11-33Lesson 5 Troubleshooting Setup and Configuration Problems
Lesson 5: Troubleshooting Setup and Configuration
Problems
During setup and configuration of a printer, problems can occur. This lesson intro-
duces you to a few common problems that you might encounter and provides some
suggested solutions.
After this lesson, you will be able to■
Troubleshoot a printer setup problem by using the Windows troubleshooters
■
Offer possible solutions to common troubleshooting scenarios
Estimated lesson time: 5 minutes
How to Use Windows Troubleshooters
Windows XP Professional helps you interactively troubleshoot problems you encoun-
ter. To troubleshoot problems with a printer, click Start, click Control Panel, and then
click Printers And Other Hardware. In the Printers And Other Hardware window,
under Troubleshooters, click Printing. The Help And Support Center window appears
with the printing troubleshooter displayed, as shown in Figure 11-11.
F11us11
Figure 11-11
Use Windows troubleshooters to troubleshoot printing problems.
Notice the series of questions on the page. As you respond to these questions, the trou-
bleshooter asks additional questions and makes suggestions to resolve your problem
based on the answers you provide.
Possible Solutions to Common Troubleshooting Scenarios
Table 11-5 lists some of the common setup and configuration problems that you might
encounter. It also gives probable causes of the problems and possible solutions.
Table 11-5
Common Printer Problems and Possible Solutions
Problem Probable Cause Possible Solution
Configure the printer for the
The selected port is not
Test page does not print.
correct.
You have confirmed that
correct port. For a printer that
the printer is connected and
uses a network interface printer,
turned on.
make sure that the network
address is correct.
Reinstall the printer with the
Test page or documents print
The installed printer driver
correct printer driver.
is not correct.
incorrectly as garbled text.
Pages are only partially
There might not be enough
Consider adding memory to the
printing.
memory to print the document.
print server.
Try replacing the printer’s toner
The printer might not have
cartridge.
enough toner.
Users report an error
Printer drivers for the client
On the print server, add the
message that asks them to
computers are not installed
appropriate printer drivers for the
client computers. Use the client
install a printer driver when
on the print server.
they print to a print server
computer operating system CD-
ROM or a printer driver from the
running Windows XP
Professional.
vendor.
The client computer is con-
On the client computer, remove
Documents from one client
computer do not print, but
nected to the wrong printer.
the printer, and then add the cor-
documents from other
rect printer.
client computers do.
Documents print correctly
The printers in the printer
Verify that all printers in the
printer pool are identical or that
on some (but not all)
pool are not identical.
printers in a printer pool.
they use the same printer driver.
Remove inappropriate devices.
Printing is slow because the
Try defragmenting the print
The print server’s disk could
print server is taking a long
be in need of defragmenting
server’s disk and check that there
is adequate space for temporary
time to render the job.
or could be getting close to
capacity.
files on the hard disk.
Printing is slow, and print
Add printers to the printing pool.
If you are using a printing
jobs are taking a long time to
pool, you might not have
enough printers in the pool.
reach the top of the queue.
Documents do not print in
The printing priorities among
Adjust the printing priorities for
the right priority.
printers are set incorrectly.
the printer associated with the
printers.
