Picture It!: General printer troubleshooting steps for Windows XP (916117)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Digital Image Standard Edition 2006
  • Microsoft Digital Image Starter Edition 2006
  • Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006
  • Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 Trial Edition
  • Microsoft Picture It!
  • Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium 9
  • Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10
  • Microsoft Picture It! Express 9
  • Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9

SUMMARY

This article describes several troubleshooting methods to fix printing problems.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to print a document or an image from one of the products that are listed in the "Applies To" section on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, you receive an error message. Or, the document does not print correctly.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur for any one of the following reasons:
  • The printer configuration
  • The document is corrupted
  • The print driver is corrupted
  • The print driver is incompatible

RESOLUTION

Use the following methods in the order that they appear in.

Method 1: Make sure that the printer works with other programs

The printer may not work because of a cable connection problem or because of hardware problems. To exclude these possibilities, verify that the printer works as expected with other programs, such as Microsoft Word or a different graphic processing program such as Microsoft Paint.

Method 2: Determine whether the issue is document specific

The document or the project that you are experiencing the problem with may be partially corrupted and may affect the system when it prints. To test whether this is the case, create a simple new document or project and then try to print again. It is best if the new document or project that you create does not contain any source file such as clip or text that you used in the previous document or project because the source file might be the cause.

Method 3: Clean up the temporary files

  1. Click Start, click Run, type cleanmgr, and then click OK. After several minutes, the Disk Cleanup utility will appear.
  2. If you are prompted to select a drive, select drive C.
  3. After the Disk Cleanup utility finishes the "Calculating" process, select all the check boxes in the list except the Office Setup Files check box and the Compress old files check box.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Click Yes.
The cleaning process may last a long time if there are lots of temporary files to be cleaned from the system.

Method 4: Examine the printer settings

Examine the printer manual to see whether there is a configuration that is not appropriate that may be causing the issue. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type control printers, and then click OK.
  2. Right-click the printer that you are experiencing the issue with, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Print directly to the printer option. Typically this option is on the Advanced tab. However, this may be different on different printers.
  4. On the Advanced tab, click Print Processor, click WinPrint, and then click RAW.
  5. Click OK two times.

Method 5: Update the printer driver

  1. Click Start, click Run, type appwiz.cpl, and then click OK.

    See whether there is any installed program that is related to the printer. Typically a program that is related to the printer is easy to identify by the display name. If you find one of these programs, make sure that you have the installation disc for this program so that you can install it later. Then, remove the program.
  2. Click Start, click Run, type control printers, and then click OK.
  3. Right-click the printer that you are experiencing the issue with, and then click Delete. Click Yes to confirm the removal.
  4. On the File menu, click Server Properties. Make sure that no printer is selected in the window, or the Server Properties option will not appear in the File menu. Click in a blank area of the window if you have to.
  5. On the Drivers tab, select the printer that you are experiencing the issue with, and then click Remove.
  6. Use the installation disc to reinstall the printer driver.

Method 6: Install another printer driver

Contact the manufacturer of the printer and ask if there is another printer driver that you can use.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:3/28/2006
Keywords:kbprb KB916117
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