Daily Archives: November 19, 2022

• Printers are a pain

  Posted on November 19, 2022 at 23:03 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Reading one of the “known issues” in Windows 11 22H2 and the side effects with certain printer drivers reminds me of how I have a love hate relationship with printers.

  In the known issues section….while the issue with IPP printers has been resolved and the block from Windows 11 22H2 has been removed, it reminds me that printers can drive us crazy. So here’s some of my tips:

  1. Don’t get so tied to a printer that you aren’t willing to chuck it out the window or send it to e-waste. Often you can buy a new printer that will work with a new computer easier than the hassle of trying to get a really old printer to work.  These days I tend to buy Lexmark printers and Brother printers.  But now that I’ve said “gee buy new”, I’ve also seen where it’s been hard to find printers of a certain type and style. There have been times I’ve purchased refurbished printers on ebay because I couldn’t find it any other way.
  2. Don’t buy inkjet printers. If you don’t print on a regular basis, that ink will get dry and the printer won’t work. Better to stick with a laser jet printer.
  3. If you get stuck, remember you can use the built in “Microsoft print to PDF” and can print something to a pdf in a pinch.
  4. When trying to get a print out of a web site, sometimes you just have to use snipping tool and cut and paste the image to word to get a USEABLE version of the web site. I’ve even tried the “print” button on a web site and it still doesn’t print.
  5. I personally find that connecting a printer via ethernet rather than wireless connection works better. I also make it a point to assign the printer a static IP address (this can normally be done in the setup section) and that works the best.
  6. Always be prepared to turn off and then turn back on a printer. Often they will go “asleep” and turning it back on reconnects it.

  What about you?  What tips and tricks do you recommend for dealing with printers?

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