printer if it didn't cost $1K. It's a wide format printer for my drawings.

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Yes, I'm sure I could build one..........

That being said, I definitely appreciate the ability to call Dell if I have a problem and letting them resolve it. Sometimes they fix it immediately..........sometimes they take a couple of months. But, overall, I'm pleased with their service.

I didn't exactly purchase a premium machine. It's fine for my needs but, clearly, it's lacking in expansion and configuration features.

Furthermore, add the cost of XP Pro and MS Office to the cost of the hardware and the savings in cost is insignificant on a self build.

I did think about it............

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

Ah yes wide format. The massive civil engineering blueprint plotters at my work were hastily upgraded due to their very expensive parts.

There is another option. I have a Netgear ethernet to parallel print server collecting dust. The device plugs into your router via ethernet cable thereby using one IP address and you run a program to configure the router and printer port (it can handle 2) and there you go, remote printing service...tethered to a cord.

Originally Posted by Ara T.

You can save yourself what, 400 dollars by downloading that software online. Im not sure of the price since the last time I used an OS that was actually paid for, it was Windows 95. That definitely was not worth it!

Originally Posted by Howitzer

Have you tried DOS2USB? Man, I'd start with the easy stuff before I built a new computer.

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Yep, I'm going to try that next.

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Warranty/support is over rated....I've never actually had a PC I've built fail on me yet (I've built many dozens).....at least not within a 4-5 year span. Sure I've had a hard drive or two die....but never a whole pc.

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

I'll second that DOStoUSB. The idea of building a whole new machine to fix a software problem is excessive.

Originally Posted by link

Just for fun go into computer management, then select device manager. Once there, click on View and then resources by connection. Once you have that, look for the heading called interrupt request (IRQ). Note which IRQ lines are NOT in use.

Next click on View again, and select devices by type (this is the default view)
Look under ports. Look to see if there are any LPT ports specified. If there are, note the resources used.

If you can’t get a printer port to work, you can always get an inexpensive alternative is to get a so called printer server. These are network devices which have one or more network connections, plus one or more traditional parallel ports. Most manufacturers make them, but some charge more than others.