Basic First Steps to Try Restoring a Lost Printer Connection
Printer problems always seem to emerge at the most inconvenient times - like just when you need to print a legal document on deadline, or a boarding pass right before a trip, or a club agenda right before a meeting.
When you hit Print and get an error message, there are several things worth checking right away.
First, check the screen that pops up when you click to print something, usually in the upper left of your screen. Look and see if your normal printer is listed, or if possibly a different printer (destination) is listed. If your normal printer is not the one displayed, click on the one listed and most programs will give you a pop-down window to select the right one.
Second, check "Devices and Printers" in your Control Panel and make sure your normal printer is highlighted and checked as the default. If not, right-click for a pop-down options screen, look for a option to make it the default, and left-click that option. Also, the same screen may have an option to print online or offline. If it indicates the printer is offline you can left-click to change that.
If these steps don't fix the problem, sometimes this will: Disconnect the printer if using a USB connection, then turn both your computer and your printer off, then reconnect the printer while both are turned off, then turn on the printer, then when the printer is "ready" turn on the computer again.
If you're using a WiFi or Web Services wireless connection to print, then check to see if the wireless icon on the printer control panel is lit and solid. If not, it may be necessary to reset. Steps for doing this vary according to printer model.
Some printers have diagnostic programs that get installed on your computer with your initial setup. Generally these are accessible through an icon on your desktop.
Recently I've worked on several odd cases where printer software stopped working after a Windows update. This generally is not going to be a persistent problem, but it's not unusual with older equipment. In these cases, it may be easiest just to reinstall the printer driver software.
If your printer did not come with an installation disk, then the installation program must be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. If your printer was set up using downloaded installation software, chances are that the installation file may still be in your downloads folder.
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