Printers not printing from PC

[jimlock99]

Been working on this for 3 days on and off, trying suggestions from many forums and even 2 tech guys on 6ya with no luck. My issue is a little bit different from others I've seen.

I have an older Epson Stylus Photo RX500, still working well, connected to the PC. This past Monday, discovered it wouldn't print a doc. No error messages on computer, doc is in print que, which states in status, "Error- printing". Have tried removing printer and reinstalling several times with no change. Driver built into OS so that's where its coming from; tried installing from Epson cd, but says "This OS not supported", lol!

Then figured I could print from my new Canon Pixma Pro-10, which is on my wi-fi network. Surprise! Same results there, doc is in print que with status of "Error-printing".

I have shut everything down, unplugged all, waited 5 minutes, powered up pc, plugged in printer and powered up, with no change.

Checked print spool setting and its on automatic; have canceled all pending jobs.

Both printers show up in Control Panel, Devices and Printers, and the Epson is selected as the default. I noted that neither is listed under Device Manager; in fact it doesn't even have an Imaging Device category. Don't know if this is important or not; I've seen some posts where printers work fine without being on the Device Manager list.

I did consider restoring my pc to an earlier point, but discovered PC Restore only keeps one restore point, even though I allotted plenty of memory, and the restore point was only for updating Microsoft Security Essentials; would appreciate any guidance on fixing that so it would be more useful.

Finally, connected the Epson printer to an old Dell laptop running Win 7 Home Premium; PnP worked smoothly and in 2 minutes was printing from the laptop.

My last recourse would be to upgrade to the latest Win OS which I've been avoiding...not an improvement when you have to relearn everything and I'm certain I won't be anymore efficient or productive with the new OS. Any suggestions that I have yet to try are appreciated; this will be a true challenge for all you tech people out there. Thanks in advance for reading this lengthy account.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome Jim mate now I am assuming you are connecting the printers via wifi? or maybe an Ethernet cable??

Now my first thing to do would be to get the latest drivers for those machines from the manufacturers as the software on those disks that come with the device are invariably out of date when you get them.

Epson Stylus Photo RX500 : Drivers & Software

&

PIXMA PRO 10 Support - Firmware, Software & Manuals | Canon Australia < this is the Australian site but I cannot see why it will not work for you.

Now just a s by the by I used Canon for years but now use HP printers so just something to keep in mind for next time you buy. I changed mainly because I found the HP more efficient on ink and the noise levels a lot less than the Canons.

Now you might run these first in any case
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker
Disk Check < if necessary include the /f switch and if this does not make any improvement then just run this switch instead /r in the command line as per Option2
Run these in safe mode and the sfc often best run for two to three runs – you can leave out the /r switch in ckdsk if you feel it not necessary

The restore point did you tick for restore points further back than what is listed see pic

 

[jimlock99]

Hello down under and thanks for your reply. BTW, my 2 nephews married Aussie sisters.
OK, as I said, I connected the Epson (cable) to an old laptop running Win 7 and it worked perfectly; since my existing driver in my desktop PC came with the OS, its probably the same on both computers, I'm thinking. Plus, how could 2 drivers from 2 different machines fail at the same time? The Canon is the only WiFi connected computer. Just tried your suggest file checker, thank you, and it came back with no integrity violations, just did the scan to check it out. So, think I have to take a hard look at the laptop OS and see how its set up for printers, since it worked so well. Cheers!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

since my existing driver in my desktop PC came with the OS

Hmm not necessarily Jim and have you installed the drivers from those links I attached? Also there is no motherboard listed in your PC specs - just exactly what is it? I see the build is an Ivy Bridge of which my main desktop is the same and I did not have any such printer drivers downloaded on mine - I had to add drivers first for a Canon and then the HP when I swapped printers.
Now I have had the main printer hooked up via wifi and cable and I am just wondering if your motherboard drivers require an update.

I attached those scans because I was thinking that the OS was maybe needing a tidy up, and they are worth remembering when and if you find the system is running a little strange and as a first line thing to do before delving into more intensive stuff..

 

[jimlock99]

Hi there. What I meant was the driver comes from the OS software. I compared both drivers from desktop (not printing) and the laptop (printing) and they were both the same version. I did download from your link but the install manager said it was not compatible with my current OS of Win 7. Motherboard is Asus P8Z77-V LX LGA1155/DDR3/ Quad CrossFireX/.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hmm very odd Jim now I have that same board (less the LX) in my Ivy Bridge and I don't remember ever the OS installing drivers for printers and I think that maybe you might have it confused with some of the Windows updates that will install drivers for some things.

So it make me think that the board needs some updates for whatever method you are using to print from the printers ie USB ports and if you have the wifi setup with the wifi device that board came with (well at least mine did) then the updates for it. Access Denied
Now if you do update any of the drivers then make sure they come from that link and not one of those softwares that claim to find drivers for you.

Now just out of interest that wifi device I had come with my board did you get the same thing too? It was a small rectangular "block" and it is meant to be bolted in before you install the board. I don't think I did that when I got my board but in the pic it looks like there is one in place.

 

[jimlock99]

As far as drivers go, many, for printers and mice at least, have always been included in any OS I've ever used, for plug and play at least.
Looking at my spec sheet, there is a "Wireless-N Internal PCI Adapter" installed so I'm guessing that's the Wi-Fi? I had my PC custom build online by ALLPCZONE; great people to work with.
I will check out those drivers for the MB; won't hurt to refresh them I guess. Thanks for your help!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok Jim now I am not sure what that PCI card is for it could be wifi or the Ethernet connection so what sockets does it have at the back of the machine? see pics it is a LAN connection the wifi would be a separate card if installed and possibly have an aerial connection for it.

Now I know that Windows 10 downloads a lot of installed components drivers but I have not yet come across a Windows update that does the LAN and WLAN drivers - perhaps I have been unlucky or have missed something but a few of my machines are really quite new and my main desktop I built myself and remember it had an add in adaptor that I did not attach to the board at the time. I have to add too that any printers I have eve r bought I have had to install the drivers myself and again from the manufacturers site because so often the disks one gets with new equipment have outdated drivers on them - but again perhaps it is different out here