Printer printing in ASCII

[magna05]

Hi,

Every now & then my printer for some unknown reason prints a page or pages of junk i.e in ASCII code.

It's become quite annoying.

I've uninstalled & reinstalled the printer driver, but all to no avail.

I'd like to know what's causing this & how I can rectify this from happening again?

Regards, magna05

[RDee]

magna 05,

I have had this happen too, but only rarely and only when when printing from a website. I suspect its something to do with a website or the browser, not the printer.
If I copy the page and paste into MS Word it prints fine.

RDee

[anandasim]

To check out whether it is the printer driver or not, you could install a free pdf printer driver and print to that first so that you don't waste paper. Then if that seems ok and you print to real paper and it produces garbage you know it is your printer driver.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

[magna05]

Hi,

I've narrowed down the problem, the junk only appears when I print off a PDF.

I'm not sure now how to rectify this issue

magna05

[RDee]

Magna05,

Which PDF reader do you use? If it is Adobe Acrobat you could try upgrading to the latest Version - Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.0) from the Adobe.com site and see if that fixes the problem.
Acrobat X is big and bloated but works OK. Remove the check for the McAfee option in the download unless you want it.

Something you could try first is to run a portable PDF reader and see if that works OK. If it does print OK it suggests your current PDF reader is somehow faulty.
I suggest PDF-XChange Viewer.
http://www.tracker-software.com/product ... nge-viewer
In the download box select the Portable Zip Version.

RDee

[magna05]

Hi RDee,

I'm using Adobe Acrobat; I uninstalled it and re-installed it and still having the same issue. Perhaps I need to fiddle with the preferences.

I like this X-Change Viewer.

If I download a PDF form and use X-Change Viewer to open it can I type onto the form?

Thanks magna05

[RDee]

magna05,

The product comparison implies "Complete and save PDF forms" is a feature of the free version.
I haven't got a form available to try this.
http://www.tracker-software.com/pdf-xch ... ison-chart

RDee

[magna05]

Hi,

I've also noticed that occasionally when I print off a document that there is a pause for at least 6-7 seconds in between pages and then the ASCII junk is printed.

There are no drivers listed for my device so when I reinstall the drivers I have to resort to using the original CD that came with the printer.

This seems to be a spooling problem. I'm not sure how to resolve this. I cannot locate any spooling log files.

Regards,

magna05

[RDee]

magna05,
Given that there are no manufacturer's drivers available and the windows print drivers or those on the CD seem to have an issue I think it may be worthwhile to replace your printer and start afresh. Hopefully it's not some other software issue.
My current printer cost $89.00 and a new set of ink cartridges cost about $115.00. If I came across what is appearing to be an intractable problem like this I would be sending the current printer to the bin if there was not much ink left.

RDee

[magna05]

Thanks RDee,

I agree with you entirely, I've had this printer for at least 3-4 years now.

magna05

[anandasim]

My current printer cost $89.00 and a new set of ink cartridges cost about $115.00. If I came across what is appearing to be an intractable problem like this I would be sending the current printer to the bin if there was not much ink left.

That must be a good printer. My current printer is a Canon PIXMA multi-function unit - it scans, copies and prints for the princely sum of less than AUD 40 from Officeworks. That's with ink. New ink might cost more than that. The scanner is fast and reliable. The printing is fast and clear but it seems to prime more than my old HP. The only issue is that if I set it to black cartridge only, it wants to ask, every time whether it's ok to proceed with only black ink.

[RDee]

Ananda,

Its a PIXMA iP3600, currently $95.00 from O'works. If I had to replace it I would be looking at the PIXMA iP4850 which is $159.00 from O'works and on special from CPL for $93.00, pays to shop around.

RDee