Windows 10 printing problem

[John Dean 3Participant @johndean3]

I now have a problem with printing from Windows 10, worked okay until about 2 months ago. I can print form PDFs but not from Word, email or the web. The printer works perfectly when I use my old Windows 7 laptop. I have gone through all the recommendations on Microsoft website and on various forums but to no avail. Any help would be much appreciated as I'm getting very frustrated with this.

[John Dean 3Participant @johndean3]

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

My wife and I find that we get printer problems every time there is a Windows update. My wife recently did a Windows recovery and suddenly the printer works on Wi-Fi, something that hasn't happened for months.

Brian

[edinthecloudsParticipant @edintheclouds]

When you click 'print' from the file menus, have look to make sure the name of your printer is listed in the box displayed.

If it is but not highlighted, click the name to highlight it then click 'print.'

If that works check to see your printer set as the default printer.

Some updates seem to change the settings, hope this helps.

Les

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I've a similar problem, checked the printer was shown in box. Correct printer was shown, an HP something. but will not work. Discovered by accident that if HP generic ( or similar )is shown then works OK.

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Check for latest driver package for Windows from the printer manufacturers web site.

Disconnect printer from computer, uninstall the printer, re-boot computer, run the manufacturer's set up program, following the instructions regarding when to connect the printer.

[John Dean 3Participant @johndean3]

Hi David. Yes I,ve tried that, the thing is that I can print PDFs without any problem.

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Could be a failed or incomplete Windows update – have you checked the update history ?

What software are your PDFs printed from ?

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Bloody annoying, I know – I've had similar issues with a new Dell laptop running W10 and a current Brother printer. Hardly an unusual combination you'd think but getting the printer connected up was a challenge and even then it would stop responding randomly and require all sorts of buggerage to make it work again, like reinstalling.

I suspect some of the printer drivers were actually made for W7 or W8 and haven't quite "ported" to W10 successfully.

It's possible you may be able to find and install earlier drivers such as those for W7, W8 or even Vista. Failing that, you could select "print to PDF" as the printer to use (or sometimes "save as PDF" from the file menu), then print the resulting PDF from your PDF viewer. Have you looked for similar issues and solutions(?) by Googling the problem?

Murray

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

What type of printer is it ?

When i switched to a new pc running W10 my brother laser printer worked without any problem but my hp bubble jet didn't want a bar of it , i didn't use the driver disc that came with it as i knew the drivers on that disc were superseded and i didn't want all the other crap that comes on their disc on my new pc , if you have used an older install disc i would uninstall it and look on the printer manufacturers website for a newer version if you want their utilites on your pc .

Ended up going into the control panel – hardware – then look down the list for printers which showed both printers working correctly but i clicked the update driver icon and downloaded a new driver online and it fired up and has worked ever since .

[John Dean 3Participant @johndean3]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I,ve been through all the update, reload, etc, etc but no joy. The annoying thing is that it works perfectly on my windows 7 laptop and used to work on my windows 10 laptop. It will still print from PDFs on my windows 10 but not emails etc.

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

Could it be a security setting?

Suggest that in control panel you could try moving the User Account Control slider to lowest setting, (off), to see if that makes any difference. A restart might be needed.

Having said that, my W10 prints fine with the default setting.

Clive

Edited By Clive Brown 1 on 14/11/2017 08:43:35

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

I feel for Windows users when I read about all the problems that keep being reported on this site, six years ago I took the decision to buy an IMac after years of frustration with successive Windows problems on my PC. Since that day in 2011 when I unpacked the new IMac I have had no computer problems, life is stress free, well as far as computers are concerned anyway, I would urge those with Windows and PCs to think about the alternative, I know that the capital outlay on Apple computers and systems is not cheap but it is well worth it, sorry if this doesn't contribute to solving the problem under discussion but there is life without Windows.

Dave

[Micky TParticipant @mickyt]

I had a simillar problem about a month ago it turned out to be Kapersky that was the problem. i uninstalled it then re-installed. I have had no problems since

Mick

Edited By Micky T on 14/11/2017 09:16:59

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Tricky one. Not sure it helps much but being able to print PDFs means it's unlikely to be:

• a Printer fault
• a Connection fault (cable or wifi)
• wrong Device Driver
• a blocked spooler (ie the part of the print sub-system than manages multiple printers and queues)

The symptoms suggest that the problem lies in the connection between programs (word, edge etc.) and the spooler. I've long forgotten how this is set up or what to do if it gets mangled. However, a few things to try:

• Select Windows Settings and open the Devices page
• Change 'Let Windows Manage My Default Printer' to OFF. (Possible that Windows is stuck on an incorrect default.) Now open Word (and others) and use the Print option to select your printer. Cross-fingers and print something.
• If that doesn't work, from the same Settings Page select 'Devices and Printers' from the 'Related Settings' section. This should open a new window showing the devices and printers your computer recognises:
  • If your printer is MISSING (unlikely) add it and test to see if that fixes the problem
  • If your printer is listed, RIGHT CLICK on its text description. This should open a popup list:
    • See What's Printing
    • Set as Default Printer
    • Printing Preferences
    • Printer Properties
    • Create Shortcut
    • Remove Device
    • Troubleshoot
    • Properties
  • Try TROUBLESHOOT. It may fix the problem or provide more clues.
  • If troubleshoot didn't work, Open 'See What's Printing'. Look for any error messages. CANCEL everything in the print queue.
  • If 'See What's Printing' didn't help, try REMOVE DEVICE. After the printer has been deleted use ADD A PRINTER to put it back. Try again.
  • If still not working, have a look at PROPERTIES; it may provide a clue.

Good luck,

Dave

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

Is the unit a printer / scanner ? If it is will it scan to the computer ?

IYou say it was working fine 2 months ago on the same pc ? If so could itindicate an update issue of some sort ?

In the hardware manager section in control panel check to see if your usb is working correctly and update the drivers for it , i had an issue earlier this year trying to load a programme onto an arduino nano clone and it wouldnt work , I tried everything i could think of but it wouldn't cop it . As a last ditched effort i had a look to see if the usb ports were working correctly which windows reported they were but i took a pot shot and checked for new drivers online and there were and it started working even though the ports were working fine with my printers etc it didn't want to know the Arduino .

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

I had a problem about a month ago when I acquired a new printer. Found I couldn't print some previously-saved documents, primarily in MS Publisher. It seems that some software running under Windows 10 automatically looks for the printer you used last time you printed the document, and when it can't find it, nothing happens…………

[VicParticipant @vic]

I had an issue once printing from a Mac to an Epson inkjet. It had worked fine before I reinstalled the OS after a cleanup. It turned out that both the original software driver that came with the printer AND the software on the Epson website were faulty in some way. I used the driver that came on the original Mac OS disc and it worked fine. This just goes to show that vendors do get things wrong at times. Worth trying a different driver.

[John Dean 3Participant @johndean3]

PROBLEM SOLVED (sort of). I have just found that if I use internet explorer instead of Microsoft Edge then I can print my emails!!! End of 2 months of frustration. My thanks to all those who took the time and trouble to respond to my initial post.

[Author]

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