Printer Problems (Dell 3100)?

Question

The printer is on a network, and has a recurring job. The computer that sent the job isn't sending any jobs to it, but the job keeps printing. Anyone experience this problem before? any ideas or solutions? thanks!

Answer 1

Yes, I've definitely seen that before. Go to that computer and look closely at the printer icon under "Printer and Faxes". There are two types. One obviously just looks like a printer. The other looks like a printer sitting on top of a gray wire which represents the network. The type of icon you have depends on how the printer was added.

If it was added as a shared network printer, then the icon will have the wire. If that's the case, then that's where your problem is. The best way to add a printer in Windows 2000 or XP is to make it a "local" printer by creating a port with that printer's UNC path. That reduces the chance of recurring print jobs.

So here's what I would do to get the printer to stop printing. First, turn the printer all the way off. Next, pull up the print queue at that computer. Give it about a minute to display any remaining print jobs. Delete anything that shows. Afterwards, back out to the main printer and faxes window and delete the printer. Add it back using the "Local Printer" option I spoke about. Create a new "Local Port" and give it the UNC path for the name (\\server\share). For example, if a printer called "hpnetwork" was being shared by a computer named "business", then the UNC path would be \\business\hpnetwork.

Doing it that way ensures more control over the printer and better reaction from programs running in Windows that try to print.