How do i print text from a DOS window on Windows XP Pro?

Question

My boss uses a dos based program and would press shift+print Screen to make it print the text on the old dos-only system, now he, refusing to update, wants to print the text only from the dos program running in windows, with out printing the whole screen as a graphic only the text. What should I tell him?

Answer 1

You could always copy the text from the output of the dos program to notepad and then print the text from there.

Answer 2

I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't check the exact place, but when you add a printer, you can indicate if you intend to print from DOS programs, so you can capture the port. If you poke around in the Control Panel Printers dialog, you should be able to find it. Otherwise, you may have to remove and re-add the printer, specifying that you intend to print from DOS programs.

Note that sometimes it won't actually initiate the printing until you exit the DOS program. It depends on the program, so it's not always the case, but if it's not working for you, exit the DOS program and see if it starts then.