Like most of the other electronics, printers also require proper maintenance and care to keep them at their peak performance. However, sometimes, you may fall into tricky situations that may or may not be related to the hardware or software. So it requires expert skills to resolve the issues of these complex devices either it is related to software or hardware. One need to be very confident before installing any software programs of opening up the printer as a little know-how may mass up things completely. Below a few common printer problems are discussed along with their resolution:
1. Printing is too slow
Solution: If your printer speed is too slow, you can reduce print quality for everyday output to not only rev up printer performance, but also save ink in the process. Although settings may vary by model, but in most of the models almost all the steps are common to switch your printer to draft-printing mode in most Windows apps. Choose Print and Properties, and look for a setting which reduces print quality or in some models, set the default print quality setting to Fast Draft from Normal. Other suggestions to speedup printing process are, add RAM to your printer, if possible and print pages from websites without graphics.
2. Printer is not accepting the commands
Solution: First, check the three basics paper, power and connection if your printer isn’t printing. Make sure that it has paper, receiving power supply, and connected to either by cable or wirelessly to your computer.
3. The printer won’t print
Solution: There may be several reasons of not getting the print on paper. Again start with the basic to find the reason of the error. Check that there is paper in the tray, try to find if there is an error message/warning light on the printer, verify that the ink cartridges aren’t empty, make sure that the USB cable is plugged in and also cross-check that the printer is connected to the Wi-Fi network is you are using wireless connection.
Sometimes, the issue may be related to the printer drivers especially, if it is an old printer. It is a usual case with the old printers that old drivers are still installed and set as the default printer. Open the Control Panel, Devices and Printers, and right click the printer that you want to use and set it as the default. Make sure that you select the right printer in the program you are printing from.
If you are using a Windows device, Microsoft has included a printing trouble-shooter to find the problem. Click on the Fix it button, download and run the program, and then follow the steps which appears in the on-screen wizard. Alternatively, open the Control Panel, Devices and Printers, right click the printer icon and select Troubleshoot. Although, It may not helpful always, but worth trying.
4. Wi-Fi printing takes too long.
Solution: If you are using your printer on a wireless network, place your printer very close to your router as it may reduce printing time and increase throughput. , However, there are a few other ways also to improve Wi-Fi performance along with retaining the flexibility of printer placement.
Make sure that your router is adequate and its firmware is up to date. It should support 802.11n and offer the 5GHz band as well as 2.4 GHz. Moreover, if it is required to improve the performance, you could add a wireless extender or a repeater.
5. MFP won’t scan anymore
Solution: If your multifunction printer’s (MFP) scanner has stopped working, there is a huge possibility that its scanner software has corrupted so try to reinstall the printer’s software package to fix the issue. If it doesn’t work out, check the user guide or the manufacturer’s support page. Though, it’s not too unusual for the scanner in a lower-end MFP to fail, but sometimes, you may need to replace the whole unit.
6. Update your printer drivers and software
Solution: If you encounter an error that print jobs simply don’t appear or the error in printing, then the problem may be related to the out-of-date or corrupt printer drivers. Visit the manufacturer’s web site to download and install the latest drivers for your printer as well as any other software update available on the site. If you don’t know which program needs to be installed, download the Computer-Optimizer to install the right driver software for you.
