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Inkjet Printer Troubleshooting
Using the Printing Troubleshooter in Microsoft Windows XP
The linked article above describes how to use the Printing Troubleshooter that is included in Microsoft Windows XP Help and Support Center. This article also provides a list of online support services that may help you solve your printing problem.
A Simple Tip For Solving Most Printer Errors
Ever have blinking lights on your inkjet or laser printer
that will just not go away? Ever install a new ink cartridge
in your printer and it still thinks the old empty one is there?
Or, how about a paper feed error message after you
think you've corrected it?
Instead of getting frustrated at the printer or wasting
time looking around for your manual, try one simple thing:
Turn your printer off and then, UNPLUG IT from it's A/C power source!
This technique has a few names that all mean the same thing:
cycling the printer, hard shut-down, resetting the printer or
clearing the printer's memory. Unplugging your printer may
seem like a low tech solution but, for most problems like
blinking error lights it is the only solution needed. Guess
what, it is usually the first one that will be recommended to
you when calling printer support tech for Canon, HP, Epson,
etc.
They will recommend it right away if you install a new
cartridge and it is registering as empty. If your printer isn't
registering it full, then that means it still thinks the old
cartridge is in there and the memory needs to be cleared.
The first thing to remember about this solution is that
unplugging the printer is not the same as just turning the
printer off. If you have error messages or other printer
communication problems, turning the printer off is not
going to do anything. It has to be physically unplugged
from the wall.
The second and, most important thing, is that the printer
must be unplugged for at least five minutes. It takes at
least that long for the electricity to be cut off from the
printer and to let it completely reset/clear its memory.
While this technique will not fix every problem it is a
fairly quick and easy solution will solve a lot of printer
problems. - Phil
If You're Ready To Shoot Your Printer... Troubleshoot Instead
First things first: If your printer won't work at all, check to see that cables, power cords, paper trays and switches are in their proper positions. Also check for the proper paper size in the printer's Properties box (select the Properties button from any application's print dialog box or select Start > Settings > Printers and right-click on the printer icon in the Printers window). Next, see if your printer is communicating with your computer. Many printers have a switch for toggling between online and offline states. If the trouble persists, turn the printer off and on. (It's simply amazing how often that fixes a problem!).
Print a test page from the printer's control panel, not from Windows. If it prints, the problem involves your cable, your PC or your software... but not your printer.
Your printer may tell you that it's experiencing an error writing to the LPT1 port. This could be caused by various things, from the simple (printer not online, no paper in the tray) to something a little more tricky. The simplest solution is to turn the printer off and back on; that may reestablish the connection. Check your printer cable to make sure both ends are securely attached. If your cable is too old or even too long, the connection may not be clean; consider buying a new, IEEE 1284-compliant bidirectional cable.
Your printer driver may not be up-to-date, or may be corrupt. You could try reloading the printer software, but you may need to visit the printer manufacturer's Web site for more current drivers. If that's the case, you'll need to open the Printers folder through Start > Settings; right-click the printer icon, and choose Delete. Or, go to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs and delete all files for your printer. We recommend rebooting the computer before proceeding. Reinstall the new driver by clicking Add Printer. Still not working? Hmmmm. Check your PC's parallel port settings by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, and going into Device Manager. Double-click Ports (COM and LPT), double-click Printer Port (LPT1), select Resources, and check the "Conflicting device list" for an IRQ or DMA conflict (i.e. two devices using the same IRQ or DMA setting). Disable the secondary device, or assign it to a new IRQ. You can disable a device by finding it in Device Manager, opening the Properties dialog box, selecting General, and checking "Disable in this hardware profile." If you think you're experiencing a DMA conflict, check to see whether your printer port is configured for ECP, EPP, or Standard. ECP is the highest and least compatible; Standard is slower but more compatible. Lower the configurations until you find a setting that works.
