problem with parallel port - all printers

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G

Guest

I have a new Acer laptop with XP pro and it printed fine for about a month.
All of a sudden it can no longer print from the parallel port. I see the
printer icon in the tray- it looks like the system has sent the document to
the printer- the icon disappears as if the document printed - then nothing
happens and there is no error message.

Microsoft has an article about this - but I tried all the suggestions,
including deleting and re-installing the printer and the port and changing
some BIOS settings.

I know the problem is not the printer - it prints a test page offline and I
have the same problem with another printer that I can print from when using
the USB port.

The printer I want to use is an old HP 4P - works great - but has no USB port.

Any help would be very much appreciated.
 
B_in_VT said:
I have a new Acer laptop with XP pro and it printed fine for about a month.
All of a sudden it can no longer print from the parallel port. I see the
printer icon in the tray- it looks like the system has sent the document to
the printer- the icon disappears as if the document printed - then nothing
happens and there is no error message.

Microsoft has an article about this - but I tried all the suggestions,
including deleting and re-installing the printer and the port and changing
some BIOS settings.

I know the problem is not the printer - it prints a test page offline and I
have the same problem with another printer that I can print from when using
the USB port.

The printer I want to use is an old HP 4P - works great - but has no USB port.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

I have a four year old DELL Pentium 4. I recently upgraded to Windows XP from Windows ME and have the exact same problem. My HP LaserJet 4P does not work. I too thought maybe it was the printer, but test pages and a friends PC fired the 4P right up. It did work for about a month, but then nothing. It accepts the print command as if it is fine, no error message and no printer output. This is very frustrating. I wish I could help you out more, but I have no idea. If you figure something out, please let me know.
Click to expand...

Misery loves company... Good Luck and Best Wishes!

P
 
With the informatio you gave, it sounds like the parallel port may have
died.
Another possibility is that the parallel cable is bad.
Finally, since the Laptop is new, what does ACER customer support have to
say.

I know of an issue with older parallel port printers and Laptops that might
have some bearing. It seems that the older printers expected a higher
voltage on the various parallel port line than some of the laptops provide.
The issue was parallel port support chip specific.
 
I am experiencing similar issues, but with hp DeskJet 812C. Like you, I,
too, have tried everything that hp recommended, to no avail. I can only
suspect a bug has gotten into my computer past my Norton Internet Security
2005 & all the ms security patches - despite my best effort's. My printer is
making noise as if it is trying to print & bumping!?! I guess that if we can
find the bug, it may fix the printer issue. Wish me luck & Good luck to you
too.
 
Quit Windows and switch the computer and printer off. Remove the printer
cable. Inspect the connectors on the printer and computer for damage, e.g.
bent pins. Inspect the printer cable paying special attention to the
connectors. If possible, try switching out the cable and reconnecting the
printer with a new or known-goods, IEEE-compliant parallel printer cable of
high quality. Do not use an extra-long cable.

Power up the printer. Turn the computer on. Enter the BIOS setup of the
printer as it boots and make sure the setting for the port the printer uses
is for the type recommended. Consult your printer manual.

If no joy, verify the printer by connecting it to a different computer.
Verify the computer by connecting a different printer.

If you have any reason to suspect a virus/Trojan/spyware or other malware,
get and run a quality anti-virus and anti-spyware package. There are some
anti-virus scans you can run free from the Internet that are worth trying
but nothing beats a good package run locally.

Let us know.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


:I am experiencing similar issues, but with hp DeskJet 812C. Like you, I,
: too, have tried everything that hp recommended, to no avail. I can only
: suspect a bug has gotten into my computer past my Norton Internet Security
: 2005 & all the ms security patches - despite my best effort's. My printer
is
: making noise as if it is trying to print & bumping!?! I guess that if we
can
: find the bug, it may fix the printer issue. Wish me luck & Good luck to
you
: too.
:
:
: "P_in_IL" wrote:
:
: >
: >
: > "B_in_VT" wrote:
: >
: > > I have a new Acer laptop with XP pro and it printed fine for about a
month.
: > > All of a sudden it can no longer print from the parallel port. I see
the
: > > printer icon in the tray- it looks like the system has sent the
document to
: > > the printer- the icon disappears as if the document printed - then
nothing
: > > happens and there is no error message.
: > >
: > > Microsoft has an article about this - but I tried all the suggestions,
: > > including deleting and re-installing the printer and the port and
changing
: > > some BIOS settings.
: > >
: > > I know the problem is not the printer - it prints a test page offline
and I
: > > have the same problem with another printer that I can print from when
using
: > > the USB port.
: > >
: > > The printer I want to use is an old HP 4P - works great - but has no
USB port.
: > >
: > > Any help would be very much appreciated.
: > >
: > > I have a four year old DELL Pentium 4. I recently upgraded to Windows
XP from Windows ME and have the exact same problem. My HP LaserJet 4P does
not work. I too thought maybe it was the printer, but test pages and a
friends PC fired the 4P right up. It did work for about a month, but then
nothing. It accepts the print command as if it is fine, no error message
and no printer output. This is very frustrating. I wish I could help you
out more, but I have no idea. If you figure something out, please let me
know.
: >
: > Misery loves company... Good Luck and Best Wishes!
: >
: > P
 
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