How to print from vDos and vDosPlus

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I configure Printfil to capture vDos / vDosPlus print jobs ?

vDos is a DOS emulator, derived from the popular DOSBox project, with some additional features, like support for LPT ports (that don't work in the original DOSBox build).
vDosPlus in turn is derived from vDos to add more features and improvements.
Some Customers do use them to run their DOS programs; mainly on 64 bit Windows systems (that cannot run 16 bit software, like DOS, natively).

Please note that along with these enhancements, the vDos(Plus) DOSBox variants stripped out support for graphical DOS programs originally included in DOSBox, so, if you're using one of those programs (like AutoCAD or Orcad for example) you should use one of the other DOSBox variants listed at: How to print from DOSBox.

If you're using the dbDOSv 2 software derived from vDosPlus, please refer to the instructions: How to print from dbDOSv 2.

You've two ways to capture DOS print jobs run inside vDos and vDosPlus, depending on how your DOS program produces them:

1. The DOS program "prints to file" itself.
2. The DOS program prints to a parallel port (from LPT1: to LPT9:) or a serial port (from COM1: to COM9:)

In both cases, as soon as the DOS program finishes printing, Printfil will capture the print job and will show it on screen, if Preview is enabled at Configuration -> Standard, or will directly send it to the chosen Windows printer.

1) The DOS program "prints to file" itself

In this case you just have to point Printfil to the very same file name produced by the DOS program, by the "File to check" field at Configuration -> Standard
There's no need to select any COM Port or LPT port to capture in the Printfil configuration dialog.

2) The DOS program prints to parallel ports (from LPT1: to LPT9:) or serial ports (from COM1: to COM9:)

NEW:

You can use the free DosPrint program that checks your PC configuration, then downloads, installs and configures both vDos / vDosPlus and Printfil without having to do those tasks manually. DosPrint is available for free at https://www.DosPrint.com

If instead you already have vDos or vDosPlus up and running on your machine, the newer Printfil version automatically detects them (provided you've installed them in the default path: C:\vDos or C:\vDosPlus).
When it starts, or when selecting an LPT port or COM port to capture at Configuration -> Standard, Printfil asks you if you want to automatically configure vDos / vDosPlus to capture the selected COM port or LPT port.

So, in order to capture print jobs sent to the LPT1: , LPT2: , LPT3: , LPT4: , LPT5: , LPT6: , LPT7: , LPT8: , LPT9: , COM1: , COM2: , COM3: , COM4: , COM5: , COM6: , COM7: , COM8: or COM9: port by a DOS program within vDos or vDosPlus you just have to:

1. If you're using a previous Printfil version, upgrade your Printfil copy
2. Go to Configuration -> Standard, select the LPT port or COM port you want to capture and click 'OK'
3. When you're asked if you want to 'Configure vDos / vDosPlus to capture the LPT1: port' click 'Yes' and follow the onscreen instruction.

If you prefer to redirect vDos(Plus) prints to Printfil without using the standard configuration dialog, you can do it by the command line parameters from the Windows Command Prompt as described in the article: How to make Printfil capturing prints in vDosPlus