Dear Ed Rauh,

I would like to thank you for beign patient with me on this topic. I'am suprised you have not told me to stop useing FPD 2.6 Since its an Accounting package, it difficult to discard right away.

Continueing from where we left, I have a few questions

1. Is the problem stated by me correct( in my previous message ). Are you sure why it works in Windows XP ?

2. What is WIN service ?

3. What is the expansion of UNC ?

4. How do I know the IP address of my machine ? ( In ME )

Regards
Rakesh




>>I tried with Windows XP & it worked. It's not working with Windows ME.
>>
>>The Obersvations are as follows :
>>
>>

When NET VIEW command is issued the following is dispalyed
>>
>>                   Server Name                 Remark
>>Windows XP         Rakesh-abc                  Winserver
>>Windows ME         Winserver                   Rakesh
>>
>>'Rakesh-abc' is defined in XP as Full Computer name or IP Address
>>'Winserver'  is defined in XP as Computer Description
>>
>>'Winserver'  is defined in ME as Computer Name
>>'Rakesh'     is defined in ME as Computer Description

>>
>>The problem is I'am not able to identify the IP Address in Window ME. I would also like to mention that in XP if 'Winserver' is used then it does not work. Only if ' Full Computer name or IP Address ' is used then it works.
>>
>
>Win9x, including ME, is not able to resolve a UNC based on the IP address of the target machine; it requires a NetBIOS name to reference the server. If the NetBIOS name is not resolvable through the WINS service, you need to create an entry in the LMHOSTS file to associate a NetBIOS name with the IP address for you. Check your system's LMHOSTS.SAM to see how to set up the association so that you can resolve the address using NetBIOS based on an entry in LMHOSTS.
>
>>How do we identify if ' Server ' service is enabled in Windows ME ?
>>
>
>Check if the File and Printer Services for Microsoft Networking is installed under Network Neighborhood (or My Network Places, I don't remember which it's called under ME), click Properties. If File and Printer Services for Microsoft Networks is present, check its properties to ensure that it is allowed to share printer resources.
>
>>>I don't know what to tell you here; the tests I've done with re-using shared printers and folders works under Win98SE, Win2K and WinXP just fine, and I've tested it with Eltron, Epson and HP printers. About the only thing left to do is to replace the printer or enable it to use a different kind of port (many USB printers also have support for a serial or parallel interface cable) or to add a network card and purchase a cheap third-party print server with a USB port (there are several I've worked with, made by Intel, LinkSys, NetGear and DLink; they are an actual network node with a dedicated print server built in, so it's a "real" network print environment. I like the Intel Pro 10/100 and the LinkSys models best; the LinkSys is less expensive, and supports a wide array of features, and I know is available with both parallel and USB ports. Add a $10-15 Ethernet NIC and a cable and set up TCP/IP printing.)
>>>
>>>XP supports networking via USB and FireWire; if the printer is a smart printer with built-in network capabilities, it might be possible to set up a network environment over your USB connection. I do not know if this is possible with ME, but since it keeps the cost down, it might be worth looking at.
>>>
>>>There are adapters made that will connect a USB device to a parallel or serial port or a serial/parallel device to a USB port available; I've used one such to attach a modem to a machine without an on-board serial port. My experience with them has not been good; for example, the modem adapter required me to use a special INT14 serial driver to make the modem accessible (but then that was the inverse situation from what you have.)
>>>
>>>Since you're in a DOS environment, you might want to look at using the DOS MODE command; under older operating systems and Win2K Pro, I've used it to let you redirect a serial printer to be accessed via a parallel port name. It may be that you can use MODE in the same fashion under ME to direct the USB printer to a parallel port; you'd need to know the port name created by Windows to identify the USB device (this name varies according to the USB driver in use; the name given to an Epson Stylus on a USB port is not the same name given to an Eltron LP2348 using the internal USB printer port driver from Win2K.)
>>>
>>>Alternatively (and from my POV, better for your app in the long run) upgrade the system to use XP or Win2K Pro - this means an OS upgrade, and increasing RAM (I'd consider 256MB a fairly good system, even with a 350MHz Pentium II or equivalent), and both Win2K and XP definitely support redirection of local print resources.