Printing a Document

The conventional way of printing a document is as follows:

1. Issue a Print command from the program that created the document or from a program designed to handle its file type.

2. Choose any relevant options which pages to print, or the resolution to use in the Print dialog box.

3. Click the Print button or the OK button.

Windows also lets you print directly to the printer from Explorer. You can print a document from Explorer by dragging it and dropping it on the printer in the Printers window or on a shortcut to the printer. Windows prints the document with default settings, so you don’t get to choose any of the usual printing options. But usually you won’t have the printer or a shortcut to it handy enough for this technique to be useful, although you can create shortcuts to a printer wherever you need them, such as on the Computer. For this technique to work, the file must include the extension linked to the appropriate file type and program; otherwise, Windows doesn’t know which program to use to print the file. Many programs assistance printing directly from Explorer and so include a Print command on the context menu for the document. To print a document, right click it, and then choose Print from the context menu.

Managing Your Print Jobs

Dealing with a Print Job Gone Wrong

It’s much easier, neater, and cleaner to cancel a job formerly it starts printing than after it starts printing - but often you’ll only realize that you need to cancel a particular print job when the printer starts spewing out garbage - sheets of paper with only a single column of letters, or with mangled graphics, or page after page of PostScript codes instead of the layout of ink they’re supposed to represent.

Pausing and Resuming Printing

To pause printing of all documents on the printer, right-click the printer in the Printers window, and then choose Pause Printing from the context menu. Alternatively, click the printer, and then click the Pause Printing button on the toolbar. To resume printing, right click the printer and choose Resume Printing from the context menu. Alternatively, click the printer, and then click the Resume Printing button on the toolbar. On a network printer, you have only the privileges of a Guest user on that computer. This means that you can pause, restart, and delete only your own print jobs; you can’t affect other people’s print jobs.

Managing Print Jobs by Using the Print Queue

• If the notification area is displaying a printer icon for the printer, double click the icon.

• Double click the printer in the Printers window, or click the printer, and then click the See What’s Printing button on the toolbar.

From the print queue, you can take the following actions:

Cancel a print job Right click the job in the print queue and choose Cancel from the context menu. Alternatively, choose Document Cancel.

Pause a print job Right click the job in the print queue and choose Pause from the context menu. Alternatively, choose Document Pause.

Resume a paused print job Right click the paused job in the print queue and choose Resume from the context menu. Alternatively, choose Document Resume.

Restart a paused or failed print job Right click the paused or failed job in the print queue and choose Restart from the context menu. Alternatively, choose Document Restart.

difference priorities or time restrictions for a print job Right click the job and choose Properties from the context menu. Windows displays the Document Properties dialog box for the print job. On the General page , drag the Priority slider to set the priority for the job, or use the controls in the Schedule text box to set or remove time scheduling. Click the OK button. Windows closes the Document Properties dialog box.

Troubleshooting Printing Problems

This section presents a general approach to troubleshooting printing problems. Given that there are about as many types of printers as there are types of cars, and that the drivers for those printers vary in quality even more widely than the drivers you’ll encounter in a trip the length of Interstate 40, the information in this section is just a start - but if you persevere, you should find it can help you solve many problems.

Check Which Printer You’re Printing To

Make Sure the Printer Is Working

Next, make sure the printer is working. Check that it’s

• Powered on. • Not set to be offline or paused. • Loaded with ink and paper, and not jammed. • Connected to the computer, print server, or network. If another computer or a print server is involved, check that it’s powered on and functional.

Check the Program You’re Printing From

If all is well with the printer, make sure you’re not doing something wrong in the program from which you’re trying to print. In particular, check that you’re trying to print the right part of the document. For example, in a spreadsheet, make sure you haven’t defined a print area that has the wrong contents. In a multipage document, check that you’re trying to print the correct pages.

Running the Printing Troubleshooter

If the previous approach doesn’t lead you to maintenance the problem, you can run Windows’s Printing Troubleshooter and have it walk you through the steps of troubleshooting the problem:

1. Choose Start Help And assistance. Windows displays a Windows Help and assistance window.

2. Type troubleshoot printer problems in the Search box, and then press Enter. Windows displays a list of results.

3. Click the Troubleshoot Printer Problems link, and then follow its suggestions.

Configuring Your Print Server

Apart from the printer, which you saw how to configure earlier in this article, you can also configure the Windows print server - the software that controls the printers attached to your computer. In most cases, the default print server settings work fine, but you can improve your computer’s performance and the printing experience of your print server’s clients by setting the appropriate options. In particular, you may want to move the print server spool folder to a different location than its default location.

