printer not printing

I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly, my
printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major thunderstorms
(with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across the
alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon, along
with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line between
the alley and my house had to be replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name the
job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
: I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly, my
: printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
: printing just fine.
:
: I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major thunderstorms
: (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across
the
: alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon, along
: with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line between
: the alley and my house had to be replaced.
:
: The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the
: job, the printer, etc.
:
: I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
: printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
: appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
: queue and doesn't print.
:
: My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.
:
: Any idea of what I should do next?
:
: Thank you!
:
: Jo-Anne
:
Contact HP support.
:

Just for the heck of it.... why don't you try another install of the printer
and try to print a test page from the install. If it is USB, does the
computer react when you plug/unplug the usb cable?


"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly, my
printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major thunderstorms
(with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across
the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon,
along with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line
between the alley and my house had to be replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

"Meebers" wrote in message
g.com...
Just for the heck of it.... why don't you try another install of the
printer and try to print a test page from the install. If it is USB, does
the computer react when you plug/unplug the usb cable?

Also clear the que from the previous print job.


"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a
house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly, my
printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major thunderstorms
(with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across
the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon,
along with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line
between the alley and my house had to be replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook the
computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that computer and
see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried. As this printer was
put into original service some time near the beginning of the decade it
probably has no value for an insurance claim. If it proves to be dead it
probably isn't worth have repairs made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines were
struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was damaged was
turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal modems in two
computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet printer. What was
unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the Parallel interface
circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything else worked fine.
Lightening can do weird things to electrical components even when they are
turned off and don't get struck directly.

"LVTravel" wrote in message
...


"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a
house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook the
computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that computer
and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried. As this
printer was put into original service some time near the beginning of the
decade it probably has no value for an insurance claim. If it proves to
be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines were
struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was damaged was
turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal modems in two
computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet printer. What was
unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the Parallel interface
circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything else worked fine.
Lightening can do weird things to electrical components even when they are
turned off and don't get struck directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so the
printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to my
laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and USB
ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to take the
printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop computer like
mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather station was
fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite possibly, my
printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

"Do Dah Zippity" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
: I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my
: printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
: printing just fine.
:
: I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms
: (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across
the
: alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon,
along
: with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line
between
: the alley and my house had to be replaced.
:
: The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the
: job, the printer, etc.
:
: I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
: printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
: appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in
a
: queue and doesn't print.
:
: My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.
:
: Any idea of what I should do next?
:
: Thank you!
:
: Jo-Anne
:
Contact HP support.
:


For a 9-year-old printer?

Thank you, Meebers! The printer does print--from itself. It's a parallel
printer, and we've unplugged it and replugged it. I haven't tried
reinstalling the drivers. I was going to install the printer on another
computer to see if it would work, but so far I haven't been able to connect
it to my laptop, which doesn't have a parallel port. I did clear the queue
from the previous print jobs...

Jo-Anne

"Meebers" wrote in message
g.com...
Just for the heck of it.... why don't you try another install of the
printer and try to print a test page from the install. If it is USB, does
the computer react when you plug/unplug the usb cable?


"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a
house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
"LVTravel" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a
house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook the
computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that computer
and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried. As this
printer was put into original service some time near the beginning of the
decade it probably has no value for an insurance claim. If it proves to
be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines were
struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was damaged was
turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal modems in two
computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet printer. What was
unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the Parallel interface
circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything else worked fine.
Lightening can do weird things to electrical components even when they are
turned off and don't get struck directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so the
printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to my
laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and USB
ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to take the
printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop computer like
mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather station was
fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite possibly, my
printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne



Jo-Anne:

USb to Parallel converters DO exist:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=1537

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...el%20A dapter

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-UP.../dp/B0007UVRVO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

whether they are worth the price just to test is up to you. A friend
or neighbor with a Parallel port machine is more cost effective IMHO.

John

--
\\\||///
------------------o000----(o)(o)----000o----------------
----------------------------()--------------------------
'' Madness takes its toll - Please have exact change. ''

John Dulak - 40.4913ºN,79.904ºW - http://tinyurl.com/2qs6o6

"John Dulak" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"LVTravel" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of
a house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to
name the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also
tried printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop
computer. It appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it
just lands in a queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook the
computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that computer
and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried. As this
printer was put into original service some time near the beginning of
the decade it probably has no value for an insurance claim. If it
proves to be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines were
struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was damaged was
turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal modems in two
computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet printer. What was
unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the Parallel interface
circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything else worked fine.
Lightening can do weird things to electrical components even when they
are turned off and don't get struck directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so the
printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to my
laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and USB
ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to take
the printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop
computer like mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather station
was fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite possibly,
my printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne:

USb to Parallel converters DO exist:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=1537

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...el%20A dapter

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-UP.../dp/B0007UVRVO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

whether they are worth the price just to test is up to you. A friend or
neighbor with a Parallel port machine is more cost effective IMHO.

John


Thank you, John! They are expensive, certainly. But I have no one nearby
with a parallel port machine--and if I have to take it to a local shop,
it'll be even more expensive.

