Dealing with Printer Problems

The types of problems you might encounter with your printer fall into four basic categories: The printer has no power, the printer doesn't print, the printout is garbled, or pages of the printout are missing. Read on to find out more about each problem and ways to solve it.

Problem: Your Printer Has No Power

This is the perennial problem with computer hardware. By now you know the drill:

Make sure that the power cord is plugged into both the power outlet and the back of the printer. Make sure that the power outlet has power; check all fuses and circuit breakers, as well as surge suppressors. Make sure that the printer is online. (This is normally accomplished by a front-panel button of some sort.) And check the internal fuse in the printer itself.

If all the right parts in your system have power and your printer is online, your problem is more serious. The biggest potential source for this type of problem is the power supply in the printer. If this is causing your particular problem, it's time to call the repair center and ready your checkbook.

Problem: Your Printer Has Power but Doesn't Print

The first item to check is whether your printer is connected correctly to your computer. Check the connecting cable to make sure that the connections are tight. You also should unplug each end of the cable to ensure that none of the connecting wires are bent, making a bad connection. You might also want to change the printer cable. Cables can get old, and the wires inside can break; try a new cable and see whether this change fixes the problem.

caution

Anytime you change any connection between your system unit and any external device (such as your printer), you probably need to turn your computer off and then back on again for the connection change to register with your system. So if you're plugging in cables, reboot your system when you're done.

Next, you should make sure that the printer is connected to the correct port on the back of your computer. Checking the port connection is not always as simple as it seems. Some computers come with more than one printer port, and your printer might be hooked up to the wrong one. If you have multiple printer ports, try plugging your printer into the other ports.

Next, check the paper feed of your printer. If you're out of paper, your printer can't print. You also should check the paper path inside the printer to make sure that no stray pieces of paper are lodged inside. Make certain, too, that your printer is online, or set in the on position.

You should also check to see if your printer is paused. Check your front panel buttons to make sure that your printer is online. You should also double-click the Printer icon in the Windows system tray to open the Print Manger and make sure the job isn't paused from within Windows.

Another potential cause of this problem is having the "manual feed" option selected in Windows or on your printer. If this option is selected and there is no paper in the manual feed tray, your printer just sits there waiting for someone (like, oh, you!) to insert some paper. The solution to this is to either add some paper to the manual feed tray or switch off the manual feed option.

It's also possible that you have the wrong driver installed or selected within Windows. Right-click on this printer's icon in the Printers window and select Properties. Check the Details tab to make sure you're printing to the correct port using the correct driver. If you need to change drivers, pick one from the pull-down list, or click the New Driver button to add a new printer driver.

note

The tabs in the Printer Properties dialog box are specific to the brand and model of printer you have installed. If your Print Properties dialog box doesn't have a Details tab, look for a Ports or Advanced tab instead.

It's possible that the correct driver is installed, but something has gone screwy with how Windows reads the driver information. Go to the Printers Window and delete the current printer, and then use the Add Printer Wizard to reinstall the printer driver. You might also want to check with your printer's manufacturer to see if there is an updated version of your driver available.

In addition, it's possible that a recently installed device has somehow mucked with your printer configuration in Windows. Try deleting your printer driver and then reinstalling it, as described in the previous paragraph. Because the last device installed on your system can overwrite previous configuration information, go ahead and make your printer the last installed device.

If none of these suggestions solves your problem, you're looking at a major computer or printer problem. Try hooking up another printer to your computer; if the new printer works, it's time to take your old printer into the shop. If the new printer doesn't work, you probably have a defective port in your computer.

Problem: Your Printer Prints, but Output Is Smudged or Garbled

If your printout is not as you expected, there might be several causes. The most likely cause, believe it or not, is our old friend the poorly connected cable. If all the instructions don't make it from the computer to the printer, your printout will be incomplete, if not totally out of whack. Check all cable connections to ensure a good throughput of data. If that doesn't fix the problem, just change the printer cable. An old or damaged cable could be causing your problems.

tip

Printing the printer's self-test page is also a good way to determine whether the problem is in the printer or in the computer or somewhere in-between.