Opening the Print Server Properties Dialog Box

Creating Custom Forms on the Forms Page

The Forms page of the Print Server Properties dialog box lets you create a new agreement. Take the following steps:

1. In the Forms On list box, select the existing agreement on which you want to base the new agreement.

2. Select the Create a New agreement check box.

3. Type the name for the agreement in the agreement Name text box.

4. Use the fields in the agreement Description group box to specify the dimensions of the agreement, its margins, and the measurement units to use Metric or English.

5. Click the Save agreement button. Windows saves the agreement and adds it to the Forms On list box. To delete a agreement you’ve added, select it in the Forms On list box, and then click the Delete button. Windows doesn’t allow you to delete the built in forms.

Configuring Ports on the Ports Page

On the Ports page of the Print Server Properties dialog box , you can add new ports, configure existing ports, and delete ports you don’t need anymore. The port configuration options available depend on the type of port involved - printer port, serial port, COM port, print server port, and so on. See the section “Setting Ports Page Options,” earlier in this article, for a discussion of the different port types and the options you can set.

Working with Printer Drivers

• You share printers on the network with other computers that use different processor types or operating systems - for example, Itanium processors or 64 bit versions of Windows.

• You’ve removed a printer from your computer. Windows leaves the driver on your computer in case you need it again. If you don’t, you can remove it using the Drivers page.

Adding a Driver for Another Processor Type or Operating System

To add a driver, follow these steps:

1. On the Drivers page of the Print Server Properties dialog box, click the Add button. Windows launches the Add Printer Driver Wizard, which displays its Welcome screen.

2. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the Printer and Operating System Selection screen .

3. Select the check box for each processor type or operating system used by a computer on your network that will print using a printer on this computer.

4. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the Printer Driver Selection screen. This screen has the simular controls and works in the simular way as the Install the Printer Driver screen of the Add Printer Wizard, earlier in this article.

5. Select the printer’s manufacturer in the Manufacturer list, and then select the model in the Printers list. You can also click the Have Disk button to supply a driver that you have on a disk.

6.Click the Next button. The wizard displays the Completing the Add Printer Driver Wizard screen.

7. Click the Finish button. The wizard installs the driver and closes itself.

Removing a Driver

To remove a driver, take the following steps:

1. Select the driver in the Installed Printer Drivers list box on the Drivers page of the Print Server Properties dialog box.

2. Click the Remove button. Windows displays the Remove Driver and Package dialog box, shown here.

3. Select the Remove Driver Only option button if you want to remove only the driver. If you want to remove the driver and its package, select the Remove Driver and Driver Package option button.

4. Click the OK button. Windows displays a confirmation dialog box, as shown here.

5.Click the Yes button. If you’re removing the driver package as well as the driver, Windows displays the Remove Driver Package dialog box, shown here.

6. Click the Delete button. Windows removes the item or items.

7. Click the OK button. Windows closes the Remove Driver Package dialog box.

Choosing Advanced Print Server Options

The Advanced page of the Print Server Properties dialog box contains the following settings:

Spool Folder text box The spool folder is a folder on your hard drive in which Windows stores the spool files for print jobs as they’re being printed. Windows spools the data so that it can return control more quickly to the program that sent the print job. Spool files can be large, particularly for graphical documents, so you may want to move the spool folder to a drive that has plenty of space. The default location for the spool folder is on the partition that contains the Windows system files, but Windows will perform better if you move the spool folder to a different partition.

Log Spooler Error Events Select this check box to make Windows write printer error events to the System log. This behavior is usually helpful.

Log Spooler Warning Events Select this check box to make Windows write printer warning events to the System log. This behavior too is usually helpful.

Log Spooler Information Events Select this check box to make Windows write printer information events to the System log. You probably don’t need printer information such as details on each document that was printed successfully cluttering the System log.

Beep on Errors of Remote Documents Select this check box to make the print server beep when an error occurs when printing a document from another computer.

Show Informational Notifications for Local Printers Select this check box to make Windows show notification-area information pop-ups when the computer is printing to a local printer or a stand alone network printer. If the printer is attached to the computer, these notifications usually don’t help the user.

Show Informational Notifications for Network Printers Select this check box to make Windows show notification-area information pop ups when the computer is printing to a printer attached to another computer. This behavior is usually useful.