Yesterday I could print off stuff just fine. Today, the printer goes thru the motions but spits out blank paper. I did a printer systems check and it said everything’s fine but obviously it’s not. Can anybody help me fix it?
I’m sure someone can probably help you (personally, I’m not all that great with printers), but you didn’t even tell us what *kind *(inkjet/laser?) of printer it is, much less the make and model#.
:smack: Sorry. It’s an HP Photosmart printer, D110a and must be an inkjet, (we put in ink cartridges.) I’m a real doofus about this stuff, sorry, but thanks for the question and I’ll try to help YOU to help ME. (Jerry McQuire.) 
Do you have the book for it? If not, you might find it on line. It will tell you how to clean the jets/head. If it’s an inkjet, the black cartridge may be clogged: replace it.
Did you recently replace the ink cartridge and forget to take off the little piece of tape? Could be something else stuck inside, or blocking the cartridge thingy from going back and forth.
I just scanned something and asked it to print it and it did. 
But when I was in MicroSoft Word it wouldn’t print documents even tho it has before.
My HP OfficeJet occasionally does this. So far, it fixes itself if I do one of these things: Hit the on/off switch, unplug it and plug it back in, or reboot the PC.
ETA: And once I had to remind Word what printer to use.
Every HP inkjet printer I have ever owned has done this once in a while and I’ve cured it by unhooking the printer from the computer and unplugging the power to the printer. I may or may not have had to go into the task manager and manually stop all HP printer items especially something about the spool.
First of all, thank you all for your suggestions. I’m going to save them for future use. I love this board—smart people who are more than willing to help.
We finally called MicroSoft tech support. I’ve sat and listened to my husband talk to them before for an hour or more as they walked him thru whatever the problem was. But this time, after awhile, their answer was We can help you—for $149.00.
???
Suddenly we have to pay to fix their product?
Apparently we were then still under warranty.
Right now I just want to lean back in my springy-backed office chair, sip my vodka, and ponder the fuckedupidness of this world. Gonna look at other threads that don’t upset me.
Thanks again guys for your help. See ya tomorrow.
That is when you have to weigh up the cost of a new one against repairing the old one. If the print head has packed it in, often a new up to date printer is cheaper.
The unreliability of printers continues to mystify. Why are they so prone to failure?
I’m not reading this. I’m not reading this. Lalalalalalal hands over my ears.
Trying to chill out but of course checking MY thread…the printer works. MicroSoft Word doesn’t.
Anybody got Bill Gate’s number?
I see that’s an all-in-one printer, meaning that what you scanned, you scanned within the printer itself, right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything at all wrong with Microsoft Word. Have you tried printing from any other program? Go ahead and try to print something from your browser right now. Just go up to the menu under “File” and select “Print” - I’ll betcha that it does the same thing as Word does.
The reason why scanning something would work, and printing something from your computer might not, is because there is some sort of issue with the way your computer and the printer are communicating. When you scan something and it prints, your computer and it’s data path to the printer is out of the picture.
Did you try any of the suggestions you got? Turn off computer, turn off printer, unplug printer from power, disconnect and reconnect the data (USB?) cable, plug back in the power cable, and then try turning everything back on and try to print again.
#1
We unplugged and replugged everything. I tried to print a Yahoo recipe and it printed the picture but no text. So it’s not just MicroSoft Word, it’s everything. Which makes me wonder why the tech tried to sell us a $149.00 “fix” for Word…
I swear, when you go to sleep at night the gremlins and elves come out and screw with your stuff.
Going to try some other things, call some other numbers. It doesn’t appear to be the printer, seems like the PC isn’t “talking” to it correctly or something. I don’t know. Thanks for your alls’ input. I’ll try these and check back later.
My gf thinks I am a computer/electronics genius because I occasionally fix problems that way.
did you do the systems check at the printer/all-in-one or from the computer?
what is the status on the black ink?
The printer works fine on a scan, but not when info is sent from the computer, so the problem is either the cord, the cartridge, or else the printer itself is hosed. Have you tried going through the head cleaning as I suggested earlier? You may have to try replacing the USB cord between the computer and printer, but it really sounds like the ink cartridge is hosed.
If it printed a photo but not text I am guessing your black cartridge is fucked up.
Your ire at Bill Gates is totally misplaced.
The tech wasn’t trying to sell you a fix, he was trying to sell you his time and energy to correctly diagnose an issue with Microsoft Word, which is what you called him to do.
Why haven’t you called HP to yell at them instead?