Printer problem - again

[Scott]

I posted before that my printer stopped working after the Microsoft
updates. I managed a repair at that time. After reinstalling the
updates and finding the printer still working, I concluded that Adobe
seemed to be the cause. However, the printer has stopped working
again.

It shows as a printer then when I try to use it it changes to
'Unspecified'. I also see that the print spooler has stopped. Both
my printers are now shown as 'Unspecified'.

Any ideas as to what is going on? The main printer is an HP Laserjet
1022.

 

[G. Morgan]

I posted before that my printer stopped working after the Microsoft
updates. I managed a repair at that time. After reinstalling the
updates and finding the printer still working, I concluded that Adobe
seemed to be the cause. However, the printer has stopped working
again.

It shows as a printer then when I try to use it it changes to
'Unspecified'. I also see that the print spooler has stopped. Both
my printers are now shown as 'Unspecified'.

Any ideas as to what is going on? The main printer is an HP Laserjet
1022.

1st thing, uninstall them in the control panel and then plug it back in
and 'search for new hardware'. If it finds it and says 'unknown', pick
choose your own driver and go through the list or use a driver on a
CD/DVD.

For the spooler, copy/paste the below .bat file and call it
"spoolflush.bat" or something. Run it as admin.

@ECHO OFF
echo ----------------------------------
echo Print Flush - 1.3 - By Brad Kovach
echo ----------------------------------
echo.

echo Step 1: Stop the Print Spooler
echo ------------------------------
net stop spooler
echo.

echo Step 1.5: Reassigning Print Spooler Dependencies
echo ------------------------------------------------
echo this step is important if you have a Lexmark printer which screws
up the services and may make it impossible to start the print spooler
echo.
sc config spooler depend= RPCSS
echo.
echo Done!
echo.

echo Step 2: Erasing old chaf (junk printer documents)
echo -------------------------------------------------
del /Q /F /S "%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers\*.*"
echo Done!
echo.

echo Step 3: Problems eliminated! Restarting printer services
echo --------------------------------------------------------
net start spooler
echo Spooler has been restarted!
echo.

echo Step 4: Try printing again.

 

[philo]

I posted before that my printer stopped working after the Microsoft
updates. I managed a repair at that time. After reinstalling the
updates and finding the printer still working, I concluded that Adobe
seemed to be the cause. However, the printer has stopped working
again.

It shows as a printer then when I try to use it it changes to
'Unspecified'. I also see that the print spooler has stopped. Both
my printers are now shown as 'Unspecified'.

Any ideas as to what is going on? The main printer is an HP Laserjet
1022.

See if HP has updated printer drivers. On a few rare occasion I've seen
Windows updates break a device driver which was cured by updating the
device drivers.

If not, I'd uninstall the update that caused the problem
and not allow it in the future

 

[Scott]

1st thing, uninstall them in the control panel and then plug it back in
and 'search for new hardware'. If it finds it and says 'unknown', pick
choose your own driver and go through the list or use a driver on a
CD/DVD.

For the spooler, copy/paste the below .bat file and call it
"spoolflush.bat" or something. Run it as admin.

@ECHO OFF
echo ----------------------------------
echo Print Flush - 1.3 - By Brad Kovach
echo ----------------------------------
echo.

echo Step 1: Stop the Print Spooler
echo ------------------------------
net stop spooler
echo.

echo Step 1.5: Reassigning Print Spooler Dependencies
echo ------------------------------------------------
echo this step is important if you have a Lexmark printer which screws
up the services and may make it impossible to start the print spooler
echo.
sc config spooler depend= RPCSS
echo.
echo Done!
echo.

echo Step 2: Erasing old chaf (junk printer documents)
echo -------------------------------------------------
del /Q /F /S "%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers\*.*"
echo Done!
echo.

echo Step 3: Problems eliminated! Restarting printer services
echo --------------------------------------------------------
net start spooler
echo Spooler has been restarted!
echo.

echo Step 4: Try printing again.

Thanks. This seems very complicated. I have tried the HP Print and
Scan Doctor, which seems to have resolved the problem for the moment.
I will report back if this changes.

