XP upgrade printer woes

[Cheiromancer]

I just upgraded the computer of one of the guys in the house; he was still using Windows 98, which is no longer being supported. So I got him upgraded to Windows XP (home edition). And went and got a pile of updates from the Microsoft website.

Problem is, the printer doesn't work. A brother HL-2040. It was purchased recently- the ink is at 97%. I've uninstalled it and reinstalled it, using the CD it came from. I've checked for driver updates. I've even uninstalled and reinstalled the port (it is an older machine, so it uses one of those big plug-ins, not a USB port.) It won't print from Word, for Adobe, or even from the command prompt. There's a long wait, and then it claims the printer is out of paper. The cord is firmly attached, and it was used prior to the operating system upgrade.

It's tricky getting the printer to print a test-sheet; you have to press the "go" button several times in rapid succession, but it will print.

Anyone got any ideas? Is this a known issue? Is there a patch or something that I somehow didn't get?

I'm drawing a blank, and the printer is so cheap that it would make more sense to buy a new one than get a professional out here to look at it. But that would offend the thrifty soul of an old priest who lived through the great depression.

Your help would be appreciated!

 

[ssampier]

Printers, especially SOHO models, are pretty simple. First, you have checked for paper jams, correct? Second, if you have tested the printer with a new/different printer cable and reinstalled the drivers, there's not a whole lot you can do.

If you want to be pedantic you can try the newest driver if you haven't already:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.co...d=hl2040_all&type2=1&os=7&flang=English&dlid=

 

[Cheiromancer]

Well, it printed a test page, so the printer isn't jammed. And I checked to make sure the drivers were up to date. I don't know why the printer cable stopped working- it was working before. Maybe I can dig up another one.

Thanks for your help!

 

[KenM]

How old is the printer? It might be a case of that printer maker did not choose to make XP drivers for that printer, forcing you to go out and buy a new printer. Happened to me with my old scanner when I upgraded to XP from 98.
I have a feeling alot of companies will be doing this once Vista comes out, forcing you to buy new hardware.

 

[Cheiromancer]

It's brand new. But Fr. Leo was running on Windows 98. After I upgraded him to windows XP I got the wireless internet to work alright, but the computer doesn't seem to want to communicate with the printer. It just waits a long time and then decides that the printer is out of paper. But the little paper light doesn't flash on the printer, and it prints a test sheet fine, so that's not the problem. The documentation for the Brother HL 2040 doesn't mention anything like this.

It'd be quite a coincidence for it to be a printer cable problem, since it arose just when the operating system was upgraded. It's not a plug and play, or unplugging it from the computer and plugging it in would work.

I'm going to go ask the technical support office here at the College if they have any knowledge of what's up.

 

[WayneLigon]

Is it an Upgrade, or a full edition of XP Home?

Everytime I've used an Upgrade rather than buying the full version and installing it over what was there, something weird like that has gone on.

 

[Cheiromancer]

It was an upgrade. I think you can use it as a full install if you can prove to it that you had windows 98 installed already. I wonder if he has the original windows 98 disks tucked away somewhere.

Ugh. I hate the idea of having to uninstall windows and reinstall it.

 

[Ampolitor]

call

ahh you got to love this, call the printer manufacturer and make sure it can be used with xp. I found this out the hardway with HP. I had a great printer AND they did not support it with xp and would not do a patch or update with it. Call them and make sure it is compatible, believe it or not on some older models (means a couple of months old...lol) they dont work with XP. Kinda crappy, I was flippin pissed off when i was told that.

 

[Nareau]

The first thing I would do:
1) Check the printer and make sure it can't run on USB. If it can, forget about the parallel port and go buy a USB cable.

2) Check the Device Manager in XP. Make sure your printer port shows up and appears to be working correctly. Right-click on it, select properties, and make a note of the settings in the "Port Settings" tab, then try changing them to see if it will work (specifically, check "Use any interrupt assigned to the port" and "Enable lagacy Plug and Play detection").

3) Check the printer port settings in the BIOS. Typically, older machines will have a few options: Bi-directional, ECP, etc. For a newer printer, it should be set to ECP. However, you might want to try changing it to something else to test it out. If you have a copy of the printer's manual, see if it says anything about what your "Printer Port", "LPT1", or "Parallel Port" settings should be.

If you post the model of the computer and the printer, I might be able to do more research and help out more.

[Edit: Just saw the model number. According to this, it should have a USB connection. Is there a reason you're not using that?]

Nareau

 

[Cheiromancer]

Leo has an older computer. I'll double-check, but I don't think it has USB connections. How do you check BIOS settings?

I've checked the Device Manager, and it said it was working. But I didn't note or try changing the settings. We bought the printer on September 22, and the Install disk notes Windows XP. So that shouldn't be a problem.

I'd *much* rather try these things than reinstall windows.