If Something Goes Wrong

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Resolving a hardware conflict

Refer to the card’s documentation, which should contain a troubleshooting section.

Printer problems

This section lists some of the most common printer problems.

The printer will not print.

Check that the printer is connected to a working power outlet, turned on and ready (on line).

Check that the printer has plenty of paper. Some printers will not start printing when there are just two or three sheets of paper left in the tray.

Make sure the printer cable is firmly attached to the computer and the printer.

If your printer is ECP- or IEEE 1284-compliant, make sure you have an IEEE 1284 printer cable.

Run the printer’s self-test to check for any problem with the printer itself.

Make sure you installed the proper printer drivers, as shown in Printing your work on page 69.

You may have connected the printer while the computer is on. Turn off the computer and the printer. Turn the printer back on, make sure it is on line, then turn the computer back on.

Try printing another file. For example, you could create and attempt to print a short test file using Notepad. If a Notepad file prints correctly, the problem may be in your original file.

The printer will not print what you see on the screen.

Many programs display information on the screen differently from the way they print it. See if your program has a print preview mode. This mode lets you see your work exactly as it will print. Contact the software manufacturer for more information.