 

[Scott]

I posted before that my printer stopped working after the Microsoft
updates. I managed a repair at that time. After reinstalling the
updates and finding the printer still working, I concluded that Adobe
seemed to be the cause. However, the printer has stopped working
again.

It shows as a printer then when I try to use it it changes to
'Unspecified'. I also see that the print spooler has stopped. Both
my printers are now shown as 'Unspecified'.

Any ideas as to what is going on? The main printer is an HP Laserjet
1022.

I see there is now an optional upgrade for the LaserJet 1022 printer.
I wonder if this is to address the problems I experienced. Time will
tell.

 

[Scott]

I see there is now an optional upgrade for the LaserJet 1022 printer.
I wonder if this is to address the problems I experienced. Time will
tell.

That should read 'update'. It came with the Windows updates.

 

[Scott]

That should read 'update'. It came with the Windows updates.

Just tried another Amazon Gift Voucher and nothing happened when I
tried to print. I also tried 'print as image' and still nothing
happened. At least the printer was not disabled this time.

I have downloaded Foxit Reader, which took a few seconds and worked
first time.

I suspect this is the solution!

 

[Scott]

I see there is now an optional upgrade for the LaserJet 1022 printer.
I wonder if this is to address the problems I experienced. Time will
tell.

Last night the printer took to printing blank sheets of paper. The
test page was okay, so it was not the toner cartridge.

I tried restarting the computer. Next time round I got a message that
one or more margins were set outside the printable area of the page. I
had not made any changes to Word and had printed the document
previously so I cannot see how this problem occurred. After telling
it to fix the problem the printer worked okay.

I tried reinstalling the printer and letting it find the latest driver
and the problem seems to have been resolved for the moment.

I see there is a a lengthy workaround in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919602 which I will study if the
problem returns.

Meantime, any suggestions why a printer that has worked flawlessly for
years should now be encountering problems would be welcome.

Also, do you think buying Office 2013 would deal with this type of
situation? I am currently using Office 2007 so on the face of it this
would represent a leap of six years in software development.

 

[Bob I]

On Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:07:10 +0000, Scott

Meantime, any suggestions why a printer that has worked flawlessly for
years should now be encountering problems would be welcome.

Also, do you think buying Office 2013 would deal with this type of
situation? I am currently using Office 2007 so on the face of it this
would represent a leap of six years in software development.

Since it is related to printer capabilities AND the "fixes" are
available for Word going back over a decade, either get a printer
capable of doing "full bleed" or fix your "normal.dot" template to not
print outside the printable margins of your printer.

 

[Scott]

Since it is related to printer capabilities AND the "fixes" are
available for Word going back over a decade, either get a printer
capable of doing "full bleed" or fix your "normal.dot" template to not
print outside the printable margins of your printer.

Thanks for that. You seem to have overlooked the part about the same
printer working flawlessly for several years using the same normal
template.

I'm wondering if there could be a more specific difficulty that might
account for a sudden failure.

It would be helpful to know what the template ought to say, so I can
see if it needs to be 'fixed'.

 

[Bob I]

Thanks for that. You seem to have overlooked the part about the same
printer working flawlessly for several years using the same normal
template.

I'm wondering if there could be a more specific difficulty that might
account for a sudden failure.

It would be helpful to know what the template ought to say, so I can
see if it needs to be 'fixed'.

Since "you" can make and save changes to the normal.dot file perhaps the
change was initiated by you? You can change the name of the file so a
new default one is created and then that would remove any changes you
had made from being the cause of the issue,

 

[Scott]

Since "you" can make and save changes to the normal.dot file perhaps the
change was initiated by you? You can change the name of the file so a
new default one is created and then that would remove any changes you
had made from being the cause of the issue,

Thanks. Sounds like a useful elimination and I shall follow your
advice.

 

[Wolf K]

On 30/12/2012 5:17 AM, Scott wrote:
[...]

Meantime, any suggestions why a printer that has worked flawlessly for
years should now be encountering problems would be welcome.

[...]

