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What to Do When Your Printer Goes Down

Got a printer that stops working frequently without having any specific problem? Printers, as we all know, play important role in daily operations that require hard copy generation of text, documents, or images among other things. Printer being a machine tends to malfunction at times, especially when you need it the most. Below are the simple steps that will help you diagnose and fix your printer problem on your own.



How to Fix It Guide:

Power off the computer and printer and unplug their cords from the electricity outlets. Also disconnect the printer from the computer. Now power on the computer first, and wait until it is fully rebooted. Now connect the printer back to the computer and power it on. Ensure that the printer lights are on. This should let the computer detect the printer and hence resolve printer problems. Power cycling resets the software and applications and hence fixes printer issue most of the times.

If the error shows the printer is offline, right click on the printer's icon > select 'Properties' from the drop-down list, and check if the printer is offline. If it is, then put it to the online mode.

If this does not work, update the printer drivers from the manufacturer's website (viz. Canon, HP, Lexmark etc...). This should resolve the problem as non-updated drivers stop the printer from functioning smoothly.

Remove drivers, download the latest and compatible drivers (for whichever Windows version you have) from the manufacturer's website. You can also check Microsoft's website for the list of compatible drivers.

If this fails, uninstall the printer software along with its registry keys, reboot the computer, and reinstall the printer software with the help of the CD that came with it. Ensure that while you do the un-installation, your printer should be powered off and disconnected from the computer. But when you reinstall the software, the printer should be all on.

Check your anti-virus and firewall settings, if you recently made changes to either then review your settings.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6230518

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