Problem with HP 712C and black and white pics

[HistoryFan]

Hello. I have a Dell 2400 with XP SP1. I am using a HP 712C deskjet
printer that connects via a parallel port. It does not share the port with
any other device.

Just today, I noticed that the 712C will not properly print out B&W
photos. They come out with lines, and pink shading in them. These are B&W
photos so they shouldn't have any color added. Oddly enough, color photos
print out fine, and so do text. The only problem is with B&W photos. The
only thing I have done to my computer recently is install TurboTax 2003. I
went to the Printers and Faxes area, deleted the 712C, restarted XP, and let
it reinstall the printer driver. But nothing changed. Any ideas?

 

[HistoryFan]

More trouble. I just printed out a color photo, and it too has
streaks in it. Sigh.

 

[Trev]

Hello. I have a Dell 2400 with XP SP1. I am using a HP 712C deskjet
printer that connects via a parallel port. It does not share the port with
any other device.

Just today, I noticed that the 712C will not properly print out B&W
photos. They come out with lines, and pink shading in them. These are B&W
photos so they shouldn't have any color added. Oddly enough, color photos
print out fine, and so do text. The only problem is with B&W photos. The
only thing I have done to my computer recently is install TurboTax 2003. I
went to the Printers and Faxes area, deleted the 712C, restarted XP, and let
it reinstall the printer driver. But nothing changed. Any ideas?

Your printer uses the colour cartride too when printing grayscale to get
a better range of grays. My guess is one of the colour inks has run out.

 

[Charlie+]

The streaking is a different problem but it has wised you up to the
fact that with W2k and XP Hewlett Packard have deliberately
downgraded the drivers to make you think you need a new printer.
The streaking will be just cleaning or cartridge problems.
You can get the printer to print with solid black, but only if you
change the properties to b&w only in the printer options. Proper
ColourSmart drivers do not exist except if you go back to older
operating systems W95/W98 etc. Para follows explaining:
Advice from my experience:
Dont buy HP if anytime in the future you might move to an upgraded
operating system - you will find HP may not provide new fully
functioning drivers for your older HP printer - so you will have to
rely on the crippled drivers that come with the new OS and therefor
lose some of the HP features and efficiency; using up colour ink much
faster by laying colour with solid black and losing the higher
resolution of the black cartridge.....
I dont know if any other manufacturers follow this type of trick to
make customers think their printer is getting worn out!
Charlie+

 

[Mark Herring]

I dont know if any other manufacturers follow this type of trick to
make customers think their printer is getting worn out!
Charlie+

How about the Epson waste ink counter? When the printer thinks that
the waste ink pad is full, the printer stops working. You must reset
it and (maybe) also replace/clean the pad. Epson does not supply the
procedure to reset the counter. Fortunately, it can be found in
newsgroups and forums..

As for the HP 712--it is indeed time for a new printer if the user is
interested in printing photos
**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".

 

[HistoryFan]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to go out and buy a new color
cartridge this morning. I hope that fixes the problem because those suckers
are expensive.

 

[HistoryFan]

I just got back from buying a new color ink cartridge. It has been
installed, and the problem appears to have been fixed. The pictures that
printed out badly last night look fine now.

 

[Id o Matic]

I just got back from buying a new color ink cartridge. It
has been
installed, and the problem appears to have been fixed. The pictures
that printed out badly last night look fine now.

That's a relief! I was about to say that I thought the problems might be
caused by copy protection software in TurboTax. It fubared my CD burning
abilities last year when I tried to uninstall it.
They said it's not in the 2003 version, but I'm using Taxbrain instead this
time around just to be on the safe side.
Glad you got it figured out.