Vista doesn't like my printer

First question: have you tried rebooting? Sometimes your print-queue get munged.

Can you plug the printer into a different computer? Have you shut the printer off for a while then turned it back on? It's hard to say what exactly the trouble is. Check for error messages.

In the printers menu, sometimes you can troubleshoot and diagnose problems. Double click the printer. Properties and Troubleshooter might help. But, if it's the printer, the computer may not be able to do anything about it.

You might look for more recent drivers. Are you installing from CD? Even so, check their website and see if they have more recent drivers. Sometimes this works.

Vista is notorious for giving printers issues.
The gov't even banned Vista from all its machines so I was trying to suggest getting rid of Vista or getting a different OS altogether (i.e. Mac).
*That* is on topic.

G'luck

"A" Is For "Agent" said:

Vista is notorious for giving printers issues.
The gov't even banned Vista from all its machines so I was trying to suggest getting rid of Vista or getting a different OS altogether (i.e. Mac).
*That* is on topic.

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Question: I've got a broken fuel line in my Pontiac, what should I do?
Answer: Get a Honda.

Not much of a solution to a specific problem.

Moderator's Note: Folks, let's not turn this into a Vista vs. Mac war or this thread will get deleted.

Roger J Carlson said:

Question: I've got a broken fuel line in my Pontiac, what should I do?
Answer: Get a Honda.

Not much of a solution to a specific problem.

Moderator's Note: Folks, let's not turn this into a Vista vs. Mac war or this thread will get deleted.

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Geez, as the owner of a vbulletin board myself, I never realized we needed to splice off a thread to discuss (is that what we were doing?) a plausible alternate solution in the near future. Maybe the underlying cause is the OS and she may want to be aware of that for the future.

Go ahead and in-line mod the thread and "delete" it and then run up to modsquad and betch-out about me back-talking you. I will still be able to sleep.

scarletpeaches said:

As a side note, Roger, I didn't take (too much) offence at A's post

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Perhaps not, but the post was reported as unhelpful and inappropriate. I agreed.

"A" Is For "Agent" said:

Geez, as the owner of a vbulletin board myself, I never realized we needed to splice off a thread to discuss (is that what we were doing?) a plausible alternate solution in the near future. Maybe the underlying cause is the OS and she may want to be aware of that for the future.

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This is a tech help board, answers to specific questions. Answering a PC question with "get a Mac" is simply not helpful or on topic, and I'm frankly tired of it.

Go ahead and in-line mod the thread and "delete" it and then run up to modsquad and betch-out about me back-talking you. I will still be able to sleep.

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Mod decisions are not open for public discussion. If you have an issue, take it to PM or talk to MacAllister, the board owner, who is the final abiter.

I was going to suggest replacing Vista with XP, so at least you get to keep your hardware.

But the fact that it printed at all means the drivers are operational - I'm thinking it could have been a hardware thing. Greyed-out print-cartridge status suggests to me (at least in XP...) that the computer can't communicate to the printer, which is usually something like a loose cable or bad connector, or the printer is turned off, something like that, but I suppose something in Vista could have gotten hosed that caused it.

The "problem" is you did too many things at once, so you don't know which thing fixed it!

::cracks her printer tech support muscles::

Before you mess with Vista or Drivers...make sure your printer can still print a test page. This is usually a combination of buttons you hold down. Check your manual or website for how to do it if you are unsure.

If that works...it means the printer itself is okay.

So then check it with a different cable. This might be a shocker for some...but cables don't last forever. Try replacing the cable.

If you still have problems check the website for the latest drivers. A vista update could have changed some thing which your current driver relied on.

Still having problems check the online support at the Epson website.

A few up keep things: Turn your printer off when you don't use it. Do the same with the computer. Windows computers need off time. So do printers. I can't stress this enough.

Check the memory limit on the printer. Printers have internal memory so they can print large documents. If you hit this limit it could have caused the problems you described. It is possible for this memory to start to fail and cause you to need a new printer.

I got a new Vista laptop recently, hooked it up to my trusty Epson printer, and had the same exact problem. I called Dell, and their representative talked me through about 5-10 minutes of "updates"--don't remember what they all were, but by the time I got off the phone it worked just fine. Who would think a "new" Vista laptop would need updates?

A Is For Agent said:

Go ahead and in-line mod the thread and "delete" it and then run up to modsquad and betch-out about me back-talking you. I will still be able to sleep.

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You need to spend a little time reading this, and paying particular attention to the part about "not being a jerk."

Scarlet--these may be dumb questions, but bear with me, OK?

1. Have you had different documents fail to print?

2. Have you tried using an entirely different font (Sometime fonts get damaged)?

3. Can you print a pdf? Any pdf--

4. It sounds like you have an ink jet printer; they work, in crude terms, by spraying a fine mist out of nozzles in the printer.

Most printers have a print utility that can be downloaded, or that came with the printer; there's a command to "clean the nozzles," or something similar.

They also usually have a 'test suite' that can help you determine what the problem is.

scarletpeaches said:

When I go into 'printer properties' the ink level graphics are greyscaled; Vista is refusing to tell me how much ink I have left, I just know there's some in the machine but at least it's printing now - the only things I ever print are straight from MS Word.

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The "grayed out" ink level when you've recently replaced the cartridge suggests that there's a blockage, not in the cartridge, but in the printer.

Next time you win the lottery, if you don't do color printing, think about maybe getting a small laser printer. As much as writers print black text, it's a lot mor economical in the long run.

Incidentally, when I upgraded to vista, I didn't have to install any drivers. Vista already had them. With XP, I had to use the printer CD with each installation.

Also, in my case (Epson) the printer drivers and the utility software for detecting ink levels had to be separately installed (they were not one). I'm not sure if that is the case with most software nowdays but thought I'd just add the info.

scarletpeaches said:

Snipped...

I don't know if this is a Vista problem, but it doesn't seem to be, so it's probably the printer at fault.

HALP!

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Yes, I think it is a Vista problem. My previous computer was a Compaq laptop with Vista Home Premium on it. I had no end of problems with my system having to re-recognize everything I had plugged into my USB ports, almost every time I turned the computer on. This included my wireless Internet USB modem, and my USB printer, especially. I find that everything works decently well with XP, but I've also noticed that I have to re-install my printer on my XP machine if I turn the printer off before I turn off the computer. I think it has something to do with USB ports, but I had a lot more trouble with this situation using Vista than I presently do with XP.

I hope this helps. Best wishes to you.