Printing directly to LPT port

I have an application which prints bar code labels. The label printer requires specially formatted commands and data to achieve this, which means I need to bypass the windows printer driver.

I've figured out a way to this by writing the data to a file (bcode.prn) and then shelling to command.com to copy the file directly to lpt1:

VB Code:

Shell "command.com /c copy " & App.Path & "\bcode.prn lpt1:", vbHide

Is there another (or better) way to print directly to the lpt ports bypassing the printer driver?

Printer.Print etc doesn't work as this still uses the printer driver.

Thanks for any help