Printer Trouble...: I wish my printer... - Lung Conditions C...

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Printer Trouble...

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10 years ago•11 Replies

I wish my printer didn't have endless tantrums...it sits there looking all meek and mild and I click on print and it spits out whatever it happens to feel like...or else the paper whizzes through at a hundred miles an hour and lands in a heap on the dusty floor...

This afternoon I settled myself down to print out some information from two of the family trees I'm researching for people...so they can see for themselves that they really are related by marriage to the bloke who used to empty Henry VIII chamber-pot...

I send them jolly e-mails which usually begin with...'You'll never guess but...' and I imagine them rolling their eyes and privately thinking that I've lost the plot...so every now and then I send the evidence.

When the printer decides to play nicely and not kick up an awful fuss about it , I'm thrilled to bits...line up all the information I'd like and click on print...it hurls out a million copies of what its already printed or uses such tiny print that it's virtually unreadable...it does that with interesting stories on purpose, so the tale about your ancestor sailing to foreign shores, which in its original form is three decent sized paragraphs, is reduced to fit comfortably on the back of a postage stamp with a bit of room to spare...

So I talk to it nicely...please, please just print this part...and lo and behold it does precisely that...then I try again and the feckin' machine digs its heels in and spews out hundreds of copies of a Quaker marriage when just the one would have been grand...

And my laptop gets seriously hot...I'm not spending my wool money on another one if this one curls its toes up...I'll have to prise Himself's wallet open before I do that...

11 Replies

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redted10 years ago

Lol,just can't help smiling,I wonder why. Get the prising tools ready and waiting. Lol

10 years ago

Ha ha vashti. Well at least your printer works after a fashion. Mine just says 'paper jam' when there isn't or 'load paper' when I have. It did work once perfectly but I think it has had its heyday x

Jolyn10 years ago

Lol...I don't get on with printers at all.

10 years ago

lol you have a great sense of humour Vashti x

emmo10 years ago

Love the humour but know just how frustrating it is - you'll have to do more crochet to calm yourself down!

Nikkers10 years ago

Been there Vashti.....got the t-shirt! I hate printers. I've had cheap ones and expensive ones- makes no difference, they're all the same- little aliens with a mind of their own. lol. Wouldn't be so bad if the piggin' ink wasn't soooooo expensive, then if you don't use it quick enough, it dries up! I think I'd better dig out my old "John Bull" printing set ?

Azure_Sky10 years ago

I had a problem with my laptop heating until I bought a laptop cooler. It wasn't expensive. I raise the laptop to leave space underneath for the air to circulate. When the weather is hot there is a USB plug which turns the fan on. It is a very useful gadget. I think it came from Amazon.

Printers are, I am afraid, notoriously temperamental. We have had many over the years. We have found Canon are the best and cheapest for ink. His Lordship has a huge laser printer for his work. even that has tantrums. He went into print when he left school. Six year apprenticeship as a compositor.

When he retired he got so bored he started printing from home. His experience didn't not include machine minding, so it was a steep learning curve. To cure your problem of multiple copies, you need to set a default number of copies, go to control panel, printers and faxes.

From there, look for printing/preferences and set the number to one. However, each time you want a new copy of something, always check you have the right number in the printer box which says number of copies. His Lordship has helped me with this. He says it would be helpful to know what make and model your printer is.

johnwr10 years ago

The perversity of inanimate objects! My printer behaves quite well. It only takes about five minutes (on a good day) to get it going. My bugbear object is my O2 tubing. It seems to enjoy getting tangled around the castors on my chair. So about twice an hour I have to get up and sort it. Keeps me exercised, I supposed. The frustration and temper it generates keeps my heart rate up!

A friend of mine who is a highly qualified engineer told me his answer to cantankerous machinery was to have an old one on a shelf gathering dust in sight of the one in use. The slightest hiccup, and he'd tell it, 'Behave or join your pal on the shelf.' He reckoned it worked.

JoHarr10 years ago

Hi there, you could try uninstalling the printer completely and then reinstalling it, if it's wifi try it with the cable attached.

I gave up with inkjet printers, too many problems and ink drying up etc (best to use makers own ink) so I bought a laser printer, A samsung for about £50, (£70 for the wifi model. It's been great and since it uses toner instead of ink you don't get the ink drying out like you do with inkjets. Got it from Argos. Works very fast, had it about a year and no trouble. The only problem I have had is when I used one of those PC cleaners that remove suspect cookies and software, it must have removed something the printer needed as document said printing but just sat in the queue. I fixed this by deleting the printer and then reinstalling the software again. Good as new, just don't use that spy locating software as often. Seems cheaper to run although toner costs about £50 for genuine Samsung but still using the one that came with it. Get nice copies too I keep mine covered with a cloth, they don't like dust and it will affect the pick up rollers. Good luck, JoHarr

katieoxo6010 years ago

Glad to hear Vashti, I'm not alone with experience of temperamental printers. I use mine a lot for work with my social group. Everytime I change ink it goes haywire. But I had a giggle from some of the replies to your post. The best printer I had was an Epson about twenty years ago, these modern ones that are multi purpose are useless on occasions or have a will of their own as you say....

DecD10 years ago

Hi, Vashti

You can get FREE new printers at Morgancomputers.co.uk if/when you buy their toners. I've used them a few times and they are good. My latest is the Canon5450 which has all the bells and whistles I need. Toners are house brand but much cheaper than the high street names. I sound like a sales rep ! Enjoy !

Dec