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                                    README
                        SILENTWRITER 1700 SERIES PRINTERS
                      PRINTING SYSTEM FOR DOS - VERSION 1.0
                                September 1996

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    This README file describes the NEC Printing System for DOS, including
    installation instructions. This file contains the following sections:

    1.  NEC Printing System for DOS - Introduction
          Print Navigator
          DOS Print Monitor
    2.  Minimum System Requirements and Connection Notice
    3.  Installation Instructions
    4.  Running Print Navigator
    5.  Running DOS Print Monitor
    6.  DOS Print Monitor NON-active File List
    7.  Contacting NEC Technical Support
    8.  Copyright and Trademark Information

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    1.  NEC Printing System for DOS - Introduction

    The NEC Printing System for DOS can be used in place of the printer
    operator panel to change printer configuration settings and monitor 
    printer status.

    The Printing System for DOS only performs under DOS with the printer 
    directly connected to your PC. The Print Navigator software utility 
    consists of two programs:  Print Navigator and DOS Print Monitor.

    A. Print Navigator

    The Print Navigator screens let you update your printer
    settings, also called printer profiles, conveniently from your PC.
    You can also view your printer's current profile on your PC screen.
    And you can save current profile settings for use at a later time.

    You use the Print Navigator to manage five categories of printer
    settings: Page, Font, Quality, Memory, and Options.

    The Page screen lets you determine page layout, orientation, and paper
    source.

    The Font screen lets you select a font used to print text by typeface,
    pitch or point size, and symbol set.

    The Quality screen lets you adjust the quality of your printout by
    settings such as Toner Saving, Sharp Edge Technology, and Toner Density.

    The Memory screen lets you control how memory is used in your printer
    to reduce the print overrun and memory overflow errors.

    The Options screen lets you control other operations, such
    as Power Saving and Idle Time.

    B. DOS Print Monitor

    The DOS Print Monitor is a "terminate and stay resident" (TSR) program
    that only works under DOS. Once loaded into PC memory, it monitors the
    Silentwriter status in real-time and automatically displays printer
    messages directly on your PC screen whenever the printer's status 
    changes.

    Examples of printer messages include: printer warming up, paper empty,
    paper jam, etc.

    Once loaded into PC memory, the Print Monitor can be accessed by
    hot key at any time. (A hot key is a combination of keyboard keys
    you can press while you are running other DOS application programs.
    The Print Monitor's default hot key combination is <ctl><alt><S>.)

    **NOTE** If you are running MS-DOS with the WIndows 95 system, select
             the custom installation method and do not install the DOS
             Print Monitor.  It is not supported in Windows 95.

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    2.  Minimum System Requirements and Connection Notice

    To use the NEC Printing System for DOS, you must have the
    following:

       - An NEC Silentwriter 1700 Series printer
       - An IBM-compatible 286-based computer, or faster
       - DOS version 3.31 or later
       - A high density floppy disk drive
       - 640 KBytes RAM (450 KBytes available) in the computer
       - 900 KBytes of hard disk space available for the NEC
         Print Navigator software
       - A bidirectional parallel port (nearly all PC parallel
         ports have this capability)
       - A VGA-compatible (or superior graphics adapter) monitor for
         graphics display mode, or a non-VGA monitor for text-only display.

    NOTE: Print Navigator can display screens in either text or
    graphics mode, depending on your PC's monitor.  DOS Print Monitor,
    which is a TSR, runs in text-only mode to minimize memory requirements.

    To work properly, both Print Navigator and DOS Print Monitor
    depend on the connection to the NEC Silentwriter 1700 Series
    printer to retrieve current printer profile and status information.

    This means the connection must be direct. If other devices are
    connected between the PC and the printer, including print spoolers
    (hardware and even some software) and switch boxes, they will
    interfere with the communications from the printer to the PC.  For
    the same reason, the Print Navigator and DOS Print Monitor do not
    work over a network.  The printer must be directly attached to the
    PC's parallel port, with bidirectional capability enabled, for
    the Print Navigator and DOS Print Monitor to work properly.
    The bidirectional parallel cable should be no longer than 6 feet.

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    3.  Installation Instructions

    The INSTALL program provides simple instructions to help you install the
    NEC Print Navigator software onto your hard disk drive.  To get started,
    follow these easy steps:

    a. Connect your NEC Silentwriter 1700 Series printer securely to your
       PC's parallel port.

    b. Turn on your printer and make sure it is online. 

    c. Turn on your computer.  If you are running Windows, exit to DOS.

    d. Insert the NEC Print Navigator diskette into your floppy disk drive.

    e. At the DOS prompt, change to the drive with the NEC Print Navigator
       diskette (usually A: or B:).

    f. At the DOS prompt A: (or whichever drive has the diskette), type
       INSTALL.EXE. The screen will show the setup instructions for
       installing the Print Navigator and DOS Print Monitor programs
       onto your hard disk drive at the specified directory
       (for example, C:\PANEL).

    NOTE: If you are running MS-DOS with the WIndows 95 system, select
          the custom installation method and do not install the DOS
          Print Monitor.  It is not supported in Windows 95.

