In the absence of a better description, printers are agents of chaos that bring pain and suffering to every corner of the globe. Between the lack of a USB cable to connect them, drivers older than penicillin, and the damn ink cartridge scam, the printer is one of the most frustrating peripherals in the computing world. If that seems like too little, we also have to add the whims of Windows, and especially Windows 10, when it comes to managing printers. If everything is properly connected but the operating system spits out error messages, maybe this text will help.
Very well, imagine that your work and/or studies force you to have a printer. I say force because sooner or later you will be betrayed by the damned device. Do you have to submit a report in 45 minutes? Bad luck, because the printer decided it needs a magenta cartridge to print in black. Is your budget a bit tight and the only option was an alternative cartridge? Then you are a criminal who should be hunted by Interpol, and the magical DRM injected in mysterious updates will leave you without a printer until you become a law-abiding person and pay the corresponding premium. Finally, Windows 10. Let's say the relationship between Redmond's operating system and printers didn't improve much. In fact, one of the first things Windows 10 S did was break support for dozens of printers, but the general struggle tends to be a bit more traditional. You know the drill: old drivers, rebellious print queue, etc.
How to Fix Printer Problems
The first step is to decide which driver you're going to use. If you connect the printer without installing anything, most likely Windows Update will offer you one, but personally I haven't had much luck with them. So, start by disconnecting the printer, delete any driver and application related to it, go to System Properties, visit the Hardware tab, click on Device Installation Settings, and change the option to No. That will prevent Windows Update from "interfering" in the process. Then go to the manufacturer's page, find the latest version of the driver, install it, and when asked, connect the printer. That should be enough… but if there's no response, you can try something else.
Microsoft's Tool and the Print Spooler
Microsoft provides an independent tool to fix printer problems. Basically, it presents an assistant that will perform essential checks on the printer's status, and something very important: the status of the print spooler service. Some tweakers disable this service or set it to manual to save memory if there's no printer installed, but we need it on automatic (Services - Print Spooler - Automatic - restart the computer). Another fairly common incident reveals stuck jobs in the print queue. In this case, the plan is to temporarily stop the print spooler service, go to C:\Windows\system32\spool\printers, delete everything there, restart the service and the computer.
Check Offline Mode
The last suggestion is to check that the printer hasn't fallen into offline or disconnected mode. Go to Settings -> Printers, select the printer, click on Open Queue, go to the Printer menu and make sure printer offline is not selected. We hope some of this helps you. Good luck!
Download the printer assistant: Click here
