Tech: Printer help PLEASE!

Subject: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 10:48 AM

I have two Epson printers which have worked well until now.
C20 (I know it,s old) prints fine except that it has suddenly reduced the size of the print to very, very small and is printing thick black lines either on top or underneath the text.
I,ve tried cleaning, nozzle checks, alignment checks all to no avail, I just seem to have this idea that it is something very simple. This one is now attached to my laptop Toshiba Satallite Pro and uses WinXP Pro.

My other printer Epson 200 photo on my main PC runnung Win XP home has for a couple of weeks now been doing the same, very very small print BUT without the offending black lines. the two computers are not linked in any way.

Her,s hoping someone else has experienced thid and knows of a solution
whb

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 10:49 AM

Sorry, I meant this to go below the line, can someone please oblige.

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:14 AM

Just to keep things active - once the tech-heads get here they will need clues to deduce from.
Have both printers been attached to the same computer? Could one computer have altered settings on both printers?Have yougot thanuals for th printers?
Are there any self-check diagnostics you can run? ... etc.

Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: JudyB
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:15 AM

Is it printing in reduced size from all programs or just one?

Have you tried using a different font? Oops - forgot the two computers aren't linked, so that rules out a corrupted font file. But it still might be something to try. And have you tried changing the size of the font in the document?

Do you have automatic updates on both? Or have you installed any updates on both? If so, they might have changed a setting on something.

That's all I can think of off-hand, though hopefully the more techie folks will be here soon.

And while I don't spend much time on MudCat these days, I think tech threads are usually above the line. ;)

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:38 AM

I don't knopw about the states but a decent-ish ink jet with a network card is sub-£50 nowadays. While not saying that you need to spend money you may want to ask what your time is worth trying to fix the problem!

DeG

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:45 AM

The one attached to the laptop was on a previous pc but did the same, the other one has always been on the same pc since new and worked fine 'til recently.

I have the online Epson manuals for both and have exhausted the various tests etc, hence my plea.

The print is reduced in all programs.

I haven't tried the font thing which I will do now, thanks (gotta be worth a try).

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: Amos
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:50 AM

As mentioned above, do ALL applications do the same strangwe thing on printing, or do some do it right? If all, it is more likely a problem with OS, driver or hardware.

First thing to do is reboot both printer and computer. Unplug and reseat connecting cables cleanly. Bring computer back up first, then printer.

Next probable villain is the driver or the application settings. If your OS has been upgraded the driver may have been inadvertantly made obsolescent. Go to Epson's web site and check for the latest driver.

If the driver is current and all the settings in the application (and the document) appear correct, one possibility is to check the cards in the printer, if any can be found, to make sure they are well seated and not loose. Clean the area out with a vacuum, too.

If all this fails to remedy the situation, I'd fold and get a new printer.


A

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: folk1e
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 11:55 AM

This topic may have been covered before

Fix it with this aplication

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 12:01 PM

It is quite possible that the software has been corrupted. A more effective approach than even impact technology is to consider uninstalling both printers and then reinstalling the software.

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 01:01 PM

I've done the uninstalling and reinstalling bit already but no joy. Probably end up dumping both and getting a new one as it doesn't look too good up to now, AAH well!

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 10:26 AM

have they been asked to print the same document? It may have been a strange set of asci codes that look like a directive.

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 11:40 AM

Which anti-virus program are you using? It is possible that the files in your word processing program are corrupted if the files in your printer program are not. Can you uninstall and reload both?

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 01:35 PM

Just a thought - Have you tried recovering to a previous windows restore point? If the problem started only recently go back to a few days before it did.

Or just buy a new printer!

DeG

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 01:57 PM

If these were my printers I would go to the web site for the manufacturers and download the most recent drivers. Even on old printers there might be something a little newer than you have.

I would uninstall the printers and I would then reinstall them (I realize this was discussed) and see if the new drivers clean out the problem. And while you're at it, open your control panel and look to see how many iterations there are for printers. I wonder if you somehow changed settings in the OS end of things?

There is a web site called "Bleepingcomputer.com" that might be able to help. Be sure to search their categories before asking a question. They'd rather not answer it again if someone else has already addressed the problem.

And Tech questions belong ABOVE the line, even if they aren't music.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Printer help PLEASE!
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 01:26 AM

I had different Anti-virus progs on each computer, I tried the restore, no good, I tried latest drivers (they are both Epson).

I will now try Bleepingcomputers as a last resort, Thanks SRS and all.