Zip100 parallel - GUEST.EXE for W2K?

[Wade]

Hi folks...

Well, having just done up a fresh W2K install on my home system, I don't really want to install the Zip drivers, as I just don't use the zipdrive very often anymore... however, I'd like to still have relatively easy access to it when I do want to use it.

Question: does anyone know of a modern version of Iomega's GUEST.EXE that would work for W2K? I've looked on their support site... pretty useless for old parallel zips.

 

[jaywallen]

Hi, Wade.

It might depend on the specific model, but...

All of the parallel port Zip drives we have work on all of the W2K machines we have without any need for Guest.exe or any other Iomega software. These are all Zip Plus (100) drives. Don't have any of the older ones with which to run a test.

Regards,
Jim

 

[rw120555]

I always just install Iomegaware 2.8. I don't really know what the downside is, other than taking up a little HD space. If that bothered you or you had other problems, I suppose you could just uninstall and reinstall as necessary.

 

[HansXP]

<< All of the parallel port Zip drives we have work on all of the W2K machines we have without any need for Guest.exe or any other Iomega software. These are all Zip Plus (100) drives. Don't have any of the older ones with which to run a test. >>



Perhaps, but regular Zip 100 parallel port drives require an Iomega driver.

 

[jaywallen]

HansXP

Perhaps. But a quick examination of the Iomega site would seem to indicate that they expect native driver support in W2K to make a parallel port Zip 100 unit of any kind work with the OS. There are, however, some configurations that could defeat support for the drives. Support documents at the site tell how to configure a system to support the drives under W2K.

Wade

This Iomega support article looks like it might be useful in helping you to get the Zip drive working in W2K without requiring a software installation.

At any rate, use of the old GUEST.EXE utility wouldn't be likely to do you any good in W2K. W2K won't allow user mode software direct control of system hardware. So, if enabling legacy Plug 'n Play and using proper BIOS settings for the port doesn't get you access to the drive in W2K, you'll probably have to install the Iomega drivers. I don't like them, either. Too many bells and whistles, but you can disable most of the gimmickry if you wish.

I suspect you'll be able to make the unit work with native support, though. Good luck.

Regards,
Jim

 

[rw120555]

If you haven't used the Iomega software in a while, you may be pleased to know that a lot of the bells and whistles are now gone. It used to be you had to do this 15-20MB download which included a bunch of programs you might never want. Now, you can just download the essential drivers (see my post above), and if you want the programs you can download them separately. Another thing that makes this nice is that many of the programs haven't changed in years, so you don't always have to be re-downloading them every time there is a driver update. If Win 2k native support works, great, but if not installing Iomegaware is no big deal.

 

[jaywallen]

Yes, that's a good point. I did notice a tremendous decrease in the size of the &quot;package&quot; last time I downloaded the software for a friend who wanted it. Actually, the only thing the drivers package added at that time that I don't like are the extra icons and the extra context menu choices. Of course those would be useful for people who wanted to make use of stuff like the disk locking feature. As for me, I'm a real minimalist and just don't like even those few tiny add-ons. But your point is well taken. The install of the drivers should no longer afflict the user's system with all of those obnoxious reminders and flash screens and oodles of extra entries in the Programs menu. Thanks for the reminder.

Regards,
Jim