Hi,
many others have had success with the registry patch....my guess is you have not applied the patch quite perfectly.
Note the athe fault you have described applies to the parallel port. The parallel port works pretty well but has always been sensitive
to software and/or services running on the PC, the quality or otherwise of the video card and more recently the status of the Microsoft
Windows 7 updates.
You could avoid a lot of those niggles by getting an external motion controller like a SmoothStepper or a UC300. A lot of cost conscious
buyers have bought cheap Chinese controllers and been disappointed....they often don't work properly and the manufacturers wont help
once you have bought it. Buy US or European made and buy direct from the manufacturer or their nominated distributor or you'll get
ripped off by a Chinese fake on Ebay or Amazon.
Craig