>With several clients I have come across the problem of Hewlett Packard printers printing asterisks both on the print and in a preview. This occurs if the printer is set to higher than 300 dpi. I have resolved this but changing the printer driver to a different model or using a generic HP driver. Obviously this is not a good solution as it reduces the performance of the printer for other applications. Has anyone a better solution?

Michael -
I've had all kinds of problems with HP LaserJets and drivers for them through the years .
Best combo so far ? Laser Jet III, with pcl5e driver sets.
Anything after that ? Mondo Messy, with unpredictable results. Memory leaks on some of them, font problems with others, spooling problems with others.

So going forward ?
I always include this driver set in my installation packs
and set up a new named printer utilizing that driver inside from my VFP app.

I have some feeling there is some other combo for 'sweet spot' on laserjet drivers, but I have not been on such a religious hunt last 2 years.

That particular set [pcl5e] seems stable, at least to me and the clients who use my applications. In some instances, I've had to recommend them to buy a refurbished LJ III laserjet printer as well.

But - lets say they have some newfangled HP laserjet printer. You can set up ANOTHER NAMED PRINTER to use the LJ III pcl5e driver that prints to the SAME PORT, and set your printer, inside VFP, to that OTHER NAMED PRINTER prior to printing your reports.


hth - mondo regards [Bill]