Question

how to open a *.prn file

Asked by: BonnieW

I saved my system/device manager settings to a file rather than print them out because my printer wasn't attached at the time.  I saved the file as "system.prn" and now I can't seem to print it in a format that I can read.  The help screens instruct on saving to a file but not on how to print the file.  What program should I use to print the
file?

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Asked On
1999-08-06 at 14:25:04ID10191671
Tags

open

,

prn

,

file

,

how

Topic

Windows 95 Operating System

Participating Experts
1
Points
100
Comments
3

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Answers

 

by: BonnieWPosted on 1999-08-06 at 14:25:41ID: 1693633

Adjusted points to 100

 

by: r parkinsonPosted on 1999-08-06 at 17:38:19ID: 1693634

If you save Printer output to a file then Windows does exactly that, all the commands that would normally go to the printer port are saved to the file.  So to print the file you just need to send the file content directly to the printer port.  One way to do this is to "copy" the file directly to the printer port.  You can do this with the DOS copy command, assuming your printer is on LPT1 you would type the command :

Copy /B system.prn LPT1

the /B indicates a binary copy as the printer data may contain return characters which may be expanded to return/line feed characters in ASCI mode.

In general it is better to put the printer off line in the printer folder (select Pause Printing from the Printer menu of the individual printer)and then just put it back on line when the printer is connected.

 

by: BonnieWPosted on 1999-08-06 at 20:35:08ID: 1693635

Thank you for the prompt response.  Gee, it's easy when you know how!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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