Program Cannot Share or "Steal" LPT Port in Windows 95

ID: Q157244

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

In Windows 95, programs cannot temporarily share access to or take control of a parallel port while the port is in use. In earlier versions of Windows, this is possible using an interface provided by VCOMM.

CAUSE

The version of Lpt.vxd included with Windows 95 does not permit this feature to be implemented.

RESOLUTION

This issue is resolved by the following updated file for Windows 95 and OSR2, and later versions of this file:


   LPT.VXD  version 4.00.953  dated 8/1/96  35,511 bytes

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). An update to address this problem is now available, but is not fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft does not recommend implementing this update at this time. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for additional information about the availability of this update.

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.

MORE INFORMATION

For information about additional issues resolved by updates to this component, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q157949 Slow Keyboard Response on Some Windows 95-Based Computers

Q141919 Printing Problems with ECP Port

Q138714 Using the Windows Printing System with Windows 95

Q137152 Canon Bubble-Jet on ECP Port Prints Partial Page

Q132425 Extra Page Printed with Each Print Job

For additional information about Windows 95 updates, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q161020 Implementing Windows 95 Updates

Keywords : win95
Version : 95
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :