With regard to Roy Chambers' reply on setting up an extra parallel port to handle scanners, Zip drives etc (Add a parallel port, May 98, p156), I feel he may have over-simplified the issue and I can understand why ù itÆs a tricky job to explain sometimes.

1. Some systems (eg 486 DX 4/100 or similar) may require disabling of the on-board parallel port in the BIOS settings before an extra LPT card can be added. The instruction manual with most motherboards should tell you, but then most of them are pathetic anyway!

2. Adding a simple I/O card can be fraught with danger and frustration. These cards often come with an even more pathetic set of instructions and, sadly, as I have encountered, the jumper setting instructions are sometimes wrong!

3. Once you have set up your basic I/O card (ie disabled the HDD, FDD, set the LPT memory address and IRQs etc), you still have to contend with getting Win 95 to accept the settings. LPTs donÆt come easily to Windows 95. It is pretty pointless to ask the OS to install the hardware because mostly it wonÆt. In most cases you have to tell Windows to accept a conflicting setting ù then change it to a non-conflicting setting (the memory address and IRQ). So, if you donÆt understand IRQs and addresses you could have problems.

I find that a two- or three-port card which is capable of handling ECP, EPP etc with a wide range of IRQ settings is a wise investment (some of the cheaper cards donÆt support ECP and EPP). Disable the on-board port in the BIOS and set the new card to the appropriate port settings (with jumpers or software) and then Win 95 will readily accept these settings (although you may still have to set them manually as mentioned above).