I know this has been posted many times before, but none of them have quite answered my question. The Windows Kernel and API seem to not send data to the LPT port (0x378) until some sort of signal has been sent. I think pin 13 needs to be powered (to tell the computer the printer is on) and as well as some other pins. I'm pretty sure that my programs are not to blame because when I run my programs on a computer that has a printer, the printer prints my message. So I am asking anyone with knowledge of this, how can I make Windows XP recognize that there is a device on LPT or get Plug and Play to realize something has been connected?