I assume you mean you used it with earlier versions of Windows. You're
lucky that reinstalling the driver worked, many older printer drivers
are not updated.

Updating drivers can leave junk behind, eg, conflicting registry
entries. Uninstall >> reinstall may clean up the registry, which IMO is
what happened in your case.

 

[Scott]

On 30/12/2012 5:17 AM, Scott wrote:
[...]

Meantime, any suggestions why a printer that has worked flawlessly for
years should now be encountering problems would be welcome.

[...]

I assume you mean you used it with earlier versions of Windows. You're
lucky that reinstalling the driver worked, many older printer drivers
are not updated.

Updating drivers can leave junk behind, eg, conflicting registry
entries. Uninstall >> reinstall may clean up the registry, which IMO is
what happened in your case.

No, I meant earlier versions of the Word file that refused to print.

There is supposed to have been a new driver for my printer (HP
LaserJet 1022) within the last couple of weeks, which makes me
suspicious that this was the problem. I am sceptical about the new
driver though as it claims to be the same version and file size as the
previous driver.

I have run Registry First Aid regularly (though I realise registry
cleaners are not generally approved of round these parts).

The problem started with Adobe Reader. I am now trying out Foxit so I
hope this has not caused a problem.

 

[123Jim]

Last night the printer took to printing blank sheets of paper. The
test page was okay, so it was not the toner cartridge.

I tried restarting the computer. Next time round I got a message that
one or more margins were set outside the printable area of the page. I
had not made any changes to Word and had printed the document
previously so I cannot see how this problem occurred. After telling
it to fix the problem the printer worked okay.

I tried reinstalling the printer and letting it find the latest driver
and the problem seems to have been resolved for the moment.

I see there is a a lengthy workaround in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919602 which I will study if the
problem returns.

Meantime, any suggestions why a printer that has worked flawlessly for
years should now be encountering problems would be welcome.

Also, do you think buying Office 2013 would deal with this type of
situation? I am currently using Office 2007 so on the face of it this
would represent a leap of six years in software development.

Windows updates can very occasionally break older device drivers. All
that is usually required is to update the driver via windows update if
available there or via the manufacturer's website.

Regarding the link about the page border problem .. just make yourself a
template where the borders print correctly and use that template
whenever you want to create a new document with the border positions
correct for your printer.

 

[Scott]

Windows updates can very occasionally break older device drivers. All
that is usually required is to update the driver via windows update if
available there or via the manufacturer's website.

Are you saying that the manufacturer's website (HP in my case) is to
be preferred over handing the task to Windows? Should I refuse
Windows updates (for the printer) and check the HP website for myself?

Regarding the link about the page border problem .. just make yourself a
template where the borders print correctly and use that template
whenever you want to create a new document with the border positions
correct for your printer.

I will do this but it was clearly not the issue here as I was trying
to print a document that had been created and saved earlier and
printed before. I am struggling with these border positions. Are
they the same as the margins or a different setting?

Do you think Office 2013 (in place of Office 2007) will take care of
this type of issue?

 

[Ken Blake]

Are you saying that the manufacturer's website (HP in my case) is to
be preferred over handing the task to Windows? Should I refuse
Windows updates (for the printer) and check the HP website for myself?

I'm not the person you're replying to, but the answer to your question
is definitely yes!

 

[Scott]

I'm not the person you're replying to, but the answer to your question
is definitely yes!

Thanks. My reply was intended for the whole group. I will treat
Windows 'optional' updates with more scepticism from now on!

 

[Ed Cryer]

Thanks. My reply was intended for the whole group. I will treat
Windows 'optional' updates with more scepticism from now on!

I'll second Ken here.
What I do is see the optional update offered by MS, look at the
manufacturer's website, ignore and hide the MS one.

Ed

 

[Scott]

I'll second Ken here.
What I do is see the optional update offered by MS, look at the
manufacturer's website, ignore and hide the MS one.

Thanks for this advice. I now remember (and wish I had remembered
earlier) that at one time Windows kept encouraging me to install an
Nvidia driver that was older than the one I had. Eventually I signed
up for Nvidia alerts and ignored anything from Windows.