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Thread ID: 45002 2004-05-06 01:52:00 Security dongles fastcars (5286) Press F1
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234610 2004-05-06 01:52:00 Hi all.
My system is an AMD XP2000 running winxp. I have an older DOS program that I use for graphic productions. The program uses a security dongle connected to an LPT port.
My problem is that winxp apparently does not recognize dongles.
Does anybody know of a way around this.

Thanks for your help.
fastcars (5286)
234611 2004-05-06 03:09:00 uhhh.... shoot xp?

Get rid of the **** OS and try it again.

Try server 2003 or win2k... :D
hamstar (4)
234612 2004-05-06 04:11:00 Ignoring the reply above, which is not helpful to you, I can only suggest that you may need to get an updated driver from the dongle supplier.

As neither Windows 2000 or XP have any real DOS underneath them, some security dongle drivers may not work. Some pure DOS programs may not work as intended either, although the "compatability" mode of XP seems to accommodate most of them.

I am aware of some LPT1 dongles that do work under XP (and 2k), but need an updated driver supplied by the dongle maker before they are recognised.
godfather (25)
234613 2004-05-06 05:02:00 Thanks Hamster.
Personally I like XP very much, In contrast with Win98, which crashed at least 3 times a day XP has not crashed at all now for 8 straight months.
It's in constant use 12 hours a day.
..but thanks for your reply anyway.
fastcars (5286)
234614 2004-05-06 05:10:00 Thanks Godfather.
This is a fairly old dongle. (15 years or so).
The program itself works perfectly within the operating system. The dongle is only there to prevent copies of the program being useful to some one else.
It seems that, 1. The computer maybe too fast for the dongle and 2. That XP hides the ports and therefore doesn't 'see' the dongle.
I was hoping that some one else may have struck this problem and was aware of a patch or workaround.
fastcars (5286)
234615 2004-05-06 05:49:00 As I suggested above, I know of someone that had a problem when using Windows 2000, and then XP, when the dongle was designed for Windows 98 (aka DOS).

They contacted the software supplier, who pointed them in the direction of the dongle maker, who supplied the updated driver so Windows could again see the dongle.
godfather (25)
234616 2004-05-06 06:02:00 In the DOS/Windows9x environment, there's no restriction of "user" access to hardware like printer ports.

Starting with NT4, there started to be some "security" with the OS controlling the access. This is probably the problem. Asd GF says, the only workaround is likely to be a peice of software. The "15 years" might be a problem. ;-)
Graham L (2)
234617 2004-05-06 07:56:00 The bios setting for the printer mode may make a difference to. mikebartnz (21)
234618 2004-05-06 08:21:00 Hi - What is a dongle?

Is it something I could touch i.e. hardware, or is it software.

What is it's purpose?

Thanks curly
Curly (487)
234619 2004-05-06 08:48:00 Curly: AFAIK it is a piece of hardware (images.google.com).

whatis.techtarget.com

wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk
Susan B (19)
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