I believe the Dec LA50 is a 9-pin 80 column (narrow carriage) impact
dot-matrix printer.

If the problem is you can't find a suitable printer driver, try running the
Windows XP Add a printer wizard.  Choose    Local printer...   deselect
Automatically...     Next, select the printer port used  (usually lpt1)
Select    Epson    from the left pane and     Compatible 9 pin from the
right pane.   Follow on-screen prompts.

Let us know how it works.

You might find that it starts to print OK but soon the output changes to
garbage or it just stops. That is a separate issue which can be fixed.

And-
There might be a better driver and knowing how well this one works will help
determine if there is and where to go next.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS