Printer start problems

[wagonmaster2]

This is so weird it'll probably be next to impossible to help me on the Internet. I've been using an HP 4100 Photosmart printer with an HP laptop running Vista for several years now and since the printer is in a different room from where I use the laptop I have to plug in the printer each time I need to print something.
Some of the times when I plug in the printer it will print as soon as I click on File then Print. Sometimes it has to install the printer device before it will start to print. Then there are times like yesterday and today, when I click on Print it just keeps going to Documents Pending in Queue, which I have no way of knowing what to do next.
Am I missing some step here or is my computer just trying to confuse and frustrate me, which it is very good at doing?

[spinn]

Is the printer driver set to "Use Printer Offline" or "Pause Printing"?

[sirpurrcival]

Check the previous posters point first and if to no avail.

The other thing that you can try is clearing the print queue.

1st. Sometimes if the computer can't process a print job for one reason or another, it basically acts like a dam on a river. I can't tell you how many times I would do a service call and had the client relate that "well it didn't print the first time", so I kept trying and trying and trying. By the time it would be brought to my attention, I might find 20 or 30 print jobs just lined up one after another. This link will give you detailed instructions.

How to Clear Current Print Queue In Windows Vista & Windows 7

After following this procedure, you can try to print.

If it still fails, try disconnecting and reconnecting. Note that if you plug the printer into a different USB port, you will sometimes get that installing routine you mentioned.

Also be aware that Vista was a horribly buggy OS. Some of these problems might be related to that issue as well. I don't have a cure for that but you can try reinstalling printer drivers by downloading the most current one for your model of printer from HP. It may help, it may not. Good luck with it.

[wagonmaster2]

I thought it was set to Print Offline, but I'll have to double check that. I have no problem clearing the Documents in Queue but I've never done the Stop Spooling then Start again. I'll do that next time.
I thought I've always been careful to plug the printer back into the same USB port that I've used in the past but that's something else I''ll try to watch very close.

[TLGPE]

I think it's a universal problem. I have a new HP laptop and a new HP printer. Once in a while I can get it to work. It's Windows 8, but they all have the problem. You would think that HP could get their own junk to work together, but that is definitely the case.


Mad About Printers,


Tom

[wagonmaster2]

Every time I click on Print it goes to Document in Queue so is there a way to print from Queue? If I can't get it to print from Print maybe I can make it print from Queue. I just keep deleteing all those Documents in Queue and it just keeps putting my Printing back in Queue.

[wingnut60]

New laptop w/bluetooth....$499-$599
New printer w/bluetooth... $49-$99

This is the way I solved my printing problems.

If you have had your setup for several years, then the cheapest upgrade should make a ton of difference.

Joe

[Ray,IN]

I agree with wingnut. Don't spend any money fixing this because you can buy a new wireless printer right now from WalMart for $29.95 online.

[Denali]

It doesn't sound like a hardware problem, so buying a new printer doesn't make any sense to me.

Also, there is no need to buy a five or six hundred dollar laptop just to get bluetooth. When I want to use my bluetooth headsets with my laptop I just plug in the bluetooth dongle that I bought on eBay for $6.45 in 2009.

Unfortunately, I have no use advice for the OP, though. Since reinstalling his printer sometimes makes it work, it appears to be an OS issue.

[wagonmaster2]

I connected the HP printer to my wife's HP laptop with Windows 7 and the printer seemed to respond much better. Only problem I had was when i wanted to print page 2 of 6 or 7 pages at a web site I had to indicate "page 2" after clicking on Print even though the screen was set on the page 2. If I don't do that the printer would start printing all 6 or 7 pages. Don't remember ever having that problem with my Vista OS, when I could get it to print.

Is it possible to get a printer to start printing Documents in Queue, or does the print command have to come from another place?

[Denali]

Originally Posted by wagonmaster2

I connected the HP printer to my wife's HP laptop with Windows 7 and the printer seemed to respond much better. Only problem I had was when i wanted to print page 2 of 6 or 7 pages at a web site I had to indicate "page 2" after clicking on Print even though the screen was set on the page 2. If I don't do that the printer would start printing all 6 or 7 pages. Don't remember ever having that problem with my Vista OS, when I could get it to print.

Is it possible to get a printer to start printing Documents in Queue, or does the print command have to come from another place?

If you want to print anything other than the entire "document" you must tell the Print screen which page(s) you want to print.

I'm not sure I understand your last question. Documents in the queue should print automatically unless the printer is offline or a document has been manually paused. Sometimes the spooler services fails. You can generally fix that by opening a command prompt and typing the following two commands, pressing enter after each one:

net stop spooler
net start spooler

[docj]

I also have a Photosmart printer working with a computer running Windows 8.1 and can print without difficulty. You haven't quite explained how you are connecting the printer to your laptop.

Are you connecting via wifi through a router or are you using HP's Wireless Direct print capability?