My computer's PARALLEL port has gone bad and I am attempting to connect my HP LaserJet 4P printer to the computer using the serial ports and am looking for directions for doing same.How about HP?  Personally, I'd buy a $10 parallel PCI card and do it that way...
I called HP but they said the printer was out of warranty and they do not support it, even for a price.  I asked Circuit City about a new parallel port, but they said they would have to replace the motherboard.  If I was smart enough to do it myself, I would be able to connect the serial ports.You should be able to buy an add-on card that will provide a parallel port. There are also serial to parallel adapters AVAILABLE. CHECK this siteGet a generic IEEE1284 parallel plus RS232C serial ports PCI card from PriceWatch or NewEgg for $15 to $25 and disable the mainboard ports that don't work to free up the IRQ and I/O addresses. Then run the printer from the new port on the card...

If you need to use a serial port connection, find out the specific cable config to use for the printer and run the cable (usually a custom terminal-to-terminal cable), then use DOS MODE to direct PRN: to that serial port in DOS. Again, the dead MB printer port should be disabled in BIOS. Then set up Windows to handle the printer via serial port. Remamber that RS232 serial is rather slow compared to IEEE1284 parallel or USB2 or SCSI, the other faster printer connections...