Printing different kinds of documents often forces reset of the printer settings. If you're tired of resetting your printer again and again, try setting up multiple copies of your printer in your Printer folder. Go through Start > Settings > Printers, and choose Add Printer. Use the Add Printer Wizard to create a new copy of the printer you're currently using, then choose Rename and give it a descriptive name, i.e. Two-sided Printing, or whatever suits your needs. Right-click on the newly renamed printer, choose Properties, set the options accordingly, and print OK. Do this for every configuration you normally use. Now when you want to print varying kinds of documents, all you need to do is go into Printers and choose the proper configuration.
You're aware that printers line up documents in a "queue," one after another. If you want to rearrange the documents in a printer queue (i.e. to get your report printed before a larger print job hogs the printer), choose Start > Settings > Printers and double-click on the printer whose queue you want to manage. Click the name of the document to be printed (called the print job) and drag it to the order that you want it printed.
Oftentimes laser printers choke on large documents (especially those stuffed with images). That usually means that your printer doesn't have enough RAM. It's easy enough to stuff some more RAM modules into your printer, assuming that your printer has the slots. You can check your printer manufacturer's Web site for more info on this. Most laser printers use SIMMs, the same type of RAM that your PC uses, so it's possible to find an old, unused PC, take the SIMM modules out of the old chassis, and slap them into the laser printer. If you know what you're doing (and make sure to ground yourself), this can be a simple and cheap way to upgrade your printer's memory. You can also get RAM cheap, at about $18 for an 8MB SIMM. If you don't know how to insert the modules, find someone who does and let them do it.
Have You Lost Your Printer's User Guide?
If you've misplaced your printer's "user manual" or need printer support info, try your printer manufacturer's website. Here's some direct links:
Canon Printer Support
Epson Printer Support and Epson Printer User Guides
HP Printer Support
Lexmark Printer Support
Dell Printer Support
What To Do When Your Printer's "Driver" Has Crashed and Burned
First, let's answer these questions - "What Is a Printer Driver?" and "What Does It Do?"
In general, the printer driver is the "middleman" between your PC, your printer, and you. It is a software program that translates the language of an application on your PC to the language
of the printer.
The printer driver has two major jobs to do: it acts as a translator and also as a supervisor.
As a translator, it converts the text or graphic image that you've created into a pattern that the printer can understand. In inkjet technology, it does this by transforming the text or image into a pattern of dots. The dots are put on the paper in four (sometimes six) separate color planes, one for each color (CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). They are then superimposed to create the right color. Since computer monitors use just three colors (RGB -red, green, and blue), the printer driver first has to convert the monitor's color scheme to the printer's.
After it has translated all the data, the printer driver switches into supervisor mode. Here, it tells the printer what to print and how to transfer it onto the page. It does this by specifying which print head nozzles to fire at which time to get the right pattern. It also synchronizes the printer's carriage mechanism and the paper feed with the firing of the print head.
Sometimes the print driver will not print the exact matching colors that you see on your monitor. Most drivers have a way to make color adjustments. Each is specific to your printer but once you set it up you rarely have to fool with it. Look under "Color Management" in your drivers properties.
Now, back to the heading topic of "What To Do When Your Printer's Driver Has Crashed..."
Printer driver (software) is easily "corrupted" and often out of date.
Companies constantly update and tweak their drivers as bugs are fixed, new features are introduced and operating systems evolve. The software (drivers) that ship with your printer are often NOT up to date!
To find out what driver version your printer is using, click Start > Settings > Printers or, go to Control Panel> Printers and Faxes, locate your printer's name (icon) and right-click on it. Next, choose Properties from the drop-down menu. Select the Main tab, and click the About button.
** Before installing a printer driver, check your printer manufacturer's Web site to ensure that you have the latest version. They will have instructions for downloading and installing. We have links to your printer manufacturer's site here.
Out-of-date or corrupted Windows drivers are a common source of printer problems. Reinstalling a driver is pretty easy: First, go to the Printers folder (acceess as described above) and delete the printer icon. Then, double-click the Add New Printer icon. The Add New Printer wizard will ask you to select your printer from a list of possible choices. You may need to insert the Windows CD-ROM at this point to load a driver. If you have the printer software disk that shipped with your printer, just click the "Have Disk" button on the screen and follow the prompts.
