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[ Installations Plus+ PC Forum ] [ Archive Sep-Dec 97 ]

Posted by: Louis Bruno on November 08, 1997 at 01:29:22
Homepage: Installations Plus+ (websites, upgrades, PCs, repairs, training)
In Reply to: Printer problem and PC squeal posted by Tony Wheat on November 08, 1997 at 00:53:19

Subject: Re: Printer problem and PC squeal

PRINTER PROBLEM
1. Try printing from a "standard" Windows application like Notepad. Sometimes a "printer problem" is really a software problem. If you can print from Notepad, the problem is in your software (word processor).
2. Make sure the printer you want to use is set as the default printer. Go to Control Panel and select Printers to check this. Sometimes after using fax software, the default printer is changed without your knowledge.
3. Re-installing the printer driver was the next step, but you done that.
4. Check the printer cable. Sometimes a cable comes loose at the connectors. (But don't overtighten the thumbscrews!) Also look for a sharp kink or bend in the cable. The conductors in the cable can break if the cable has been bent in half.
5. Your printer is an inkjet type which uses an ink cartridge.
(a) Sometimes the cartridge needs to be reseated so that it's closing the contact switch will tells the printer that a cartridge is installed.
(b) If you don't use inkjet printers regularly, the jets can become clogged. This is fairly common. They clog, the ink dries, and absolutely nothing appears on the paper, although the printer will "go through the motions".
That's the drill. If numbers 1-5 don't identify and cure your problem, your printer is defective and needs to be taken to a service station.

MONITOR SQUEAL.
Computer games, unlike most other applications, often "take over" both your sound card and your video card. This can provide much better performance, but can drive your monitor harder than usual. If the sound you report as a squeal is really coming from the monitor (have you put your ear next to it?), there's virtually nothing you can do about it. What you're hearing is hum in the windings of the magenetic coils that induce voltages in the picture tube.
The only thing that might help is to change the refresh rate for your monitor (60 hz is "normal"; try 72 hz or 80 hz if those options are available from your games' configuration menu.

Let us know how you make out with your printer problem.


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