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NeweggBusiness will gladly give you money for old IT equipment. Or instead, you Subscribe
can fashion a grunge-era Compaq 486 into a print server. Millennials love
sustainability and vintage items; should you turn that old computer into a fully- you@company.com
functional print server for extra style points?

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Check that the PC specs meet the super
minimal requirements
You just need a Intel 386 CPU or later; 8 MB of system memory; a 3.5-inch �oppy
Popular Posts
drive, and a parallel port—what printers and joysticks plugged in the good ol days
before USB.

If you have an extra Ethernet network adapter card, you need that in the PC. Those
old 386/486 motherboards have a single PCI slot, and cheap 10/100/1000Mbps
Network Adapter will work �ne. If you’re working without an Ethernet port, go with
a dual RJ-45 server adapter. 1
PC Cooling:
How to Set
up
Download the drivers and printer server Computer
Case Fans
software February 11,
Download a NIC driver, and print server software. There are dozens of free choices; 2021
Qcontrol from Pcounter is one.

You’ll need to un-compress the program �les, so have WinZip installed. You’ll need
2
5 Ways to
WinImage to make a disk image of the print server driver and copy it onto a
Stream from
medium the old PC can read. Style points if you use a 1.44 MB �oppy disk inserted
PC to TV or
in the A Drive.
Digital
Display

Add the drivers to a boot disk May 23,

2016
Open WinImage in the command line: C:\winimage\winimage.exe. Drag the �les for
the NIC driver and print server application into the window. Scan the computer for a
�le called modules.lrp – drag and drop it in too.
3
How to
Insert the �oppy disk and follow the prompt to write WinImage contents to disk. Troubleshoot
a PC Power
Supply
Connect the printer to the old PC with a parallel cable. Power on the printer. Boot
the PC after inserting the disk with the driver and module �les. July 11, 2018

Add the printer and server to the network

4
How to
Go to Control Panel–> printers & fax –> add a printer. You may have to uncheck the Choose the
Autodetect PnP function. Click Create New Port–>Standard TCP/IP port–>manually Correct RAM
add the IP address (192.168.1.252) port name (PrintSrv), and Custom Raw Port Upgrade
number (9100).
March 10,
2021

Is this a good idea? 

In a conventional business sense, not really. Your awesome retro PC print server
uses unnecessary energy—especially if it runs 24/7. This is not ideal usage for a 20 6 Reasons

1 of 4 15/02/2024, 11:33
Making a Vintage PC Into a Print Server is Totally Easy - Newegg Business Smart Buyer https://www.neweggbusiness.com/smartbuyer/over-easy/vintage-pc-print-server/

uses unnecessary energy—especially if it runs 24/7. This is not ideal usage for a 20 5
6 Reasons

year old computer. A low-power sub-$50 network print server does the job at a Your PC is
fraction of the energy intake. Slow and
SHOP FOR ALL YOUR BUSINESS How to Fix It
TECH NEEDS AT
If you have more than one printer in the o�ce, driver uniformity is best practice. If February 28,
that old PC has Windows 8 or later, running a modern v4 driver should be �ne. But 2019
best to use it as a server room novelty for the IT team to enjoy.
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Summary
Newegg + Business
Article Name Making a Vintage PC Into a Print
Server is Totally Easy How is this di�erent from
Description NeweggBusiness will gladly give you Newegg.com?
money for old IT equipment. Or
instead, you can fashion a grunge- Why NeweggBusiness?
era Compaq 486 into a print server.
Millennials love sustainability and
vintage items; should you turn that
old computer into a fully-functional
print server for extra style points?

Author Adam Lovinus

Newegg Business Smart HardBoiled | NeweggBusiness

Buyer

Tags: Category208

 DIY and How-to  3 Comments

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Adam Lovinus
A tech writer and Raspberry Pi enthusiast from Orange
County, California.

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3 Comments

Adam Eppfart Reply

August 2, 2017 at 11:14 am

Does he like Orange County Choppers as well? Just kidding. I am very glad I found this! I collect vintage
computers an I have an old Hyundai corporate series server that uses Windows 3x and has a 5 1/4 in
�oppy drive. I also have a Windows XP custom build that takes 5 /14 in �oppys and has usb ports on
the back so in theory I could load the drivers from a 5 1/4 in �oppy disk.


Adam Lovinus Reply
August 2, 2017 at 12:20 pm

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Making a Vintage PC Into a Print Server is Totally Easy - Newegg Business Smart Buyer https://www.neweggbusiness.com/smartbuyer/over-easy/vintage-pc-print-server/

Love the vintage setup. Back when a �oppy disk was actually �oppy…

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Mahatma Pech Reply

August 2, 2020 at 4:22 pm

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i would love to �nd an old Case for a SSI-EEB Board in standard grey/beige with lots of 5,25″ bays to
mount all the old optical- and the tape-drives in it. But without a door. Really an old school case. If you
start selling this old stu� instead of throwing it into the dumpster i would be glad to hear from u.
Regards from Germany

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