Jo-Anne

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"John Dulak" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"LVTravel" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer.
Suddenly, my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until
yesterday it was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of
a house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just
restored this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL).
The repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to
name the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also
tried printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop
computer. It appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it
just lands in a queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook
the computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that
computer and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried. As
this printer was put into original service some time near the beginning
of the decade it probably has no value for an insurance claim. If it
proves to be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines were
struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was damaged was
turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal modems in two
computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet printer. What was
unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the Parallel interface
circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything else worked fine.
Lightening can do weird things to electrical components even when they
are turned off and don't get struck directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so
the printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to
my laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and
USB ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to
take the printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop
computer like mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather station
was fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite possibly,
my printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne:

USb to Parallel converters DO exist:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=1537

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...el%20A dapter

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-UP.../dp/B0007UVRVO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

whether they are worth the price just to test is up to you. A friend or
neighbor with a Parallel port machine is more cost effective IMHO.

John


Thank you, John! They are expensive, certainly. But I have no one nearby
with a parallel port machine--and if I have to take it to a local shop,
it'll be even more expensive.

Jo-Anne


I know I'm butting in late here but if it's so old a printer it uses the old
parallel port then it likely would print directly from the command line,
e.g. open a command prompt, type 'copy con lpt1', type some text and hit
enter, then (from memory) it's Ctrl-Z to exit out of the copy command. The
printer should react in some manner or my guess is it's some hardware
connection problem (as it self tests) and if that isn't a cable (possibly
some mode in printer's own onboard setup?) issue I'd be looking for a new
USB whatever I could afford.

"pjp" wrote in message
news:Hsq6o.10637$z%6.6465@edtnps83...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"John Dulak" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"LVTravel" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer.
Suddenly, my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until
yesterday it was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof
of a house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just
restored this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL).
The repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to
name the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also
tried printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop
computer. It appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but
it just lands in a queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook
the computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that
computer and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried.
As this printer was put into original service some time near the
beginning of the decade it probably has no value for an insurance
claim. If it proves to be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs
made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines
were struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was
damaged was turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal
modems in two computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet
printer. What was unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but the
Parallel interface circuitry was cooked. Other than that everything
else worked fine. Lightening can do weird things to electrical
components even when they are turned off and don't get struck
directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so
the printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to
my laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and
USB ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to
take the printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop
computer like mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather
station was fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite
possibly, my printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne:

USb to Parallel converters DO exist:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=1537

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...el%20A dapter

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-UP.../dp/B0007UVRVO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

whether they are worth the price just to test is up to you. A friend or
neighbor with a Parallel port machine is more cost effective IMHO.

John


Thank you, John! They are expensive, certainly. But I have no one nearby
with a parallel port machine--and if I have to take it to a local shop,
it'll be even more expensive.

Jo-Anne


I know I'm butting in late here but if it's so old a printer it uses the
old parallel port then it likely would print directly from the command
line, e.g. open a command prompt, type 'copy con lpt1', type some text and
hit enter, then (from memory) it's Ctrl-Z to exit out of the copy command.
The printer should react in some manner or my guess is it's some hardware
connection problem (as it self tests) and if that isn't a cable (possibly
some mode in printer's own onboard setup?) issue I'd be looking for a new
USB whatever I could afford.

Thank you, pjp! I tried that and got "The syntax of the command is
incorrect." What did I do wrong?

Jo-Anne

I assume you can open a command prompt window. Mine by default is a black
windows with a blinking cursor after the following text

C:\Documents and Settings\'my username'

Note 'my username' is edited and is really what my login name is so yours
would be different.

At the blinking cursor type the following line

copy con lpt1

and hit enter. If there's an error it's likely the system doesn't even see
an lpt1 port so you could try lpt2 and lpt3 just to be sure buts it's
unlikely. An error indicates a hardware problem and again cheaper just buy a
cheap usb inkjet. Assuming no error the cursor goes down to beginning of
next line, type almost an gibberish you feel like and hit enter, do a second
line or more if inclined then use Ctrl-Z (hold down ctrl key and press z) to
exit the "copy" command. You should get a message "1 file(s) copied." even
if there's no printer hooked up which is my test scenario here. If the
printer does act up in any manner would indicate some type of communications
exists, hopefully it would actually print what you typed in which case
hardware is basically working so it's something in software in Windows
acting up.

For educational purposes. The OS has some reserved names it uses to indicate
hardware devices, con (for console), lpt'x' (old style printer port 'x') and
com 'x' (for serial ports). The above is simply copying what you type at the
keyboard to the lpt port, you could instead choose to copy a file,
preferably some small text file in which case you use the following command

copy 'filename' lpt1

and the system should respond '1 file(s) copied.' same as if you had copied
it to another folder or drive and hopefully the printer would spit it out.




