> I'm helping a friend set up a system. He has a P166 system running Win95.
> The problem is he has three things that require plugging into the parallel
> connector, and only one plug out the back. He has an HP 722C DeskJet
> printer, a Logitech sheet-fed scanner and an external Zip drive that
> attaches to the parallel port. I know the scanner has a pass-through that
> would allow the printer to get connected but that leaves the Zip
> drive. I've
> seen pictures of switchboxes but haven't had any experience with
> them. Could
> it be that simple to get a switchbox and hook the printer, scanner and zip
> drive to it and have it work. Only having one working at a time I don't
> think would be a problem. Or would we be better off looking for an ISA
> add-in card that would give us an additional parallel port? My experience
> has been that any thing that looks simple usually isn't. Also if someone
> could explain what a BITRONICS switchbox means I would be grateful.

        What you propose is a very common problem. Switchboxes work well, however
stay away from "automatic" switchboxes, they do not work with many parallel
devices other than printers. Get one that actually has a physical switch
that you must turn to select the device.
        As an alternative if you have a USB port getting a USB to parallel adapter
is another option other than getting a card to stick in you're computer.
TTYL

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