Hi Mark,
MiniTech only sell the base, manual machine. What you have is one that has been modified by someone.
You don't need 'minitech drivers' there is no such thing. So the Minitech guys, even though they are very helpful, cannot help you at all.
Get onto the Artsoft Mach3 site (
http://www.machsupport.com) and check out their tutorials, they will give you information on how to set Mach3 up and also info on setting up the port pins etc.
If your steppers are locking up when you have power to the drivers then it sounds like you're half way there, you just need to get the PC/Mach3/Driver interface working - which should not be too hard (I note you are a complete noob, but trust me)
.
Whatever you do, do not rush into this, take the time to ask as many questions as it takes before you know what you are doing or you may fry your driver(s) and/or PC.
What driver(s) do you have to drive the stepper motors (I'm assuming they are steppers and not servo motors). Some common ones are Xylotex and Gecko - or in your case someone may have built a driver from an Oatley Electronics kit (check out
www.oatleyelectronics.com and look for stepper motors/kits).
Mach3 does some things that Windows doesn't know about, so look on the Artsoft web site for instructions about optimising XP to let Mach3 run correctly - if you have other things running that clash with Mach3 Windows won't know what is going on. Basically you can't have anything else (even a screen saver) running while you have Mach3 running, it's best to have a dedicated PC for Mach3 (ie don't use the PC for anything else). Also check out the minimum PC requirements for running Mach3, you'll find that on the Artsoft site too.
Getting back to your question, it sounds like XP has detected that signals are getting to the PC from the driver board(s) and thinks you have some sort of printer attached, this indicates that it may require rewiring the connection between driver and parallel cable - one thing to check is that you have a straight through parallel cable with all pins connected, some cables don't have all wires connected and some cross a wire or two getting from one end to the other. Check for continuity with a multimeter (set on Ohms) between pin one of one end to pin one of the other end - do that for all pins, you should see zero Ohms in each case - if you don't, get another cable.
You will need to get info from the driver maker to be sure that the connections to the parallel cable are correct, if they are OK and your cable is OK then it should be easy to set up the port pins in Mach3 - and away you go.
Good luck and Cheers,
Dave.
drivers