Windows 7 - Printer problem - Asked By Pat Dow on 20-Apr-12 12:22 PM

I have had the same problem with an HP printer and a Canon printer, so it appears to be Windows 7 or Office 2010.

The system switches to "offline" spontaneously
When I try to print, I get "Printer not responding"  and "Error - Printing" messages

I've done the following:

Reinstalled drivers
Updated bios
Updated Windows
Turned printer off and on
Turned computer off and on
Renamed the normal.dotm file

When working with Canon and HP techs, they are able to get one document to print, but when I try again later the same problem appears again.

are you trying to print over wireless network ??

as far as  i know and understand its a wireless one please follow the following to get your printer working. read carefully all steps and implement.hope it helps

It doesn't matter if your printer is installed wirelessly or wired.  Don’t worry about reinstalling your software, no recycling your printers’ power or your Router/Modem.  The reason your printer is unstable on the network and continues to either go offline or disconnect from the network is NOT because the software is glitched, it’s not a firewall problem per say, it’s not a router problem, there isn’t a problem with your power cord, it’s because most networks use a “range” of IP addresses and for security purposes, it sort of “cycles” the various devices’ IP addresses to decrease the chance of an attack.  A printer is no threat but the “network” doesn’t possess human intelligence so it doesn’t know this.  Below are my step by step instructions on how to basically make your printer hold its IP address (static IP) instead of changing back and forth through a cycle therefore dropping your printer off the network or disconnecting.

 Funny, if you are someone who has had items in your print cue, they won’t print, and you turn your printer off and then back on and suddenly your documents print…well, join my club.  The reason this works is because when you first turn on the printer, it starts with the same IP address before it cycles.  If you are someone who sits there for a while and suddenly your documents print without you changing anything…this is because through the IP cycle change, it hits your printers IP address and the network will allow it to print.  Not very funny, I know.  It took me forever to figure out why my printer would print sometimes but not all the time.  Since I figured this out, I can SCAN, PRINT and use all of the features of my installed HP software such as HP Solution Center, Photosmart Essentials.  

 

On your printer, go to menu/setup/network and press OK.  Inside the network menu, print a "network configuration page" so you can see the IP address and other settings for your printer.

 

Now, go back to main menu on your printers’ screen.  Or you can go to your web browser and type in the IP address using the decimals too and this will take you to your printers’ web page.  Choose: setup\network and press OK.  Look for IP settings and press OK. Choose "manual" instead of "automatic". Enter the IP address there manually as well as the default gateway which you can see on the network configuration page that you printed earlier.  Note: If you manually set the printer's IP, make sure that it is outside of your router's DHCP range. Otherwise you may run into an issue with duplicate IP's on your network. (If you don’t know how to do this, write back and I will explain).  Don’t forget to click “save changes”.  Now, restart your computer and print anything you want.  :-)

 

btw pat do the same on canon also.

Hi Philip,  Thanks so much, this sounds reasonable -- but need more help.  I'm not using wireless (maybe I should...) but did figure out where to find the Network Configuration Page, and it is blank on the IP Address, although does provide a MAC address (I use a PC).  You said your solution works if wired, am I correct?
 
Other settings:
WSD, LLTD,LPR Protocol are all enabled, IP Address Filtering is disabled.

BTW, maybe consistent with your theory, if I do a "copy" and a "scan" function, printer seems to work after that.

Check this,
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/27604-43-printer-responding-error-message
http://www.ifmdb.com/windows_7-add-a-shared-printer-on-a-network-75vG3Hwt.html

so is it working now ??

It's working for the moment, but I haven't been able to implement your instructions, so don't know when it will quit again.  Can you help with finding the IP address?  Network Configuration page shows it is blank.

Also, I tried installing wireless, didn't work, couldn't connect with the printer -- so maybe it's not working!

BTW, this is a very simple setup, just 1 PC, 1 printer.

yeah sure. ll check and post it here.

if its not wireless then you wont find the ip btw update the drivers for the printers. that will definitely solve the problem

and also do this

There must be incompatible printer drivers exist on Desktop2. As the printer drivers are loaded by one process when a printing job starts, the incompatible driver will affect the printing job even when you print with another printer driver. I suggest you follow the steps below to clear the printing sub system, and then reinstall the printer on Desktop 2.

Step 1
======
Start Windows Explorer, and then rename all files and folders in the following two folders:
 
c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86 
 
To rename a file, we can right click the file and select Rename.
 
Step 2 
======
1. Click Start, type REGEDIT in the Start Search Bar, and then press ENTER.
2. Navigate to and then click the following registry key: 
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86 
 
View the list of subkeys. There should be only the following subkeys:
 
Drivers 
Print Processors 
 
If there are any keys other than those listed above, follow these steps: 
 
a. On the File menu, click Export. 
b. In the File Name box, type a descriptive name for this key -- for example, type WindowsNTx86regkey -- and then click Save to save it to your local Desktop. 
 
We can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86 registry key to restore the key if you experience any problems after you complete this procedure. 
 
c. Delete all keys other than Drivers and Print Processors. 
 
Step 3
======
Navigate to and click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors registry key. View the list of subkeys. There should be only the following subkeys: 
 
BJ Language Monitor 
Local Port
Microsoft Document Imaging Writer Monitor
Microsoft Shared Fax Monitor
Standard TCP/IP Port
USB Monitor
WSD Port
 
If there are any keys other than those listed in above, follow these steps to delete them:
 
a. On the File menu, click Export. 
b. In the File Name box, type a descriptive name for this key -- for example, type Monitorsregkey -- and then click Save to save it to your local Desktop. 
 
We can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors registry key to restore the key if you experience any problems after you complete this procedure. 
 
c. Delete all keys other than the 5 listed above. 
 
Step 4. Disconnect the printer cable from the computer, and then restart the computer. 
 
Step 5. Reconnect the printer cable to the computer, install the Windows 7 compatible printer and add the printer as a shared printer with the method in my previous email.

Thanks, Philip, will let you know how it goes.