Computer will not print but no error - tried 3 printers

[TechGuy71]

Hey all

Have a Dell Studio laptop in that just won't print to anything. It sends the job to the printer and appears as though it should be printing but just never does. No errors or anything, just doesn't print. Have tried 3 different USB printers now, they all install fine and are being detected fine but wont even print a test page.

Any ideas? Thanks!

oops.. almost forgot.. It's 32-bit Vista

 

[TimeCode]

If you go to the specific printer and double click on it to show the print jobs, what do you see?

 

[Jory]

Did you check the spool folder to ensure it's empty?

 

[TechGuy71]

If you go to the specific printer and double click on it to show the print jobs, what do you see?

On one of the printers it would show that the file was printing and stay like that until i canceled the print job... on the printer i am using now it just goes away as if it has printed.

 

[TimeCode]

On one of the printers it would show that the file was printing and stay like that until i canceled the print job... on the printer i am using now it just goes away as if it has printed.

Strange. Have you tried turning off print spooling? Or maybe turning it on?

 

[TechGuy71]

I am starting to wonder if it is a permissions issue. It's the only account, and an administrator account, however it will not let me into the UAC menu or the Parental Controls menu.. again no errors or anything, they just wont open. I click on them and nothing. Dunno if it's related... but it's a problem. lol

...maybe vista is just fubar'd

 

[TechGuy71]

Strange. Have you tried turning off print spooling? Or maybe turning it on?

Yah the service was running... shut it down and restarted it. nada

why does all this bizzaro crap happen to me? haha

 

[TechGuy71]

Did you check the spool folder to ensure it's empty?

yah, and actually tried changing the spooler folder but didn't make a difference

 

[alibabacomputech]

System restore

hi, did this ever print before if so did you try the system restore to see if that helped

 

[TechGuy71]

hi, did this ever print before if so did you try the system restore to see if that helped

Apparently it has never printed... so whatever is wrong with it has been that way for quite a while.

 

[TechGuy71]

I'm doing a factory image restore... if THAT doesn't fix it i'm gonna FREAK! lol

 

[TechGuy71]

I can't believe it... it did not work. It still will not print! How can this be???

 

[pcbuckman]

I've had some problems with Vista and printers too. Go into the printers menu and try to delete unused printers. If you right click on the blank space there should be an options for server properties. Select this and look for printer drivers. Remove the ones you aren't using, but try to delete the printer first. I had the problem one time with a faulty driver basically continually crashing the print spooler. Go to the website for your printer, click on support, and download the latest vista driver. Install the driver and wait until it says to hook up the USB.

 

[TechGuy71]

I've had some problems with Vista and printers too. Go into the printers menu and try to delete unused printers. If you right click on the blank space there should be an options for server properties. Select this and look for printer drivers. Remove the ones you aren't using, but try to delete the printer first. I had the problem one time with a faulty driver basically continually crashing the print spooler. Go to the website for your printer, click on support, and download the latest vista driver. Install the driver and wait until it says to hook up the USB.

I did try that all earlier, nothing worked. But I just finished a COMPLETE WINDOWS REINSTALL and still nothing will print. This is amazing.

 

[abe]

If a new image restore didn't fix it, I would assume hardware, how do other usb peripharals work sanners external hd's

 

[Crgky127]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
http://www.dopdf.com/

Use one of those to rule out either driver/port/cable/printer or windows.

 

[iptech]

It sound like you're missing USB printing support (a virtual print driver).


Goto Device Manager'

Identify your printer from the hardware list, right click the entry and select Update Driver.

From the Update Driver Wizard select the 'Install from a List or
Specific Location'.

DO NOT ALLOW THE WIZARD TO AUTOMATICALLY SEARCH FOR THE DRIVER.

select 'Don't Search I will Choose the Driver to
Install'

Scroll down to select 'USB Printing Support' and proceed to complete the Wizard.

If the 'Found new hardware' wizard starts to run at this point - cancel it.

Goto the Printers & faxes control panel applet.

Right-click on the Printer icon and select Properties, select Ports.

Select the USB_001 (Virtual printer port for USB) and click the Apply button.

At this point if the system wants to plug and play the rest of the installation for card slots, scanner, Dot4 support and so on, let it do so. You should now be able to send a test print to the printer.


If you don't see a virtual USB printing support entry under the list of ports you will not be able to print to any USB printer. USB printing support is not registered by default, normally (hopefully!) USB printing support will be installed once a USB printer is plugged in, but USB ports, especially those on laptops can be a bit fickle and may need a bit of additional help.

The joys of Plug 'n' Pray!

 

[TechGuy71]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
http://www.dopdf.com/

Use one of those to rule out either driver/port/cable/printer or windows.

PDF Creator works fine.

 

[TimeCode]

It sound like you're missing USB printing support (a virtual print driver).

That's an interesting idea. I can't wait for his response.

 

[abe]

check this out, it may help you its a page from dell it seems like your problem ,, it also gives you the answer to why pdf creator will print since its a usb conflict.

http://support.ap.dell.com/support/...d=60358AE399BA44DEE040AE0AB6E12F38&l=en&s=gen

Article Summary: This article describes how to resolve printing issues when the Dell Studio 1536 is unable to print documents.


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» Discussion

Studio 1536 may not be able to print out documents or have error messages while printing, although the printer has been installed and recognized to be fine.

This issue is observed with both Dell™ and non-Dell USB connected printers.

The issue is seen with Dell 946, 968, V105, V305 and V505 All-in-One (AIO) inkjet printers. Other models which are not listed in this article may also report the same issue. When the issue occurs, an error message Communication Error will pop up for printing jobs. It works fine while a scanning job.


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» Uninstall AMD USB Audio Driver Filter


To Uninstall AMD USB Audio Driver Filter

1.Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.


2.In the Control Panel window, click Programs and then open Programs and Features.


3.Select AMD USB Audio Driver Filter, and then click Uninstall.


4.Restart the system when the uninstallation is finished.
Uninstalling the AMD USB audio driver does not impact systems with Microsoft® Windows Vista® Service Pack 1 installed.