Get more from your printer

Your printer is blinking. It's beeping. It's not working. Often, these simple techniques will get it working again.

• Make sure that the power cord is solidly plugged into the wall socket or power supply.               
• Disconnect any equipment wired between the printer and the computer, and then plug the printer cable directly into the computer.               
• Disconnect any devices recently hung on the same port as the printer, and then restart the computer. The printer should come alive and try to print after restart.           

1. Turn the printer off, and then back on.               
2. Check for paper jams and remove paper that is stuck.               
3. Restart the computer and wait for the screen to come alive. If you get a message telling you that there are documents ready to print, click on "No" to cancel those jobs. Open your document and try again to print.               
4. If these steps fail, check the documentation from the manufacturer and follow their recommendations.

increase your printing speed

It's a simple formula: The faster your computer sends information to the printer, the faster your page will print. If the speed of your printer is slowing you down, you may want to upgrade the following computer components.

• Processor and processor speed                 
• Parallel or serial port                 
• Memory            
• Hard drive speed, if software sends information to the printer via the hard drive (such as the Windows Print Manager)

clear pc memory space for printing

Are you getting a "Not Enough Disk Space to Print" message on your PC screen? Memory, or lack of it, could be the problem. Below are some things you can do to clear up memory space:

• Move large files that you want to keep onto floppy disks, Zip drives or CD-RW media.               
• Delete temporary files by following these steps.

1. Click on the desktop "Start" button.               
2. Select "Find" and then "Files or Folders."               
3. Type "*.TMP" in the "Named" box.            
4. Type 'C:\' in the "Look In" box.            
5. Make sure that the "Include Subfolders" box is checked.            
6. Click on the "Find Now" button.            
7. Highlight any temporary files returned in the "Search Results" list by choosing "Edit" and then "Select All."            
8. Click on "File" and then "Delete" to delete the files. If any of the files are necessary to Windows, then Windows will not allow them to be deleted.            
9. Double-click on the "Recycle Bin" to open it.            
10. Click on "File" and then "Empty Recycle Bin" to remove the files from your system.            
11. Click on the "X" in the upper right corner of the "Recycle Bin" to close it.            
12. Try again to print. If you still receive the "Not Enough Disk Space to Print" message, contact your computer manufacturer.

• Uninstall any software programs or games that you no longer use.

Hint: Before printing large, graphics-intensive printouts, close other programs in order to free up virtual memory space. Don't interact with your computer during large print jobs.

Sometimes you need more than one printer connected to your computer.

For example, you may need a black-and-white printer for text documents and a photo printer for photographs. To connect more than one printer to your PC, you need to install and use a switchbox.

Switchboxes are available with either a physical switch, or an automatic switch. Just follow these steps to connect a switchbox to your PC.

1. Shut down your operating system and then turn off your computer.            
2. Turn off the current printer and disconnect it from your computer.            
3. Connect the current printer to the switchbox. For best results, use an IEEE 1284 parallel cable.            
4. Connect the second printer to the switchbox. For best results, again, use an IEEE 1284 parallel cable.            
5. Connect the switchbox to the computer's parallel port. Use an IEEE 1284 DB25 Male/Male cable or whichever cable your retail store recommends.            
6. Connect a power cord to the back of each printer, and then connect each power cord to a grounded electrical outlet, in either the wall or a surge protector.            
7. Turn on both printers, and then turn on the computer.            
8. When you're ready to print, choose a printer on the switchbox.            
9. Then Select the printer within the application's "Print" window, and click on "Print."

Caution: Do not switch printers on the switchbox until one printer is completely finished printing. Switching printers in the middle of a print job causes printer errors
 

what’s next?
 

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