Printer Just Stopped Working
- I have Windows Vista Home Premium and a Brother MFC-8500 USB printer. They have worked fine together for the past year. Then just stopped working. I have run the diagnostics from Microsoft...web site says the problem is solved but still will not print. Un-plugged, deleted, reloaded, re-booted, downloaded driver updates and everything else I could think of. Even went to Brother's diagnostics... Printer is fine. Even my other printer (HP officejet 6210) will not print either. So thinking it is something wrong in the computer. Probably something got tweeked in one of the endless updates. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.1 person needs an answerI do too
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Hi Epislon,
Did you get any error messages when you tried to print?
Since you have tried almost all steps but were still unable to use your printer; you also tried with a different one and that did not work as well. I would suggest that you try these steps listed below.
Step 1:
Firstly we will check the status of the Print Spooler service and would have to start it if it is stopped.
You can start the Print Spooler using the following procedure:
In the Administrative Tools folder (click Start, then Control Panel, then System and Maintenance and then Administrative Tools), open the Services snap-in.
Locate the Print Spooler service in the list of services and confirm that the status is Started. If it is not, select the service and on the Action menu, click Start.
Clear the print caches by following these steps:
1. Open "Computer" and browse to the folder
"c:\windows\system32\spool\printers" and delete all the files in the folder.
2. Do the same to clear the content in the folder
"c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86"
3. Reboot.Refer to this link for more information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324757
Step 2:
We can try to restore settings to the point before you started getting this problem.
System restore: Put the computer to an earlier point in time when the computer was working fine.
· Open System Restore by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking System Restore. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation and follow the instructions.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/help/9f6d755a-74bb-4a7d-a625-d762dd8e79e51033.mspx
Now check if the printer is working. If now then, try deleting the printer and reinstalling the driver updates again and then restart and try to take a test print.
For More Information refer to this link:
Hope this information was helpful.
Let me know if this worked.
All the best!
Thanks and Regards,
Uma R - Microsoft Support.
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.
- Hi Uma R,
I did all what you suggested, however when I went to do the system restore it would only restore back to the last update of the Service 2 pack on 11-6-09 which was after the printer problems began on about 10-31-09. I tried to manually create a restore date but it would only create for that day not a day prior. My printers are still not working...any further suggestions?
Thanks so much for your time. - Have you tested your USB ports that the printer is plugged into? Just a thought...
- Yes...I have a laptop (Windows XP) that still prints to both printers. Is there a number I can call for some assistance?
