There are five main ways to connect a printer to a pc:

1. The most compatible way through a standard parallel Port (LPT1 or LPT2 Port) Using IRQ 7 or 5 .     
2. Through a slow serial port COM1 or COM2 (you need to connect this way if you exceed the maximum cable distance for parallel port connection  and you have no USB connection or network connection )using IRQ 3 or 4
3. Through a fast USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 Port providing you have a window operating system win 98 or higher
4. You have a local network with a shared printer (which you can access via LAN connection and print server)
5. Wireless connection (with new compatible printers)

Generally with a modern windows operating system the 3rd option is preferred . this also frees up IRQ resources leaving IRQ 3,4,5or 7 available and for other devices Some very  new motherboards may not include legacy ports such as parallel or serial ports any more as they are no longer essential with the advent of USB technology.

You must use option 1 if you insist on using old operating systems such as dos or old software.

technology has moved on considerably since dot matrix printer's and now with bubbleJet ,Deskjet printers we are able to produce photo quality picture's easily . This particularly useful since the advent of digital camera's .

Some new printer's now allow different  types of memory card from digital camera to be inserted into a printer drive slot for direct printing of your pictures

Some printer's now include a Infra-red port for communication between palmtop's , laptop's and even mobile phones.

© Homepcnovice 2003 All rights Reserved.