Windows XP Print Problem

[init6]

I'm pretty sure this is an XP problem, but I still thought Gen. Hardware would be the best place for it. My parents bought a Dell Dimension 3000 so I wouldn't have to support it for them anymore, and because I'm leaving the country in two months.

When they first got it, their Epson printer worked just fine. It ran out of black ink, I replaced the black ink, and it wouldn't print in black anymore (?). I finally got tired of dicking around with it and gave them my HP Deskjet 940C. It won't print at all.

I know the printer works because I can plug it into my iBook and print without a problem. It even printed the test page from within the HP setup software on my parents' computer. But it won't print at all through Windows itself (no Properties Test Page, no Notepad, no Word, no web printing). I've noticed that the Print Manager shows up for less than a second before disappearing. It's like it knows it's supposed to print, but just can't get it all the way. I've tried all the different USB ports, the printer is detected on each one, it prints fine through my Apple, so I'm just out of ideas.

What can cause this? Help is much appreciated.

 

[S1nF1xx]

Not sure what's up with the HP, but the Epson has a clogged print head. That happened to me a couple weeks ago with the cyan cartridge. I let it get too low before replacing it. I had to run the cleaning cycle 20-30 times over a period of 3 days to unclogg the head. Keep cleaning it and it will most likely work again. Otherwise you can get it professionally cleaned too.

 

[init6]

Ah, thank you! I was going to say, I cleaned the print head like 10 times on the Epson, and no dice. And yes, the black was literally bone dry before I changed the cartridge. I'll try that and see if it works.

I'd still appreciate some help on the HP issue, anyone else, though.

 

[init6]

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