"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"pjp" wrote in message
news:Hsq6o.10637$z%6.6465@edtnps83...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"John Dulak" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"LVTravel" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer.
Suddenly, my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until
yesterday it was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof
of a house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just
restored this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have
DSL). The repairman said the line between the alley and my house had
to be replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to
name the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also
tried printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop
computer. It appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but
it just lands in a queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne




Look in the printer manual and see if it will run a self test. Hook
the computer directly to the laptop and install the drivers in that
computer and see if it will print. If not then the printer is fried.
As this printer was put into original service some time near the
beginning of the decade it probably has no value for an insurance
claim. If it proves to be dead it probably isn't worth have repairs
made either.

I had a strike near my house one time, no power or telephone lines
were struck and power to house wasn't lost. Everything that was
damaged was turned off at the time of the strike. I lost the internal
modems in two computers, one TV and an Epson wide carriage ink jet
printer. What was unusual is that the printer self-tested fine but
the Parallel interface circuitry was cooked. Other than that
everything else worked fine. Lightening can do weird things to
electrical components even when they are turned off and don't get
struck directly.



Thank you very much, LVTravel! I did a self-test, and it was fine, so
the printer is functional. I'm not sure, however, how to connect it to
my laptop. It's a parallel printer, and the laptop has only serial and
USB ports. Is there a cable I can buy to do this? If not, I'll need to
take the printer to a shop or maybe to a friend who has an old desktop
computer like mine.

I forgot to mention earlier that my husband's electronic weather
station was fried the same night that we lost the landline and, quite
possibly, my printer. No direct strike...

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne:

USb to Parallel converters DO exist:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat_id=1537

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...el%20A dapter

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-UP.../dp/B0007UVRVO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=new

whether they are worth the price just to test is up to you. A friend or
neighbor with a Parallel port machine is more cost effective IMHO.

John


Thank you, John! They are expensive, certainly. But I have no one nearby
with a parallel port machine--and if I have to take it to a local shop,
it'll be even more expensive.

Jo-Anne


I know I'm butting in late here but if it's so old a printer it uses the
old parallel port then it likely would print directly from the command
line, e.g. open a command prompt, type 'copy con lpt1', type some text
and hit enter, then (from memory) it's Ctrl-Z to exit out of the copy
command. The printer should react in some manner or my guess is it's some
hardware connection problem (as it self tests) and if that isn't a cable
(possibly some mode in printer's own onboard setup?) issue I'd be looking
for a new USB whatever I could afford.

Thank you, pjp! I tried that and got "The syntax of the command is
incorrect." What did I do wrong?

Jo-Anne

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly, my
printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it was
printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major thunderstorms
(with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a house across
the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored this afternoon,
along with my internet service (I have DSL). The repairman said the line
between the alley and my house had to be replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne


Does the printer show up in Printers and Faxes? If so, right-click on it,
pick Properties, then click on Print Test Page. Do you get an error message,
or does it try to print? Is there a document showing in queue after clicking
on Test Page, and does it eventually go away (with or without printing), or
do you have to manually clear the queue?
Also, is your Print Spooler service running?
--
SC Tom

"SC Tom" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I'm using WinXP and an HPLaserJet4100 on my desktop computer. Suddenly,
my printer won't print. It's on, it's connected, and until yesterday it
was printing just fine.

I don't know if it's coincidence, but yesterday we had major
thunderstorms (with one lightning strike that went through the roof of a
house across the alley), and I lost my landline. It was just restored
this afternoon, along with my internet service (I have DSL). The
repairman said the line between the alley and my house had to be
replaced.

The error message is "This document failed to print." It goes on to name
the job, the printer, etc.

I turned the printer and the computer off and then back on. I also tried
printing from my laptop, which is networked to my desktop computer. It
appears to send the order to the desktop computer, but it just lands in a
queue and doesn't print.

My husband checked all the physical connections, and they seem fine.

Any idea of what I should do next?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne


Does the printer show up in Printers and Faxes? If so, right-click on it,
pick Properties, then click on Print Test Page. Do you get an error
message, or does it try to print? Is there a document showing in queue
after clicking on Test Page, and does it eventually go away (with or
without printing), or do you have to manually clear the queue?
Also, is your Print Spooler service running?
--
SC Tom


Hi, SC Tom,

Here are the answers:

I clicked on Print Test Page and didn't get an error message. The document
showed up in the queue but didn't go away until I manually cleared it.
(That's the way it's been happening since the problem started; I've had to
manually clear it each time--and, for what it's worth, the status is always
"offline" when I look at it.) As far as I can tell in Properties, the Print
Spooler is running--or at least is set to do so.

Per pjp, I used the right syntax today to print from the command line, but
the same thing happened--the document ended up in the queue and stayed
there.

Last night, my husband dug out a new parallel printer cable and plugged it
into the computer and the printer. No change.

I did some troubleshooting through HP Help, and at this point it suggests
using another printer port if there is one (I don't think there's another
parallel port on this computer) or uninstalling the port and letting Windows
reinstall it. Is that worth trying?

The only other thing I've been able to think to do (per LVTravel above) is
to connect my laptop (not the desktop computer currently connected) directly
to the printer. For that, however, I'd have to buy a parallel/USB cable
(almost $40 locally). Of course, if I do that, I can probably connect the
printer to a USB port on the desktop computer to see if the parallel port is
the problem.

Any further advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne