When I try to spool my printing when I am offline (so that, when I am
online with my printer, the docs will print out), my XP system will
not let me do it. On the Advanced tab under printer properties, I do
have 'Print directly to printer' unchecked, which is supposed to solve
the problem -- but it doesn't.
Are there inexpensive third-party software print spoolers I can get
that will help me out? |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
02 Jun 2004 12:58 PDT
prpro...
To me, it makes more sense to resolve this using the XP
print spooler, since third party software may not work
if the XP spooler is not functioning in the first place.
You have 'Print directly to printer' unchecked. Presumably
this means you have 'Spool print documents so program
finishes printing faster' checked, along with one of the
sub-options 'Start printing after last page is spooled',
or 'Start printing imediately' (recommended).
Also, I'm not clear about what you mean when you speak
of being offline and then going online with your printer.
Is your printer on a local network? And why (and how)
would you disconnect from your local network, and how
would you 'go online' and reconnect with it? In most
business setups, you are online with the local network
at bootup, whether you are online on the internet or not,
and there is no reason (or simple way) to go offline from
the local network.
Finally, in my experience, some printer software requires
that the printer be turned on when you boot up and
connect to the network. If the printer was turned off,
and turned on when you want to print, you may need to
reboot in order to establish the connection.
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
prpro-ga
on
02 Jun 2004 13:52 PDT
Thanks, sublime -- here are my answers:
"You have 'Print directly to printer' unchecked. Presumably
this means you have 'Spool print documents so program
finishes printing faster' checked, along with one of the
sub-options 'Start printing after last page is spooled',
or (recommended)."
YES -- I HAVE 'Start printing immediately' CHECKED.
"Also, I'm not clear about what you mean when you speak
of being offline and then going online with your printer.
Is your printer on a local network?"
I MEAN THAT I DISENGAGE MY LAPTOP FROM MY NETWORK CONNECTION AND GO
OFF SOMEWHERE ELSE TO WORK (E.G., A CLIENT). I RE-ATTACH TO THE
NETWORK WHEN I GET HOME (I'M CALLING THAT 'GOING ONLINE', WHICH I
GUESS MAY BE WRONG.)
"Finally, in my experience, some printer software requires
that the printer be turned on when you boot up and
connect to the network. If the printer was turned off,
and turned on when you want to print, you may need to
reboot in order to establish the connection."
THE PRINTER IS ALWAYS TURNED ON.
CONFUSION REIGNS. ;-((
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
02 Jun 2004 14:44 PDT
prpro...
Okay, from what I've been reading, I'm getting the impression
that when you send documents to the spooler while disconnected
from the printer, the spooler tries to send them to the printer,
and, since it's not there, it may not be saving them properly.
You could check by disconnecting from the printer, sending some
documents to the print spooler, and then checking the queue by
going to Start -> Settings -> Printers, and clicking on your
printer. This should show you the queue and whether the documents
you printed are contained therein, and for how long. They may
be discarded after a certain amount of time if no printer is
found.
Even if they do show up in the queue, there are some settings
which would seem to offer a greater chance of success. Please
try the following:
Most importantly, go to the queue (as above) before doing any
printing (offline), and select, from the top toolbar, Printer
-> Use printer offline.
Now print a couple of documents 'offline'. Then turn off the
computer, plug in the printer (on) and reboot. Go to the
queue page and uncheck 'Use printer offline'. It should
start printing what's in the queue right away.
If that works, the following settings are unnecessary:
Go to the printer properties page, advanced tab, and select
both 'Print spooled documents first' and 'Keep printed documents'.
The latter will guarantee that the documents are saved even if
they are sent to the queue and discarded due to the fact that
no printer can be found. If you were successful with the first
technique of using the printer offline, you may not want to
use this last option, since it will save every document you
print on your hard drive, making it accessible for future
printing, and this can take up a great deal of space.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
04 Jun 2004 17:26 PDT
prpro...
Just checking in. Did I lose you somewhere?
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
prpro-ga
on
20 Jun 2004 13:41 PDT
sublime, I am still away from home and can't check my printer. I
promise to follwup with this as soon as I get back, which will
probably be July 4 weekend.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
20 Jun 2004 15:49 PDT
prpro...
You must've heard me thinking about this question... :)
The thing is, the question will expire on July 2nd, at which point
I can no longer post an answer. We can always work around that if
you post the question anew, and I know you'll do right by me, so
I trust you to handle it in a way that works best for you.
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
prpro-ga
on
20 Jun 2004 16:55 PDT
If I can't get to it by then, I will repost; s'cool? And for sure --
you'll do right by me! Thanks for understanding -- I had hoped to be
home long before now!
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