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Dell 1700 laser printer - dell 520? desktop, cannot print
My brother has a Dell 520/522 desktop running win xp home sp2. Wheter he connects the printer via lpt1 or usb he gets the same msg when he tries to print. "printer offline"
Went into printers & faxes. Printer is selected as default and indicates ready. He has tried the 1700 and a samsung ml2250 with same results. Both printers work flawlessly on my hp dc7100 desktop running xp pro sp3. Would you think he needs to install sp3 to correct this problem? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I installed a dell 1720 printer on his GX270, xp pro sp3 with no problems. (usb)
llynster
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May 12th, 2009 12:00
Sounds system specific, not printer.
Has any printer ever worked on this system? Is the spooler service running?
Nope, SP3 should not have any effect on this.
11bush
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May 12th, 2009 12:00
Print spooler svc is working..Set to automatic & is started. Think a bios update might help. I will try anything at this point. Don't want to have to reinstall win just to print.
Thanks for your reply. If i can get my brother to bring me the computer i think i can get the printer going. I think this may be the only solution. He is a CPA and is not very computer literate. It is hard to tell him what all to check over the phone, plus he get frustrated.
Again, thanks for the reply.
llynster
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May 12th, 2009 13:00
Oh boy...... I KNOW what you're talking about. My worse case "support" calls are with my mom...... bless her heart, she tries. We've got to the point where I just have her write down a list of things as she finds them) and I sit down for a couple of hours each time I visit her.
One of my earlier questions...... Has any printer worked on this system, ever?
If true, then this is not a bios issue either. Something is bunged up in the O/S.
You said you tried a parallel connection and it failed too? Can you open a CMD prompt and copy a text file to the LPT1 port?
Copy LPT1
11bush
4 Posts
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May 12th, 2009 13:00
Talked to my brother. I will pick-up computer and printer tomorrow. Will make it a lot easier having it here at my house. I will let u know the results of how i corrected this problem. I think at one time he had a printer attached. Not positive. I have diagnostic software plus any virus scanning software if needed. He does have one program on his computer that will print from the printer. It is a program for sales tax. Will not print income tax returns or any docs out of office. This is an interesting problem as i have never encountered this in the last 25 yrs of dealing with computers.
Thanks for your reply. Will have results in the next three days....
llynster
1.7K Posts
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May 12th, 2009 14:00
SOooo.... He does have one application that WILL print? Very interesting.
What do you want to bet that this application is why nothing else works?
Good luck !!
11bush
4 Posts
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May 18th, 2009 19:00
Got the puter & printer this evening at 6:30. Got back home at 7:15 and set up puter & printer. Went to control panel & deleted all printers and drivers.
Went to Dell & downloaded print driver. Same problem. Deleted printer & driver. Rebooted. Xp found new hardware, Dell 1700, and installed driver.
Works perfectly now with all programs & printing from the web. Took 45 mins. Returning puter & printer tomorrow. Will set it up for him.
Thanks for your ideas on the subject. Btw. Before i did all this i downloaded SP3 & installed. (Microsoft site said this would help. Dont know about all that.)
Everthing working fine. Defragging right now. Thanks again.