Disobediant Printer: Troubleshooting Tips
1. Power Make sure the printer has power and is turned on, make sure all cables are connected properly 2. Paper Check there is paper in the printer and there is nothing jammed, make sure you check the print screen to ensure there are no error messages 3. Connection Check the Ethernet connection and the USB connection to your computer to make sure that everything is connected properly, try another USB port if possible 4. Printer Check the correct printer is set up as your default printer, make sure the right printer is selected in the drop-down box & try to print a page 5. Ink Check the toner or ink, if low this can prevent you from printing. Many inkjet printers will not print because one of ink cartridge is empty. Check the supply level in the printer setting Failing all of the above, you will have to contact technical support or look at purchasing a new printer.
COMMON PRINTER ISSUES
SLOWING YOU DOWN
A wireless printer may be more convenient and get rid of all those pesky cables, If your printer is running slowly you can try switching to an Ethernet cable. If this option isn’t possible then you should make sure your printer is as close to the router as it can possibly be.
PRINT ME IN DOUBLE
This feature will save you on toner and paper and is quite easy to do. In any windows program select print and properties, then look for the "layout" setting, you can then select the drop down box, this will increase the number of pages per sheet.
COSTLY TONER
Everyone will need to buy toner at some point or another. Replacing the toner in your printer can be very costly, unfortunately there is no quick fix to this problem. Buying compatible cartridges can be cheaper in the beginning but they can damage your printer, reduce the life of your printer or void the warranty. One way to reduce the cost of bill is to purchase high yield cartridges, this means you’ll be paying more upfront but the pages per cartridge will be higher, so you’ll be saving money by buying in bulk. Nearly every toner cartridge has a high yield friend, if you need help finding this alternative shoot us an email and I am more than happy to help.
SPOTS & LINES
This may mean your printer head is clogged and has a build-up of dried ink, there are a couple of ways to fix this problem. You can take the ink cartridge out and wipe it down with a damp cloth (best to follow manual instructions on how to do this without damaging the cartridge or your printer). An alternate method which I would try before I take the cartridge out is to perform a self-clean through the computer. For Windows XP, Vista users Go to the control panel, select all control panel items, select devices and printers, right click the printer that is having issues, select properties, choose the tab for cleaning or maintenance, perform a nozzle check and head clean. Print a test page and check the results. Repeat the cleaning process 2 or 3 times.
Windows Computers
For specific instructions please see your instruction
manual, Click start menu, select devices and printers, select your printer and right click to select printer properties, under the general tab click on the preferences button, in the new window choose the features or similar tab then select printer services, select devices tab and click clean the print head button. For MAC Users Right click apple icon, select system preferences, select print and fax options, make sure your printer is selected and open the print queue, click on utility icon for the printer and select maintenance or cleaning, select cleaning from the pop up menu and click OK. You may have to select the tank that needs cleaning or clean one at a time. Run cleaning head program 2-3 times until fixed. Print out test page.