Once you have a good driver installed, check your printer's settings. Right-click the printer icon and select Properties. The type, number and location of the settings vary from printer to printer, but many are common to most printers.
How To Quickly Update Your Printer Drivers:
First, download the latest drivers for your printer model from the manufacturer's web site. (save them to a folder you can find or on the desktop!)
In (Win98)Click Start>Settings>Printers. In (WinXP)Click Start>Control Panel>Printers and other
hardware>View installed printers.
- Right-click the printer icon (picture) whose driver you wish to update.
- Click Properties and then the Details or Advanced tab. Click on New Driver.
- Answer Yes to the warning box that (may) pop up.
- Click Have Disk, and click Browse to get to the folder containing your updated drivers.
- Follow the on-screen directions to install. (It's best to reboot your computer after you are finished installing).
How To Rescue Your Printer From a (Paper) Jam
If your print job stops in the middle or doesn’t start at all, suspect a paper jam. Jams can happen when paper is torn, folded, or inserted incorrectly. Humid conditions can also be a factor. A printer that jams frequently may need to be professionally cleaned or have certain parts replaced. High-quality paper seems to jam less often than cheaper varieties. Spending a little more for better paper may prevent problems down the road.
Ink jet printers, especially low-cost ones, are sensitive to paper position and weight. Always set your paper guides carefully, and never mix paper types in the same tray. Pull jammed sheets of paper out of the printer in the *opposite* direction of the way they normally move through it. Check for bits of paper that may remain lodged in the printer. Habitual jamming can be caused by out-of-alignment rollers. See if you can 'gently' realign them.
Cleaning The Paper Feed Rollers:
"Help, I've got ink build-up and it's leaving streaks and smears on the paper, especially the edges edges." - Sally in Fresno, CA
Take a piece of thick matte paper, inexpensive water color paper or other absorbent paper, and spray one side of it until slightly damp with ammoniated window cleaner like Windex (NOT soaking wet so that it disintegrates). Next, load it through the printer several times with the LOAD/EJECT button, flipping the paper around one side and then the other. If the paper dries out, give it another spray and repeat a few more times. This may also clean some ink spills on some of the rollers. Then send some normal bond paper through the printer to dry everything off. Usually, that's all you need to do.
P.S. - If your printer constantly has problems picking up a sheet of paper and you have to hand-feed the paper, it's probably time to "rejuvenate" the paper rollers! We have a product called Rubber Refresh that will not only clean the rubber rollers, it also lays down a sticky film to restore the surface!
Fix That Banging and Clanging Noise in Your Printer
As the carriage on my printer goes back at forth it bangs
and makes a terrible noise! What's up?
Although it's possible your printer needs a service call for electronic or mechanical failure, it
is more likely the guide bar is dirty and/or dry.
The banging is likely a result of the carriage sticking and the printer loosing track of where it is. Stepper motors are used to move the carriage back and forth very precisely.
If the carriage were to stop even for fraction of a second the printer thinks it's someplace else and keeps on telling the carriage to move. If the 'assumed' position and the actual position are different enough, the carriage hits the end of the bar.
Try wiping the bar with a lint free cloth, and then oil slightly with a drop or two of household, 3-in-1 type oil. Just a small amount will go a long ways.
I like to use WD-40 as a "cleaner". One of WD-40's attributes is the solvents which can be useful for
cleaning old lubricants off the surfaces.
I spray a little on a cotton ball away from the plastics of the printer and wipe down the rod to remove the dried oils/greases and accumulated dirt.
I then follow-up with a VERY thin coating of light oil (like 3-in-1). I manually move the printhead back and forth a couple of times and wipe up any excess oil at the printhead bushing/sleeve that rides on the carriage rod on both sides of the printhead. This proceedure has worked well for me for several years.
The second possible solution is to turn the printer off, so that the printer 'homes' the print head carriage and knows where it is.
Jack from Oklahoma writes to add his tip:
"Phil.. I use a drop or two of automobile automatic transmission fluid on a q-tip applied to the guide bars prevent dryness and keeps the heads moving smoothly."
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