Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Printer Problems - Check This First

All too often I get calls about a printer not working. The following is a first attempt at giving you some basic tools to do a preliminary check yourself. This will likely be augmented and expanded upon; suggestions are welcome.

The first things to check before you call me would be:
  1. Are all cables correctly connected on both ends of the cable?

  2. While the computer is up and running: Turn off the power switch on the printer, wait about ten seconds  and then turn this power switch on again.

  3. Open your printers folder. If printer is shown as offline right click and remove the check mark by "Use printer offline".

  4. If the printer still does not work and only if it is connected to the computer with a cable:
  • Right click on the printer and click on (depending on your operating system) "Remove device" or "Delete printer".
  • UNplug the printer cable either from the computer or the printer (one side is good enough).
  • Restart the computer.
  • Plug the cable back in and let the system re-install the printer.
If that does not fix it I will have to visit you and take a look if you so desire.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.
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