In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:50:54 +0100, "J. P.
Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

On 2026/7/26 21:48:46, Carlos E. R. wrote:

On 2026-07-26 22:32, J. P. Gilliver wrote:

On 2026/7/26 21:3:35, Carlos E. R. wrote:
[]

I posted two days ago about this scenario by testing it. My laserjet
prints text (not ascii) if sent directly to it. It is using the latin-1 >>>> aka 850 codepage, 8 bits.

It is a modern printer of about 10 years of age.


Why does it have this feature, no idea, I see no practical use to it.

It allows you to print text from anything that can send data to it,
without needing a driver. Useful if, for example, you've got some text
you need to print, but have no internet to get a driver, or if the
manufacturer has gone out of business or stopped (or never started)
supporting the combination of that printer model and your OS.

If I wanted to print plain text directly from the computer, raw, I would
not choose a laser, a one page at a time printer. It would be an inkjet
or a ribbon printer. Even a thermal printer. Anything that can print a
line at a time. Even better, a char at a time.

I agree. However, if stuck somewhere without access to anything but the
laser - for example, if you're in a business facility that provides a >printer, but your laptop/tablet/whatever has no driver for the provided

That was almost the situation for me 4 years ago. I rented a room in an apartmen twith 2 other guys. The 3rd guy was away, doing student
teaching, a requirement for his degree. He left behind a laser printer.
The apartment had no internet but I had a phone with internet and I
could use mine as a hotspot. But if I didn't have the phone, I'd be in
the situation you describe. And even with the phone/internet, I didn't
wan to download the software package and it would not have occurred to
me to dl just the driver.

I didt't know that laser printers print one page at a time and I didn't
pay attention to how it was printing, if I could have told. I printed
sereval pages, letters for a government office even.

printer. Yes, ideally, you'd prefer a line - or even character - at a
time printer, especially if you are wanting to type; however, if you had
the text already in a file ...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0100, "J. P.
Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

On 2026/7/20 18:6:34, micky wrote:
[]

I read that line a few minutes ago and didn't even notice a problem. The
sentence made me think about a hex editor that I dl'd and installed a
couple hours ago.

(Was it the one I gave you a link to?)

Sorry it took so long

It was HxD, I think that's the name. But now I've forgotten if that's
what you gave me the link to. Someone on a windows newsgroup suggested
it many years ago, but it wasn't in this computuer until a couple hours
before I posted.

Since you've got the thing printed anyway (Windows 10 rules!) the
problem is "solved", but just out of curiosity, have you had a look at
the problem file with the hex editor, to see what's in it at the problem >point? I think several of us here would be interested to hear what is there.

.
I didn't see anything special. Now I can't even find it to print a
sample. Sorry.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)