Printers are great pieces of equipment that play an important role in the office. However, there are times when you may feel like kicking them and throwing them out of the window when they refuse to function the way they are supposed to, especially if you are tight on your schedule. The good news about this is that most printer problems can be solved easily within a few minutes allowing you to enjoy using the machine without any complications. Here are some of the minor, yet annoying, printer issues in the office and how to quickly solve them.
The Printer does not Cancel Print Jobs
One of the most frustrating printer problems is when you send a job to be printed and the printer does not print it. To make matters worse, nothing happens when you push the cancel button. This is simply because most printers normally work on a spooling technique. This is a queue system that enables you to monitor all the printing jobs. The most effective solution for this problem is deleting the print job from your computer. It also helps to turn off the printer for a few seconds to help it delete the print job and also reset so that it can start printing again.
Paper Jams
There are times when you could be printing a lot of papers and everything runs smoothly and out of the blues the printer does not pull out one sheet of paper but two jamming the machine. In such a situation you cannot pull the paper out yet you can see the paper on the tray. Here you are supposed to inspect the printer so as to trace the jam. Remove the paper carefully and gently without pulling too hard or tugging at it to avoid more problems. Remember to always take care when loading the printer papers. Avoid stuffing the papers in the printer as you are supposed to fan it first before keeping straight in a line. This can prevent jamming as the papers will not stick together.
Streaks on the Printed Pages
This is normally a sign that the cartridge drum or the paper path has been contaminated. To determine whether this is the case, you will need to remove the cartridge and also open the drum shutter. This will let you view the green cylinder. There is contamination if the toner is clinging to the drum. To solve the problem, the entire cartridge has to be replaced with a new one so that you can get high quality print outs.
The Incorrect Software Driver
At times you may update the business or computer network and realize that the new updates are not compatible with the printer drivers. Consider the printer driver as an application which the computer uses to communicate with the printer. This means if they are not in sync, they will definitely not work the way they are supposed to. Using updated software drivers can help solve the error. However, there are times when you may have to reserve software update on the computer system if the printer driver has not been developed for updates.