Documents Not Printing – Stuck In Print Queue

The most frequent problem with printers (apart from the ridiculous cost of ink!) is when documents are not printing because adocument gets ‘stuck’ in the print queue – meaning that it won’t print out. You will not receive an error message but the status of the document in the print queue will stay as ‘printing’ forever and never actually print.

Can’t I Just Delete The Document?

You should certainly try this first but often it will not work – the ‘stuck’ document will change to ‘deleting in progress’ but never actually delete. Until it is deleted properly no further documents can be printed because they are in a queue (the first job submitted must be printed before any subsequent jobs can progress) – so if you keep on trying to print more documents to ‘test things’ you will just end up with loads of print jobs queued up…

How To Fix It

The fix is simple – you need to clear the print queue manually so that all the print jobs currently in the queue are deleted properly – once the queue is empty you should then be able to print new documents without problems. We will show you how below, depending on whether you use XP or Vista/7:

1. XP – click ‘Start’ then click ‘Run’ and in the Run window type CMD then press ‘OK’ – this opens a Command Prompt window. Now skip to Step 3

2. Vista/7 – click ‘Start’ and type Command in the search box. Right click on the ‘Command Prompt’ result in the search results above it and select ‘Run As Administrator’ – this opens a Command Prompt window

3. All version of Windows – in the Command Prompt window:

4. Type net stop spooler then press the Enter key

5. Type del %windir%\system32\spool\printers\*.* /q then press the Enter key (Note: the only spaces in this command are a single space between del and %, and a single space between * and /q)

6. Type net start spooler then press the Enter key

7. Type exit then press the Enter key to exit the Command Prompt window

This should have cleared the print queue (i.e. all print jobs have been deleted) and you can now submit new jobs for printing.

Posted by http://techlogon.com

Printer troubleshooting guide

Note: If you cannot find the proper printer driver on any of the disks that came with your printer, obtain the proper driver from the manufacturer's web site. For example, you might check:

http://www.hp.com/ http://www.epson.com/

These sites usually have the latest printer drivers that fix bugs for particular models and provide compatibility with the latest software and operating systems.

To troubleshoot your printing problems, start by trying the following:

1. In the application from which you want to print, from the File menu, choose Print... . In the box that appears, check to see which printer the application is trying to access. Make sure that this is the printer you want to use.
2. Try printing something from another application. If you cannot print from another application, you may need to get a new printer driver.
3. The problem could also be specific to the program you are using. If so, try checking online support for that particular vendor's program.

The following are some common problems and their possible causes:

Inkjet printers

Problem
Possible cause
Prints garbage
This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed.
No response from printer; computer gives error message
Check that cables are properly connected and look for an Online or Select button to press on the printer. Many PC printers require an IEEE 1284 cable, which is different from the standard bidirectional parallel cable. Likewise, printers for older Macs require either a serial cable or a LocalTalk cable. Consult your manual to find out what cabling you need.
Print head cannot travel its full horizontal distance
Open the cover and make sure there is nothing obstructing the movement of the print head. Obstructions can result if you haven't removed some of the packaging, or if there is a paper jam. If this is a new printer, remember that you must remove the safety tape, which is put there to prevent the print head from slamming back and forth during shipping.
Acts like it is printing but puts no ink on the page
There is no ink cartridge installed. In many cases, this is a separate item from the print head assembly, which is already installed in the printer from the factory.
Text has wrong print attributes (e.g., bold text not printed as bold)
This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed. See information above about drivers.
Parts of characters missing, or characters not correct color
The ink cartridge is either either clogged or running out of ink. Run the software cleaning utility (almost always accessible from the printer) in order to fix a clog. Replace the ink cartridge if the clog cannot be fixed or if the cartridge is almost empty.
Text is faded
One or more of the inkwells in the print cartridge is almost empty. Unless your printer's ink cartridge can have individual colors replenished, this usually means you need to replace the whole cartridge.
Printout is smeared
The paper is mismatched to the paper setting for the printer. For example, if you are using high-quality photo paper, set the printer's output for that paper; do not use the plain paper setting.
Paper jams often
The feeder bin or tray may be overloaded; remove some paper. Excess humidity may be causing pages to stick together; in that case, remove all sheets and use only as much as needed. The paper may have already been through the printer; the feeding process tends to warp and thicken areas of the page by bunching it up. Try not to use paper that's already been fed through the printer.

Laser printers

Problem
Possible cause
Prints garbage
This is usually the result of a wrong or corrupt printer driver, such as a PostScript driver on a non-PostScript printer.
Refuses to print
Check cables and front panel settings. Make sure the printer is selected or online. Also, many PC printers require an IEEE 1284 cable, which is different from the standard bidirectional parallel cable. Likewise, printers for older Macs require either a LocalTalk or a serial cable. The user manual will specify what cabling is required.
Letters jumble together
This usually happens because the font is unavailable.
Printing takes a long time; often only half of a page prints
The printer is trying to print text in graphics mode. Put a font change code at the beginning of the document for a font that exists on the printer.
Printing is smeared, or there are faint lines on the page
The fuser may be dirty or broken. This may require replacement.
Printing is faded
The fuser is probably almost empty. You may be able to prolong its life by shaking it. If not, replace it.

This is document acbl in domain all.

Posted by http://kb.iu.edu/data/acbl.html