Print Job Issues


  • If there is no hardware or media issue
    • investigate the OS print queue and driver settings
  • In Windows
    • display and print functions for compatible applications are usually handled by the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) subsystem
      • print job is formatted using the PDL and spooled in the logical printer’s spool folder within %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Printers\
  • print monitor transmits the print job to the printer and provides status information
    • If a problem is encountered during printing
    • print device sends a status message back to the print monitor
    • displays a desktop notification
  • If the print device is accessed over the network
    • redirector service on the local computer passes the print job from the locally spooled file to the spooler on the print server
    • print server then transmits it to the print device
  • backed-up print queue
    • means that there are multiple prints pending but not printing
    • might occur because:
      • print device is offline or out of paper or ink/toner
      • error processing a particular print job
    • open print queue
      • Try restarting the job
      • delete the print job, and try printing it again
    • If you cannot delete a job
      • stop and restart the Print Spooler service

Garbled Print Issues

  • garbled print is one where the print device emits many pages with a few characters on each or many blank pages
    • occurs because of a fault in rendering the print job somewhere in the path between the application, printer driver, page description language, and print device
    • To discount a transitory error:
      • cancel the print job
      • clear the print queue
      • cycle the power on the printer
        • leaving it off for 30 seconds to clear the memory
      • try to print again
    • Use the OS to print a test page
      • If the test page prints successfully
        • problem is related to the print function of a particular application
          • Try printing a different file from the same application
          • if this works, then the problem is specific to a particular file
          • if does not work,
            • try using the printer’s control panel to print a test page directly from the device
              • If this works, there is some sort of communication problem between the print device and Windows
              • If the problem persists,
                • update the printer driver
                • check that the printer is set to use a PDL (PCL or PostScript) that is supported by the source application
    • If the characters in a document are different from those expected or if strange characters appear in an otherwise normal print
      • check that fonts specified in the document are available on the PC and printer
      • software app should tell if available or is substituting to nearest match