Color won't print on all programs; only black ink prints reliably.

That sounds like a defective ink cartridge.  One final thing to try, before you buy a new cartridge, soak the nozzle end in a shallow pan of warm, not hot, water for about 10 minutes.  Blot dry and reinstall and try.  If no good the cartridge is most likely bad. 

Thanks for your advice.  The color cartridge is not stopped up; ink leaches from it readily.  That unfortunately makes it likely there is something wrong with the circuitry.  What's confounding me is that it was working perfectly up to now.  Of course, in comparison, one's car never tells your it's going to break down before you leave the house either.  And, today absolutely no color is printing in any program.:smileysad:  If I should happen to find a fix for this I will list it here.  And, if you or anyone else thinks of something else to try please list your idea.  Thanks.

I still think (doing long distance troubleshooting - which I will admit can be an "educated guess" or just a wild guess) that it's a defective cartridge.  There is an IC chip inside the cartridge, which reports cartridge status (e.g. ink level, cartridge type, etc) to the printer.  If that IC is bad what you are seeing could happen. 

 

Some Lexmark (and Dell since they are made by Lexmark for Dell) printers will allow you to interchange the ink cartridges in the slots for testing.  I don't know if yours will allow that or not.  I had a Lexmark about 8 years ago and was having problems with the black cartridge printing and I called Lexmark support and one of the things the tech had me do was to swap the cartridges to the opposite slot to see if the cartridge was defective or if there was a hardware problem with the printer.   

Dear Fireberd,

 

Thanks again for all your advice and info.  I know it's difficult to discern what the problem may be from the asker's description.  It's good of you to help out with what you've learned over the years.  I am going to try switching the bad cartridge with a new one, but I'm going to have to order one.  Yes, I can replace my cartridge at any point.  In fact, I refill the black cartridge whenever it gets low.  When I put it back in place I choose new cartridge, and the ink level is set back to full.

 

Unfortunately, I've had lots of trouble with Dell color cartridges over the years.  Because of their cost I usually order two at once to save a little, but I once received both cartridges in a single foil pouch.  I didn't know at that time that they would dry out, so when I replaced the first one with the second one it wouldn't print.  From your advice I've learned that you can soak them to clear the dried ink from the nozzles.  Lots of the time it's not knowing what question to ask!  Thanks again.