Another cause of print garbage might be the printer itself. If you have a low or old toner cartridge in a laser printer or a near-empty ink cartridge in an inkjet printer, your printout will be lighter than normal, perhaps even unreadable. If necessary, change the cartridge and run the print job again.

If you're using a laser printer, you might get black streaks on your output. This problem is most often caused by an old toner cartridge, or by a dirty roller or printer cleaning bar. If you replace the toner cartridge and clean the suspect parts (using a cotton swab) and you still experience black streaks, your printer might need service.

If you're using an inkjet printer, it's possible that your print jets are clogged. You'll need to unclog the print jet by inserting a small pin into the jet.

It's also possible that a paper misfeed in your printer caused the printout to become smudged or out of line; if this is the case, straighten the paper feed and start the print job again.

An incorrect printer setup in Windows can also cause unusual printouts. Make sure that Windows is configured for the exact type of printer you're using. Also make sure that you have the correct landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) printing option selected.

If none of this works, you probably have a problem somewhere in your printer. Although a bad printer port on your PC could be the culprit, more than likely some internal problem with your printer is causing the poor printout. (You can confirm this by printing a self-test page; if it looks bad, the problem is in your printer.) Consult your friendly repair center.

Problem: Your Printed Page Looks Half-Finished

If you're trying to print a document with a lot of graphics (especially on lower-priced laser printers), you might find that your printer doesn't have enough memory to print the entire document. What you'll get is about half the document and not always a contiguous half! You can do one of several things to rectify the problem:

• Add more memory to your printer. If you do a lot of heavy graphics printing, you probably need at least 1MB of RAM installed in your printer. You might be able to add the memory yourself, or you might want to have a qualified laser printer technician do the job for you.

• Instruct Windows to print this document at a lower resolution. Go to the Printer Properties dialog box for your printer and select the Graphics tab (if your printer has this option). Select a lower resolution (which requires less memory and gives you less finely detailed output) and see if you can now print your document.

• Simplify your document. If you're using a lot of different fonts and graphics, take some out. It's not an ideal solution, but it might be the only way you'll get this particular document printed on time!

Problem: Your Printer Prints, but the Fonts Aren't Correct

If you create a document on a PC with one set of fonts installed, and try to print it on another PC with different fonts installed, you could be in for a real surprise! Windows will try to "match" missing fonts, but quite often the match leaves a lot to be desired resulting in different line lengths and page breaks than what you had originally. Your options are to install the missing fonts on the PC you're printing from, or change the fonts in the document in question. (A word to the wise: stick to common fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman if you think you'll be sharing a document on multiple PCs.)

Problem: Your Color Printer Doesn't Print All Available Colors

This problem is most likely caused by an old ink cartridge. It's not unusual for some colors to get depleted before others, throwing off your color output. If you're seeing less blue (or red or yellow or black) than normal, chances are it's time to change your cartridge.

Problem: Paper Jams in Your Printer

It's possible that your printer's internal paper feed mechanisms are getting dirty. You can try taking the printer apart yourself to clean out any pieces of scrap paper or other debris, or you might want to take it into the shop to let a pro deal with it.

You might also be getting some paper sticking to other sheets of paper in your paper tray. (This happens more often with cheaper paper spend a little more and get the good stuff!) Try thumbing through the stack of paper before inserting it into the tray; this should loosen up the paper and make it feed easier into your printer.

Finally, you might need to change the grade of paper you use with your laser or inkjet printer. Lightweight papers tend to jam up the works, so switch to something heavier if you experience a lot of problems.

THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM

• Most printer problems are caused by a bad cable connection, a misconfiguration in Windows, or a bad or outdated print driver.

• All printers need periodic maintenance; make sure you regularly change toner or ink cartridges, clean the paper path and feed, and if you have an inkjet printer use the cleaning option to clean the ink jets and cartridge.

• If you're having trouble printing graphically intense documents on a laser printer, you might need to add memory to the printer or simplify the documents.

• Lightweight paper can cause unexpected paper jams; use a better grade of paper to keep things running smoothly.