    NOTE: The INSTALL program updates your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  It places the
    command to load Reporter last in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Reporter will be loaded
    automatically whenever you turn on your computer or AUTOEXEC.BAT is
    performed.

    Since the Print Monitor uses the DOS file system, the command to load
    the Print Monitor into the AUTOEXEC.BAT must appear after all
    disk caching and disk compression, as well as after LAN software
    (such as Netware) has been loaded.

    g. To access the NEC Print Navigator program, type PANEL at the
       directory prompt.  (If you do not have a PATH statement in
       AUTOEXEC.BAT referencing the directory where you installed the
       HostPanel software, you will need to move to that directory or type
       C:\SILENT\PANEL, where SILENT is the name of the directory where
       the software is located.)

    h. Once loaded, you may want to access the Print Monitor, for
       example to change the default hot key assignment or color scheme.
       Use the current hot key to run the Print Monitor.
       (The default hot key is <ctl><alt><S>)

    You can also run the DOS Print Monitor, whether or not the program
    has already been loaded, by typing MONITOR at the DOS prompt.
    (If you do not have a PATH statement in AUTOEXEC.BAT referencing the
    directory where you installed the Print Navigator software, you will
    need to move to that directory or type C:\SILENT\MONITOR, where SILENT
    is the name of the directory where the software is located.)

    NOTE: In order to use Print Navigator with a mouse, you will need
    your mouse driver installed and running in DOS.  See your mouse
    installation documention for more information on this.  A message
    such as "bad command or file name" may mean your mouse driver is
    not installed properly.

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    4.  Running Print Navigator

    The Print Navigator allows you to view and update the printer's
    settings from your PC.

    To run the Print Navigator, type PANEL at the DOS prompt (do not
    use the Windows DOS box). A welcome screen appears briefly as the
    computer retrieves the current printer profile (i.e. the configuration
    settings). Then the Print Navigator menu bar and screen appears. To
    return to the DOS prompt, select EXIT.

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    5.  Running DOS Print Monitor

    The Print Monitor alerts you to changes in printer status (for example,
    paper jam) in real-time on your PC's screen.

    To run the Print Monitor, type MONITOR at the DOS prompt (do not use the
    Windows DOS box). The screen on the PC will show the default hot key
    conbination. Once loaded, the Print Monitor begins monitoring messages
    from the printer. Whenever the printer's status changes (for example,
    if the paper jams while printing), the Print Monitor automatically
    displays a message on your computer screen.

    If the Print Monitor (which is a TSR) is interfering with one of your
    other software applications, or if you need to free the memory the
    Print Monitor uses, you can uninstall it from memory by typing NOMONITR
    at the DOS prompt.

    NOTE: Both the Print Navigator and the Print Monitor must read messages
    from the printer. If the Print Monitor is loaded into PC memory first,
    its message screen will be disabled while the Print Navigator
    is running. You can still access the Print Monitor for other features.
    Just enter the hot key combination (the default is <ctl><alt><S>.
    Once you exit the Print Navigator, all features of the Print Monitor
    will work correctly.

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    6.  NEC DOS Print Monitor NON-active File List

    When working in some software programs (e.g., communications 
    utilities), you may not want to be interrupted by the Print Monitor.
    To avoid interruptions while in specific software programs, add 
    those programs to the list at the bottom of the REPLIST.MSG file in
    the \SILENT directory. You can also remove them from that file 
    at any time. Your changes will be activated the next time you load 
    the Print Monitor into the PC memory.

    The software program must be an executable (.EXE or .COM) program.
    Every program name listed must be uppercase and begin with an 
    asterisk in column 1 of each line. The program name may be 
    8 characters long, and must not have an extension
    (such as .EXE or .COM).

    NOTE: The Print Monitor message screen can also be disabled by
    deactivating the Print Monitor, or disabling individual messages
    in the Print Monitor main menu.

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    7.  Contacting NEC Technical Support

    In the United States, the NEC toll-free number for printer 
    technical support and repairs is 1-800-632-4650.

    In Canada, call 1-800-268-4191 for technical support and 
    repairs information in English. Call 1-800-268-4115 for 
    technical support and repairs information in French.

    You can email your questions to us. NEC will respond within one 
    business day. Send email messages to: tech-support@nectech.com

    You can fax questions or comments to NEC at: 1-508-635-4890. Be sure 
    to indicate the number where NEC can telephone or fax a response.

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    8.  Copyright and Trademark Information

    The NEC Silentwriter 1700 printer driver is copyrighted 1996 by 
    NEC Technologies Inc., Destiny Technology Corporation, and 
    Software 2000, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

    The NEC Silentwriter 1700 PS2  printer driver is copyrighted 1996 by 
    NEC Technologies Inc. and Destiny Technology Corporation. 
    All Rights Reserved.

    NEC, Silentwriter, and Print Navigator are registered trademarks of 
    NEC Technologies, Inc.

    Microsoft, Windows, and Windows-NT are registered trademarks of 
    Microsoft Corporation.

    All other product, service, brand or trade names used in this 
    publication are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their 
    respective companies or organizations. NEC disclaims any 
    responsibility for specifying which marks are owned by which 
    companies.

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