Vista Drivers Print the Square Number of Copies Requested

[adamsr2]

I have a HP deskjet 970Cse. HP has not released a full featured driver for
Vista. Instead they suggest using the driver Vista will assign. I notice on
Print Shop 21 and 22 it print the square number of the copies I request, 4
for 2, 36 for 6. This doesn't happen in other programs that I have found
yet, like Word or Excel. It doesn't happen if I use a HP 1300 or HP 1500
with regular full featured drivers supplied by HP. I went on a Print Shop
web site and the moderator discovered her Epson Style C86, which uses a Vista
driver rather than a full featured Epson Vista driver, does the same thing.

Has anyone else noticed such a thing? Has anyone got a cure?

 

[huwyngr]

 HP has not released a full featured driver for 
Vista.  Instead they suggest using the driver Vista will assign.

Whereas I would suggest, when you have problems or missing features,
installing the fully featured XP driver using Compatibility mode and
Run as Administrator.

See a reply I just posted to:

Subject: Borderless printeing with the deskjet 460c

that was posted on Monday by muffinman, but substitute the equivalent
driver for your printer.

 

[adamsr2]

I tried the XP SP2 driver in compatibility mode run as administrator. It
installed the printer, but the printer won't print in anything, even a test
page. Any other suggestions? I thought for a minute this one would work.

 

[huwyngr]

Does it print if you use the test print feature within the printer
itself that does not involve the PC -- usually a combination of buttons
or of powering on with one button pressed: check your manual.

If it does not then it would indicate that the printer itself has
failed.

When you installed the XP driver, you did have the USB cable NOT
plugged into the PC as per the instructions for installing drivers when
using USB? Or are you using parallel cable connection?

Since that fails look here in this newsgroup section for a message from
Alan Morris -- "Alan Morris [MSFT]" <[email protected]> --
and ask him for help since he has a very good line into HP's
development people.

If you don't mind I'll ask in my Compuserve PCHardware Forum Print &
Scan section to see if anyone else has heard of this extraordinary
"feature".

 

[huwyngr]

Here's a reply from my main colleage in PCHW on printing etc:

<< I don't have an answer. However, Print Shop has some unusual ways
of defining a print job. They don't act like any other program.

I haven't seen that anomaly, but I'd have the person check to make sure
that they didn't have two sided printing set in the Print Shop print
window.

If their 970 has a duplexer (which, I believe, was an add on for that
machine) then I'd have them switch it on and off as well as two sided
printing in the Print Shop printer window. Playing around with be
worth some effort.

Different templates give different results. Newsletter assumes two
sided printing. Greeting cards give another set of results. I like
the program, but tis a challenge sometimes. >>

Let us know if that helps find out what is going on.

 

[adamsr2]

I'm connected with a USB. I re-installed the XP SP2 driver with the printer
not attached until it was called for. It didn't change the outcome. The
printer prints a test page when not connected to the laptop.

I checked to see if double sided was selected in Print Shop. It wasn't. I
put the two sided attachment on and printed that way. It still printed the
square number of copies. My guess is that the Vista "non-full-featured"
driver is causing the problem on the non-Vista compatible printer and Print
Shop. I'm guessing this because it happened with the Forum Lady's Epson,
also not Vista compatible.

 

[huwyngr]

I checked to see if double sided was selected in Print Shop.

Did you check some different templates, as suggested by Lee?

On the whole I think you have to pin it on PrintShop rather than the HP
Driver since it only happens with that application and happens with
another printer.

Did you check for updates to PrintShop? I see this one on the
Bruderbund site.

http://support.broderbund.com/download_desc.asp?dlid=640

-------------------------------------------------------------

The Vista Compatibility Update file functions as follows.

This Windows® Vista update will detect and repair The Print Shop® 22
and PrintMaster® 17 applications already installed on your computer.
After applying this update The Print Shop® 22 and PrintMaster® 17 will
operate normally on computers running Windows® Vista.

File Size: 26.4 mb

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Also from http://support.encoreusa.com/kb.asp?id=571 if you bought
PrintShop Retail not downloaded.

Although you say you went onto a PrintShop Forum and had contact with a
moderator, have you contacted Buderbund/PrintShop direct:

http://support.broderbund.com/contact_us.asp?id=1294820992&active=Y

Good luck with the VISTA update if you have not already applied it.

 

[adamsr2]

Yes, I did try other templates. It didn't help. Alas, the Vista compatility
update is for Print Shop 22. I have Print Shop 21.

Broderbund support won't talk to me because they no longer support Print
Shop 21. Even though it is only four years old. With Print Shop 22 they
have an excuse to drop 21.

 

[huwyngr]

 Alas, the Vista compatility 
update is for Print Shop 22.  I have Print Shop 21.

But you said in your first message:

 I notice on 
Print Shop 21 and 22 it print the square number of the copies I request, 4 
for 2, 36 for 6.

Will Bruderbond confirm that the problem is fixed in PS22?

 

[huwyngr]

Here's another suggestion that I've been given:

<< Has the person checked the default setup for the printer in the
Printers panel in Control Panel, Hardware and Sound? Is it set to print
more than one copy?

Years ago some printer drivers would print 4 copies even if you
selected 1 in the application's Print menu if the default for the
Printer was set to 2 copies. I haven't noticed that in a few years, but
maybe the quirk has reared its ugly head again. >>

Note that this is the default setting -- not what you can set when you
just click on Print.

 

[adamsr2]

My neighbor has Print Shop 22. I put my printer on their laptop(USB) and
tried it with the compatibility update installed and get the same problem. I
do have the correct printer settings in the control panels of both my
neighbor's and my laptops.

I have just submitted the problem to Broderbund on the Print Shop 22 version
which they do support. We'll see what they say. I'll bet they'll say, "The
HP Deskjet 970Cse driver on Vista is not a full featured driver. Your
printer is not completely compatible with Vista."

 

[huwyngr]

Hope you get somewhere with Buderbond .....

Do let us know.

 

[adamsr2]

Well Broderbund was a washout. They gave me instructions on how to install
their patch, which I told them I already had done. Then they told me how to
use msconfig to disable startup and extra items and then run Print Shop. I
had already done that also. When I told them that neither of those
suggestions worked they said, "This unfortunately is the limit of our
technical support for printing." So they gave up pretty quickly. They
suggested I go on their forum. I told them I had been there and the
moderator was having the same problem with her Canon Inkjet i4752.

 

[huwyngr]

Someone with an early HP laserjet had a similar problem in that it was
always printing 2 copies and this was fixed by setting it to print 2
copies upon which it printed 1 ..... (They did find a broken paper hook
inside but ....)

Sounds like it is time to give up Bruderbond and try another
application and if that fails then get a new printer?

What does Print Shop do that other applications don't? What do you use
it for mainly?

For simple editing there is the free Irfanview which should be on
everyone's PC and Microsoft have a Digital Imaging Software that must
have come free with something I have -- oh yes WORKS Suite, one of the
best bang per buck you can find anywhere -- and my PS8250 comes with
free HP software for handling printing and editing.

You can find Photoshop Elements 6 on sale for as low as $49.99 (Staples
until Dec 22).