Parallel Port Monitor

Parallel Port Monitor is a lightweight application that can be used for monitoring the three registers of the parallel port, which is the interface dedicated to connecting peripheral components to the computer.

The application displays a small window comprising all the gathered data and displaying it in a structured table. You can view the port type and number, along with their decimal, hex and binary representations. Also, you can instruct the application to issue an audio notification when a register changes (in the 'Beep' column).

With the help of this utility, users can keep an eye on the status of the parallel port registers and manipulate their state by modifying port values. It displays a graphical representation of all 25 pins of the parallel port, color coding them for easier identification.

For each type of connectors, you can customize the colors that correspond to the high and the low data pins. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to set the data pins high or low yourself, so you might want to look for some other tool designed for this purpose. Connectors can be disabled within the 'Settings' section of Parallel Port Monitor, where you can also configure the sample rate.

Mainly intended to work on older systems (up to Windows 2000), the application might not run properly on newer operating systems. The parallel port is a quite outdated technology, since most peripherals are now connected via USB. Parallel Port Monitor might be useful only to those who own a computer running on an older version of Windows.